(Part 3 of a 3 part blog series)
The Conservative party were the final of the three main contenders to reveal their manifesto.
The early bird catches the worm… The second mouse gets the cheese… But does slow and steady win the race?
The manifesto began by describing a plan through Brexit to build a stronger and fairer Britain.
I mean, Theresa doesn’t strike me as the type you would find pumping iron in the gym but the word ‘strong’ became a tedious read. 30 times on the first 10 pages!!
Income Tax
Firstly, they are sticking with their commitment to raise the tax free personal allowance to £12,500 by 2020.
This will give the majority of us an extra £200 a year.
Not only this, but those of you who are on the cusp of higher rate need fret no more, the limit you can earn before being taxed at 40% is also set to increase, to £50K. Which is a fairly big leap from the current £45,000 as it stands.
National Living wage also going up. This will rise to 60% of median earnings by 2020. I feel this is very vague but in a nut shell, lower paid workers WILL be getting a pay rise of some sort.
Corporation Tax
VAT will not be increased and the pledge to decrease corporation tax to 17% will be maintained.
More frequent business valuations are to be carried out in a bid to reform business rates (don’t forget though, this could go either way. Up or down!)
There has been a guarantee of no rise in national insurance, VAT or income tax in favour of simplifying the tax system and the intent of lowering tax.
A very important note is the reform for pensioners.
David Cameron’s ‘triple lock’ will be replaced by a ‘double lock’.
Winter fuel will be means-tested and people will pay more toward home care visit. This will take £300 off wealthier pensioners per year.
Pensioners will also stop paying for their own care once their assets go below £100K, however this does include the house they live in.
Extra Points worth noting
Agree a future partnership with the EU and complete Brexit within 2 years.
A free vote will be given to MP’s on fox hunting… So it could be coming back.
Commitment to eliminate rough sleeping by 2027.
Net migration to be cut to less than 100,000.
Scrap free school lunches for infants but offer free breakfasts across primary years.
Reduce insurance costs by ‘’cracking down on exaggerated and fraudulent’’ claims. Let’s face it… these ‘Whiplash’ claims are a bit more than just a pain in the neck.
PS – just because it’s fun, here are four ‘fun’ (These are getting less fun as the blogs go on…) facts about the party leader;
Theresa May
Her desert island item would be a copy of Vogue.
She is an avid cricket fan.
She has a passion for hiking.
She was introduced to her husband by Benazir Bhutto
So that’s it. That is your lot. All three of the main political parties’ manifestos are now on show for the world to see. As are our three bitesize blogs so have a read and don’t forget to vote on June 8th!