Naturally Unnatural Issue #7 6th June 2017 | Page 9

Issue #7, 6th June 2017
cover the lack of funding the health ser-
The increase in national living wage poli- vice currently receives and forcing stu-
dents to leave immediately after they
cy makes very little sense and the detail
means they can essentially make it as low have finished their course, will make stu-
as they want and making sure businesses dents think twice over studying in the UK
have access to cheap power is merely ex- which will hit our universities (who con-
tribute £80 billion to the UK economy)
ercise that will have little effect.
hard.
...continued from page 8
Immigration
They will continue with their plan to re-
duce immigration below 100,000, force
foreign workers and students to pay more
for NHS care and make foreign students
leave the UK after their course.
Culture and tourism
Allow a free vote on the reintroduction on
fox hunting, faith schools must prove that
children from other faiths and none are
welcome and introduce a new cultural
development fund. They have also back-
They have failed every time to reduce im- tracked on their promise to ban the sale of
migration and have had that target since
ivory in the UK.
2010, in fact, immigration has increased
Fox hunting is an abhorrent blood-sport
under Conservative governance. Hitting
that doesn’t have a place in modern socie-
migrants with higher NHS fees will not
The Labour manifesto
in brief
By Matthew Clifton
The general election is approaching
quickly and the manifestos are all out,
after a brief look at the Conservative
manifesto, we look at Labour’s mani-
festo. Before the release of the manifes-
to itself, it was leaked and few changes
were made to the final copy after it re-
ceived a positive reaction from the pub-
lic. Whether this was an acute tactical
move has been up for argument, none-
theless, it garnered the reaction that
Labour’s top brass would have wanted.
Most elections the differences between
the Conservative manifesto and Labour
haven’t been huge, they were noticeable
in what their focus was, however, they
weren’t opposites. But this time is differ-
ent, because with Jeremy Corbyn’s La-
bour, we see a manifesto that differs sig-
nificantly.
NHS of approximately £30 billion over the
next 5 years, ensure people have access
to treatment within 18 weeks and end
charges in hospital car parks. Also, they
plan to reverse all current privatisation
within the NHS.
With the increase in funding promised to
the NHS it will set about increasing care
for those who need it, but is the funding
deliverable? It is if they follow through
with clamping down on tax avoidance and
increasing tax for the highest earners.
Most of that money raised will go towards
the NHS. There are concerns that even
with Labour’s spending plans, the NHS
will remain underfunded but it does de-
pend on where the £30 billion is spent.
Education
They plan to scrap university tuition fees,
make sure that class sizes are less than 30
pupils and provide free school meals for
all primary school children.
ty, nothing more needs to be said on the
subject. The policy on faith schools is an
unusual one and there is a fear that au-
thorities could unfairly target those with a
Muslim majority. Whilst it is right that all
schools should promote social integration,
rather than assimilation. Concerns over
how the power will be used along with the
fact that state intervention over religious
matters such as faith schools, undermines
the separation of state and religion.
They have yet to be more specific over
what the new cultu ral development fund
will be, how much and where it will come
from. Plus, they have backtracked on the
ivory ban because of pressure from an-
tique dealers, despite nations around the
world tackling the issue of illegal poach-
ing and the endangering of African ele-
phants.
tax etc. You will find the image provided
is the costings for Labour’s manifesto fully
laid out.
The economy
Raise the taxes for those who are earning
over £80,000, raise the minimum wage to
£10 per hour by 2020 and as previously
stated increase corporation tax to 26%,
raising £19.4 billion.
Not much can be said of the above apart
from fears that businesses could be
scared by both the raise in corporate tax
and minimum wage rise. However, under
Margaret Thatcher, corporation tax was at
52% and that never scared big businesses
plus, our tax would still be competitive
with other G7 nations. The money raised
through these means would be spent on
better infrastructure, education and the
rise in wages will see higher levels of dis-
posable income, meaning people will
spend it on the high streets, boosting
businesses.
Again, the main argument has been “how
Continued on page 10...
will you fund this?” but again that will
Health and social care
largely be funded through clamping down
Labour plan an increase of funding for the on tax avoidance, increase in corporation
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