Conservative & Labour

Liberal Democrats

• Savings and investment in industry were too low.
• Short-term attitudes resulted in education and productivity levels lagging behind those of our major competitors.
• British wages are amongst the lowest in Europe.
• We were given the biggest tax rises since 1945.

The Conservatives idea of economic management is nothing but a sick joke. During the 1992 General Election the former Prime- minister John Major promised:

"Vote Conservative on Thursday and the recovery continues on Friday" 

Several months later and the events of  'Black Wednesday' proved that the Conservatives had lied when the governments economic policies fell apart and the pound had to be devalued.

During their eighteen years in government the Conservatives took Britain to the depths of two recessions. A large number of companies went out of business, people had their homes repossessed and millions of people lost their jobs.

Even during the depths of recession voters thought Labour would do a worse job than the conservatives at running the economy. Labour economic plans just don't add up, especially after they adopted Conservative policy, even as the Conservatives own mistakes became increasingly apparent.

In opposition Labour continually complained about underfunding but refused to say how they'll raise any more money. Since coming into government Labour's economic policy is based upon:

'Giving with one hand and taking away with the other'.

• Expand the zero tax band, taking 750,000 people out of tax. This would benefit most tax payers. The lost revenue would be recovered by a new top rate of tax on people earning over £100,000, affecting just 120,000 taxpayers and raising over a £1 billion.
• Invest more in education and training because skilled people can build a strong economy.
• Keep inflation low by giving responsibility for monetary policy to a Bank of England reformed asa UK Reserve Bank, with operational independence.
• Ensure that, over the economic cycle, government borrowing is only used to finance capital investment and the urgent renewal of Britain's infrastructure.
• Promote economic regeneration by giving new powers to local and regional authorities and encouraging the expansion of regional development agencies and local investment banks.
• Encourage small businesses, self-employed and enterprise, with action against the late payment of debt.
• Strengthen competition policy.
• A gradual shift of the burden of business taxation away from employers' NICs and towards taxes on resources.

We would also seek to create a stable framework for investment including:

• The adoption of medium and long term saving targets for the economy as a whole and measures to encourage investment.
• An anti-inflation strategy based on an independent central bank, and an active fiscal policy.
• A commitment to comprehensible and publicly announced principles of macro economics management.