New ideas for a renewed movement

From @LabourList readers and contributors

This is the LabourList “Ideas Box”, for all your ideas on policy, action and conduct for renewing the Labour party. It is being kept at the suggestion of a LabourList reader, Thomas Fairfax, and will be available throughout the summer at the New Ideas box in the LiveList section of the front page.

This is a fluid document that will be consolidated as often as possible. Further ideas should be added to the comments at the bottom of this post. Feel free to discuss matters here, but only specific ideas will be added to the “ideas box”

At the end of the summer, LabourList will ask the contributors to write a fuller post on each idea arguing their case. We will then hold a series of polls on the most popular ideas in order to select the best three – and we will try to take these to Conference, the National Policy Forum and the party in the autumn.

Tweet your new ideas to @LabourList.

Join the conversation on Facebook.

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From a post by Ed Miliband: Ideas matter for Labour more than ever – I want to hear your one idea for the manifesto

Introduce more diversity into secondary schools. All secondary schools are clones of each other, and pupils have to take English, maths and a foreign language, however capable and interested in it they are. For some children, a much more practical course, concentrating on engineering or construction or gardening or farming might be much more suited to their interests and capabilities. Some children would be thrilled to learn how to weld a plate onto a car sub-frame to stregthen it or change a head gasket, but couldn’t care less about asking the way to the post office in French. The range of courses and exams available in the education system was much broader pre-comprehensives, and we’re lost that diversity and mix of opportunities. If we can bring back that diversity, we can enhance the life chances of those who are less interested in academic subjects, and who currently leave the education system branded as failures.
Jib Bob

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1) Scrap ID cards and national register. That’s 4.5-9 billion that can be better spent/saved. ID cards didn’t stop the Madrid bombings, or ETA even. If it can be made, it can be forged. So forget about identity theft benefits. It’ll probably make it more difficult for the victims to get things sorted out with ID cards in place.

2) Invest seriously in renewables that are 24/7. That means tidal. Not wind. Not wave.

3) Legislate for unrestricted planning permission for one community wind/wave turbine per community/parish with the understanding that this will reduce the energy costs for the residents. No mass wind farms and infrastructure in inappropriate locations.

4) Invest in ‘clean’ fusion energy research.

5) Explain clearly what will happen in the economy in the next few years, or else the Tories will get the credit, and we’ll be out for at least two parliaments. For instance, it is easy for the Tories to over state the spending cuts necessary. It is in the interest of all the opposition parties to do this. Actually a substantial amount of the debt is only theoretical. In fact after the recession, during the recovery stage, some cuts are necessary to safeguard the economic growth. At the same time some of the nationalised banks will be returned to private ownership, with the government getting this money back, probably with a profit. The Tories will get the credit for the non-appearance of an economic armageddon. Actually they will probably need to do next to nothing. Currently the line of ‘no cuts’ is not believable, and the tories quoting the treasury’s own data just makes us look stupid, or dishonest. None of which are particularly attractive to the voters.

6) Don’t replace/update Trident on a like for like basis, if at all.

7) Remember. Since the 17th Century Parliament has been there supposedly to protect our liberties not take them. That means extended detention without trial, cctv surveillance, & ID cards are un-English (they should be un-British as well).

8) No hereditary/unelected members of a reformed second chamber.
How can we claim to support equal opportunities and a meritocracy as a goal without this?

9) No child of any cabinet minister will be allowed to stand for parliament before the age of 40yrs.

10) No mud slinging. Be positive. If we go down to defeat, we don’t need to ruin chances for next time. It’s going to take a long time to regain any image of integrity.
Thomas Fairfax

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Link a commitment to ending domestic flights in Britain by 2015 with further electrification and substantial fare decreases on long-distance trunk routes.
James Stafford

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Build the social housing you promised in your manifesto twelve years ago.
Jeff Harvey

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We must reform Housing Benefit. Fear of how to meet housing costs is one of the biggest concerns for people wanting to move off long-term benefits and into work, and the bureacracy and delays in applying for it deter people from ‘trying’ a job. The system for housing cost support must be simpler and should provide a ‘shallower’ sliding scale for those in work on low incomes.
Claire McCarthy

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Housing Benefit should also cover mortgage interest and managing agent’s fees currently covered by income support which all goes if you get a job.
Jonathan Morse

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Labour must increase affordable council housing. Mortgages should be extended considerably more than 25yrs. Homeowners struggle with gigantic risks such as illness, unemployment, and especially (through no fault of there own)recessions. Stop reposessions.
Elizabeth Curtis

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Align the minimum wage and personal allowance tax threshold – and give the Low Pay Commission the statutory authority to set both figures. Just as giving Bank of England operational independence in 1997 was welcomed as devolving power, so should this be. The guidance for the figure should be based on the Rowntree foundation’s minimum income standard (ie a basic but acceptable standard of living, currently set at £13,900) In a nation as rich as ours, people should be able to afford to live in basic levels of comfort, and we shouldn’t take money away from people under that figure. I believe that raising the threshold to around £12,000 would cost approximately £20bn, less the cost of tax credits not paid and the like. Our debt interest is projected to rise from around £20bn to £50bn as a result of the increase in borrowing, so it’s not the craziest idea to say that as that figure drops back down to 40% of GDP we channel a large part of that relief into the proposal. As a manifesto committment it would be possible to plan a staged increase in the later years of an administration. You’d look to build support on the left and the right (the right wing critique of the tax credit money-go-round and people on benefits being worse off in work currently could be to some extent addressed by the proposal).
Gavin Shuker

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Radically simplify the tax, benefits and pension system. Adopt the idea of Universal Basic Income. Every citizen, by virtue of being a citizen, receives a Basic Income (BI). This is an unconditional social transfer which is payable to all citizens regardless of their economic means, family or employment status, willingness to work or accept jobs, or any other status or requirement. BI makes a guaranteed subsistence a core entitlement of citizenship. BI is an method of equitable distribution of the wealth of the country, which eliminates poverty and reduces social inequality. BI recognises social as well as economic contributions to our society as equal in value. That is it equates the value of work done by people who take on volunteering and caring roles with those in wage-earning roles. BI is fairer to people, still mainly women, who stay at home to raise a family or who take career breaks to look after elderly relatives. BI is intrinsically a fair distribution of wealth across generations. If the BI for any citizen were set at £12,500 (the current minimum wage) then we could no longer justify as a country paying pensioners less than half of this minimum. There is no need to means-test a large proportion of the poor of the country at great expense and with huge gaps in provision: people who fail to claim entitlements are disadvantaged (such as the 40% of pensioners who do not claim Pension Credit). It significantly reduces fraud which our current complex system is prone to, and which undermines its acceptance by the public and contributes to stigmatisation of claimants. Administering the Basic Income would be less bureaucratic than our current overly complex system. It would be less expensive and less demeaning than the present system. See “A Democratic Defence of Universal Basic Income” by Michael Goodhart in “Illusion of Consent: Engaging with Carole Pateman” 2008. See Carole Pateman “Democratising Citizenship: Some advantages of a Basic Income” in Politics and Society 32, #1:89-10.
Cath Arakelian

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Straighten out financial services, and I mean straighten out, using legislation if necessary so that the events of the last two or more years can never happen again on these shores. Banks and other hangers-on will squeal that “London will lose its competitive edge.” Well, maybe, but taxpayers won’t lose their shirts and tell the banks etc they can take their CDOs, CDOs (squared), CDSs and all the other ridiculous ‘instruments’ invented by the ‘rocket scientists’ far away from these shores, never to return. If other governments want to allow dangerous games to be played on their patch, well, that’s their business.
Peter Barnard

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Set feed-in tariffs to be introduced in April 2010 at an attractive level. If you get it right, feed-in tariffs should be a big vote winner, particularly after a winter of high fuel bills.
Tim Probert

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A ‘right to sell’ self-generated electricity (solar, wind, household and community) at a high rate, backed up by cheap loans/grants for the initial investment (so that everyone can afford it) and a warm fuzzy feeling for helping the planet, should be extremely popular.
Tim Probert

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1) A referendum on AV+ to be held on the same day as the General Election
2) Increased public funding of parties combined with donation caps on individuals
3) Double devolution of both power and budgets to local authorities
4) Empower the third sector with US-style tax breaks for philanthropy, social innovation funds and national volunteers corps
5) No renewal of Trident. Instead invest the 20bn in conventional forces for the Afghanistans and Kosovos of tomorrow
Marcus Roberts

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Allow Labour Councillors the ability to make genuine change at street level and regain the confidence of our supporters – to prove that we care.
John Legrys

We should create Public Equity, ie we should create funds/investment pools constituted within a partnership framework (rather than a Company or Trust framework). We may use these to invest in “Rental Pools” of affordable housing and public infrastructure, and also (Carbon Pools/Green Pools) in renewable energy (Megawatts) and energy savings (Negawatts). It may be conventional for the public sector to borrow to invest, but it is no longer necessary. Investment is currently defined as the Joint Stock Limited Liability Company :this is, after all, what makes the private sector “private”, and it is obsolescent. As financial commentators like Willem Buiter and Nicholas Taleb are pointing out, there is no solution based upon debt, and therefore the answer lies in a new generation of equity, or “quasi equity”. This changes the game.
Chris Cook

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Have a serious look at PR against First Past The Post. Personally I am not a big fan of PR but it needs to be looked at, debated and agreed on as it seems parties want PR when they are out of power and not want it when they are In.

A big shake up of the tax and benefits system. Everything needs to be looked at and a way of doing it that is fair to all, helps people when they need it and doesn’t encourage people to not work unless they genuinely can’t.

Reduce tax on fuel and make sure that the likes of BP don’t just absorb it. And don’t tell us it’s to help the environment as we all know that’s c**p the same way that road tax is not spent on the roads.

Scrap road tax and add it on fuel. That way everyone pays and it encourages them to buy more efficient cars. How much does the current system cost and what does it make?

Get the local police, council and communities to work together. Big job. Okay, huge job but so could the payback by reducing crime and getting people to feel responsible for their own lives.

Anyone caught carrying a knife? 2 years. No questions – do not pass go, do not collect £200.

Improve access to parenting classes and consider giving free ones to parents when their child is say 2 years old. We have to pass a test to drive a car but not to have children. In fact beyond about 6 months I don’t think there is any real support (feel free to correct me if I’m wrong).

Ditch the ID cards – like you think Al Qaeda couldn’t make some good forgeries?

Stop listening to things like the Fabian Think Tank and other vested political interest groups and ask normal people. Knock on some doors. Get your local party out all year round and not just 2 weeks before election time. Find out what real people want and what they don’t want. Have a go at media like The Sun all you want, but if people think you aren’t honest (idea 1) and not do anything anyway (idea 1B) they you can only blame yourself when people believe the media.
Gordon Brown-Nose

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Much tighter regulation of international credit rating agencies to curb their undue influence on UK government economic policy. Will need to work towards international agreement on same but someone’s got to start. Dull, but necessary if sensible (Keynesian) economic policy is to be pursued to take us through/beyond recession.
Paul Cotterill

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Increase the national speed limit on main motorways between 1am and 6am as much of the signage is now flexible and changeable it could be done. It would chime with a more authentic government that understands that quieter roads and increase in motorvehicle engineering should permit higher speeds. Also might encourage more to travel at night and help to move more traffic faster at that time.
Peter Milner

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A structured programme to rebuild the National Grid with realistic provisions for the power needs of Britain and at the very least, a rethink about the placement of wind farms to develop them offshore. To include the replacement of existing coal-powered generators with modern more efficient coal-powered generators and a pledge to bring in a minimum of 4 new nuclear plants in strategic locations around the UK.
Bill Dewison

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Honesty in Labour’s position on the EU and a public say in Britain’s involvement. The referendum and Gordon’s signing of Lisbon marked a new low in honesty in government. The knock on damage in trust will cause credibility issues in this election and beyond.
Peter B

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Withdraw ambulance, paramedic and A&E services for those people who choose to binge drink in town and city centres. Instead private companies should set up centres to deal with the immediate problems of drunkeness and charge the individuals for their treatment. I think the world of the NHS but the founders would have been appalled that their brilliant idea was being abused in the way it currently is, with hundreds of millions of pounds being spent, not on people unlucky enough to become ill, but on those who actively chose to harm themselves. Let’s hear no rubbish about this being the ‘thin end of the wedge’. Nobody disputes that choices are going to have to be made in the health service and we should start by cutting spending on that which is easily preventable so more can be spent on other priorities.
Louis Mazzini

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I would like to see a massive commitment to individual / civil liberties as a core of the manifesto. So, let’s ditch ID cards; abandon detention without trial; cease retention of DNA profiles (except for those convicted of *serious* crime;) put in place proper safeguards so that the NHS Spine, Contact Point etc can be used only with strong, legally-enforceable safeguards by a very restricted number of people; get rid of RIPA and replace it with something fit for purpose. I do realise that this runs entirely counter to the thrust of nuLabour over the past decade, but it’s very much in line with the cooperative/mutualist thread of our history. Let us have a new covenant between the people and a government that exists to serve them, rather than the current structure of an out-of-touch self-interested and often immoral “elected” governing group (of any political persuasion) that exists mainly to self-perpetuate and further its own interests.
Nick Weeks

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More referenda – especially at a local level – support for worker cooperatives (a solution for the IoW Vestas dispute!), and the introduction of stronger employment protection.
J Doran

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I would like to see a manifesto commitment to holding a referendum on the EU constitution, with a bold move towards more democracy by increasing the number of referenda particularly on matters affecting our political systems.
George Woodhouse

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Via Twitter

Independant IAG services across schools. Scrap Connexions.
@jimmyfrith

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Abolish Sunday trading law: allow shops to open for any length of time on a Sunday. Would provide an economic boost.
@Nick_Red

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Investment in outdoor education for our teenage children. Eg training for teachers in school, make part of compulsory curriculum.
@robhaye

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Do loads for carers/cared for. Especially autism. Free social care! Soc care ain’t just 4 old ppl.
@mrsblogs

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Re-commit to protecting Civil Liberties and protecting the individual from state and organisations. Start by a) scrapping ID Db.
@SubtleBlade

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Public ownership of railways! (A man can dream…)
@forwardadam

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The banning of domestic flights (following, of course, updates to our poor antiquated train system…)
@thedancingflea

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Nationalise utilities. They’re a necessity and should be run to serve the public, not for profit.
@BevaniteEllie

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More freedom for trade unions please.
@jamiepotter

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Renationalisation of the railways, energy companies and energy production, telecomms. Higher tax on the rich; higher minimum wage.
@daveisarobot

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Follow through with actual promises, support the environment – not just pay lip service, more funding for schools who are eco.
@ngaire_t

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Remove charitable status from Private Schools.
@KeirCoz

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A full wide ranging housing plan, including the demolition of derelict and unusable buildings to be replaced with quality homes.
@rosiehucklesby

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A full commitment to education for all, including raised standards.
@rosiehucklesby

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Fully nationalised water, electricity, transport and local services. A commitment to full employment to keep a strong economy.
@rosiehucklesby

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A transport system for the rest of the country like London’s.
@conn1231

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Give young students the opportunity to learn in the real world and be inspired by experts.
@don_simon1977

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Do not nationalise Trent Barton! Nottingham’s two bus companies work brilliantly: the council owned NCT and private Trent Barton.
@Nick_Red

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Make the Citizenship course taught at schools into a compulsory GCSE.
@thedancingflea

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Hold all elections on the same day: local, national and european. Improves turnout & removes protest against incumbent.
@Nick_Red

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Ban private education!
@forwardadam

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Seems like we can’t avoid cuts altogether – so let’s start with Trident and the National ID Database.
@garydunion

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Nationalise the buses and massively expand the network.
@PeterBowers

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Alter means testing for support such as Student Grants and EMA to account for households with more dependents.
@NTrout1

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Scrap the different rates of NMW and benefits according to age. Being under 25 is no less expensive than being 25+.
@gracefh

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Revise the entire national curriculum so that education befits today’s society – too many important elements are shoehorned in!
@thedancingflea

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Schools should teach how to budget, how to run a bank account, which bills you should pay first, what credit is…
@gracefh

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Alter Royal Prerogative powers to require House of Commons majority approval similar to US President and Senate.
@NTrout1

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National standards and enforcement agency for private landlords.
@gracefh

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Better support for people with English as a second language.
@gracefh

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Via email

Implement progressive green taxes and taxes on bads, and a wealth tax. Increase inheritance tax on the 3000 estates that the Tories want to cut inheritance tax on. Cut child tax credits for the wealthier parents

Shift the starting point of basic rate income tax from £6000 to £10000.

Create truely universal child care through state funded childcare centres run by social enterprises and consumer co-ops with a low cap on user charges, giving parents both choice and voice.

Ringfence the NHS from cuts

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1 – Implement progressive green taxes, and a wealth tax.

2 – Increase inheritance tax on the 3,000 estates that the Tories want to cut inheritance tax on.

3 – Cut child tax credits for the wealthier parents.

4 – Shift the starting point of basic rate income tax from £6,000 to £10,000.

5 – Create truly universal child care through state funded childcare centres run by social enterprises and consumer co-ops with a low cap on user charges, giving parents both choice and voice.

6 – Ringfence the NHS from cuts.

7 – Scrap ID cards.

8 – Expand oppurtunities for citizenship such as by putting parks under community ownership and a nationwide community service for those up to 19 years old.
Michael Green

From Jessica Asato’s Guest Editorship, New Ideas

Develop a British Dream based on tolerance

Pay the same child benefit to every child

Hold a referendum on the AV Plus

Ten real things that can be achieved for older people

Slash the number of ministers

Share in the profits of renewable energy

Place power in the hands of local communities

Use self-help to fill empty houses

Decriminalise drugs

From a post by Bill Dewison: Three Ideas that will change the country

1) Reduce the tax burden on low earners (say bottom 10 per cent).
2) Abolish the capital gains tax.
Phil Mill

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Decent, affordable housing has to be priority number 1.
Nick Weeks

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Raise the age at which you can buy alcohol to 21.
Dave Garland

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1) Fast breeder nuclear rectors (the only mechanism for reliable, sustainable and affordable power).
2) Term limits for MPs (15 years is long enough for anyone to be in Parliament) and the same limits also applying to the upper house
3) Trial independence for Scotland (5 years of independence followed by a vote rather than the other way round. It’s much easier to decide when you know what your’e letting yourself in for).
Alex Masterley

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1/ An Economy based on Equity, not Debt.
2/ Co-ownership of productive commons.
3/ Decentralised and participative governance.
Chris Cook

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1. Regional government within England to reduce the influence of London – with equivalent powers to the Scottish government
2. Legalisation of voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide.
3. A programme of housebuilding led by the regional governments.
Mike Homfray

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1. Abolish the House of Lords and replace with a fully elected Senate, elected by proportional representation.
2. Join the Euro single currency and Schengen Zone.
3. Introduce universal child care.
Northern Monkey

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1. Further large scale development of sure start – more family support workers to work intensively on parenting with families that are struggling to deal with raising their children -more than a couple of hours a week is needed.
2. A return to the model of social housing that provided facilities aimed at integrating communities – youth centres open and green spaces, social venues coupled now with sure start centres. The so called ‘underclass’ was only allowed to develop after the ripping apart of good quality council housing and the subsequent destruction of community facilities.
3. Renationalisation of rail and utilities.
4. Increased pay for teachers who teach in deprived areas.
Stephanie Gee

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LIBERTY
ASPIRATION
SECURITY

I chose LIBERTY first because I believe, as many other posters here do, that big government always poses a threat to individual liberty, almost regardless of the party in power. I saw centralisation and authoritarian control increase under Thatcher in the 80s and early 90s. I have seen a similar communitarian and controlling tendency in Labour in the last decade, despite devolution and some great legislation like civil partnerships. Unless it is to the direct harm of others, individual liberties should always be protected, even if it means the free speech of people we don’t like (e.g. the BNP) or accepting legitimate asylum seekers from cultures we don’t understand, changing the libel laws, scrapping ID cards, devolving power back to local authorities and communities. These liberties should be also be expressed in a Bill of Rights, and have a powerful and proper legislature to protect them

By ASPIRATION, I mean the creative productive drives of everyone to get on, and to reduce barriers of entry by focusing our economic and social policies on creating more open markets. I’m a believer in markets, but as many economists from Adam Smith to Amartya Sen have pointed out, they quickly become inefficient monopolies or oligopolies. That’s what happened in finance, it became a modal monopoly, and that was a huge source of the problem. If government is too big, many finance and stock market mechanisms make corporations equally cumbersome and unresponsive. More emphasis should be put on education, micro finance, and entrepreneurship. Britain thrives mainly because of its SME’s rather than the big corporations. These provide most the employment and wealth generation. They also provide the most creative seedbeds for new products and services. This is where our comparative advantage lies, and we’ve only just begun to find ways of liberating that talent.

By SECURITY, I mean not just policing, anti terrorism, and defence: security is a key issue when dealing with the turbulent vagaries of the global market, with crime and social deprivation, with environmental threats and climate change. In order to be productive and creative, we need to mitigate some of the worst effects of social atomism, ecological degradation, and international conflict. There need not be any inconsistency with either LIBERTY or ASPIRATION here. Security is a precondition for a functioning market, and the protection of individual rights.
Peter Jukes

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Cradle to the grave for the 21st Century
Every Child Counts
– strengthen sure start
– free childcare for everyone earning less than 30k pa
– youth club in every ward

Rebalance the Economy
– axe to red tape
– big investment in public transport infrastructure
– strategic investment in ‘new’ industries
– £5,000 prize and free tuition for any adult without GCSE Maths and English to get qualification

Free Minimum Standard of Long Term Care for all older folk

Eagle-eyed readers will spot spending commitments there. I’m afraid we’ve got to bite the bullet on public spending – public sector pay-freeze (to match one that taking place in the private sector?)
Mark Hanson

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1. Let us vote on EVERY bill put before Parliament. It is possible. If X Factor can manage it, so can government.
2. Put a price tag on EVERYTHING bought by the State on our behalf. If a bandage costs the NHS £14.99, I want to know about it. It’s my money. If an “environmental impact assessment” on the local kids playground is costing £2000 I want to know.
3. Get rid of the Whips. Immediately. They are not democratic and do not work in the interests of the People in any way.
Old Holborn

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From a post by Alastair Campbell: I’m guest editing the New Statesman – and I’m asking for your Labour manifesto proposals

Introduce a maximum wage policy. In any firm or public enterprise no one is allowed to be paid more than 10 times the hourly rate of the person on the lowest wage.
Martin Rathfinder

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If any elected representative lies to the British public he/she should be removed from office and banned from office for life or a period of years dependant on how serve the deception is. The guilt will be decided by the new Supreme court but only if the Parliament standards commission or other such body refers it to the court. The Parliament standards commission (or other such body) must remain impartial so that politicians are not removed on a partisan basis.

Of course people will not be removed for misspeaking and they will not be removed if the lie can be proved to be in the nations interest. Furthermore if the government stated that it would cut crime by, for example, 15% in x amount of years and failed to do so unless someone can prove that the government did not take all steps possible with the situation they had then no minister will be removed from office, situations change and as such so must policy.
Louis Rynsard

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The new Government needs to start regulating for community groups and local charities – provide targeted support and help for people to take ownership of their environment. More state support and opportunities for people to lead on issues that they are passionate about. Let’s try and change they way the population view their jobs and try to widen their responsibilities outside their own immediate interests. The rise of online social networks has shown that people want to be part of a community – let’s start building these communities physically.
Alex Bone

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Grant every young adult up to £20,000 on turning 18 years old as a reflection of the stake they hold in society. This sum will go some way to level out the inequalities in opportunity that are currently inherent in our society. It will empower each young adult with the ability to pay for their University Education, pay for a vocational education, to start a new business, to save for their own home. The size of the grant awarded is to be means tested.

This party will re-nationalise the railway network as after 18 years of privatisation, the merits of price competition and efficiency that were its intended consequences have yet to manifest themselves. The current railway network is in dire need of large amounts of coordinated capital investment and it must not put the individual at the behest of profiteering private firms – only the state is capable of ensuring these.

This party will renew its commitment to democratic and constitutional reform in this country, and will do so by completing the reform of the House of Lords. The new House of Lords should be fully elected, and be elected by PR, and at a different times to the General Election to ensure that the House of Lords does not become a replica of the House of Commons.
Pier Barrett

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Through investment in renewable energy and the creation of green collar jobs, we will make Britain a self-sustaining nation in terms of energy generation by 2020.
Richard Green

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I would like to see Labour help communities to have a stake in local green energy generation, so that we all share in the profit – it’s fair (it’s our air after all), would change some NIMBYs minds about wind farms, would make us more careful about how we use energy and could help reduce fuel poverty.
Melanie Smallman

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Legislate to ensure that interest rates cannot be charged at more than 2% per month (26.8% APR).
Stephen Sweeney

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1. Make voting in local and national elections compulsory
2. Introduce free prescriptions in the UK
3. Introduce post graduate student loans
4. Make all television channels free to air
5. Scrap all advertising of Junk Food
6. Scrap 24 hour alcohol licensing laws
7. Legislate for introduction of folic acid to bread manufacture
8. Put an end to child abuse and FGM in the UK
9. Increase the minimum wage for all workers
10.Make it illegal to drive a vehicle with any amount of alcohol in the blood
Judith Haire

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1. Lower voting age to 16.
2. Re-nationalise railway networks that are failing.
3. Remove House of Lords.
4. Introduce a new higher rate of income tax.
5. Limit MPs Expenditure.
Tim Davies

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By rebalancing the Paternity/Maternity system and treating parents equally, Labour will give families more choice in their childcare arrangements, support responsible fathers and reduce pay inequality.”

The government invested in netmums, the popular website for new mums, yet it has taken them months to realise that investing in such a site for fathers could also be useful too. Why the delay?

We should also rebalance the maternity/paternity system. When a family have to decide on childcare, they have a choice of 2 weeks Paternity leave vs up to 12 months maternity leave. Throw in the historical gender pay inequality and this means there is no real choice – the mother stays at home and the dad is back to work.

This system means it is inevitably the women who miss work, and the networking, training and promotions they would see in that year. This in turn contributes to the gender pay gap.

Why not have shared childcare leave where a family can choose how to use their 12 months and choose which parent stays at home and when? This could reduce discrimination of women in the work place and reduce the pay gap.
Carlo Gibbs

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We will make fair trade the norm, because fairness is not a luxury. Our values of equity and justice extend beyond our borders.
Nick Roxburgh

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Every Manifesto promise will have attached to it a price and a timeline for implementation.

Any MP found to be falsely claiming expenses or diverting public money (inadvertently or not) to their Party funds will be thrown out of the house and debarred from public office for 5 years.
Chris Jones

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Labour is committed to the UK being at the forefront of the digital technology and will pledged to ensure a “fiber to home” network for every major UK city within five years and all of the UK within ten years.
Arnie Saccnusson

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We will change the system for MPs expenses so that they are subject to the same rules and scrutiny as every other citizen. Expenses will be audited by an independent auditor. (but not Necessarily made public)

A small team of accountants will be appointed to spot check and audit expense claims.

MPs salaries will be decided by an independent board and the current practice of MPs voting for their own pay rises will be abolished.

The practice of MPs claiming for second homes will be overhauled by an independent board. The aim being that only reasonable costs may be reclaimed, Mock Tudor gables and rockeries will not be paid for by the public. Payments for material improvements (not maintenance) to the property will be repaid when an MP sells the property.

MPs will not be able to employ members of their family, thus keeping the relationship between staff and employer totally professional and propriety beyond all reasonable doubt.

Any MP found to be defrauding the tax payer will be dealt with in exactly the same was as any other citizen and prosecuted to the limit of the law.

Any MP or Lord or appointed official found guilty of using their position of authority for personal gain will be prosecuted and banned from public office for life. Any bribes or payments to them shall be repaid tenfold.

Any MP or Lord found guilty of manipulating the operations of government for personal gain (offering law amending services for cash) will be sentenced to 10 years in prison and have their property confiscated by the state.

Any Lord or MP found guilty of any criminal offence shall be banned from public office for life. This will be retrospective.

Any member of the government forced to resign in disgrace more than twice shall be banned from public office for life.

Any MP caught taking an illegal donation will be fined a sum of ten times the amount of the donation.
Crazy Carrot

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We are committed to ensuring that schools are at the heart of the local community, with regular community and social events at which teachers and parents can meet; where former pupils are obliged to stay engaged with their successors and provide mentoring and community links; and where teachers, like the students they serve, are drawn directly from the local community.

We are committed to legislating for a national holiday to commemorate Remembrance Day on the closest Monday to November 11.

We are committed to ensuring that all state schools wil have the freedom to include local social History in their curricula.

We are committed to a full educational programme in economics and citizenship.
Alex Smith

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Equalise the Barnett formula.
Paul Afshar

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1. I would like to see compulsory voting for general and local elections.
2. And I would like to see an end to charitable status for private schools.
Alastair Campbell