They promised so much at the election, but what’s gone on the deficit-reduction scrapheap since then? FactCheck looks at a few of the pledges the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have dropped in the name of coalition and cost cutting.
Conservative promises
“We support tax credits and will continue to provide the range of tax credits to families, although we can no longer justify paying tax credits to households earning more than £50,000.”
Conservative Manifesto
In fact, they went further in the government’s first budget – reducing the eligibility of families with an income of more than £40,000 to get child tax credits and removing the baby element of child tax credits from April 2011.
Osborne did today raise the child element of the Child Tax Credit by £30 in 2011-12 and £50 in 2012-13 above indexation, but don’t forget the cuts to child benefit which weren’t in their manifesto. And that generic commitment to tax credits now seems a little shakier. Unions are claiming changes to the system, including in the number of hours worked to claim them, will cost families. Today’s changes do mean about £2bn less will be paid out in tax credits.
“I would like to take this opportunity to say very clearly to any pensioner in the audience… we’ll keep the winter fuel allowance.”
David Cameron, Second Leaders’ Debate, 22 April 2010
Osborne did say today that “Winter Fuel Payments will remain exactly as budgeted for by the previous Government – as promised.” But don’t expect that to mean the amount pensioners get this year will stay the same next year. The Labour government introduced a top-up to the payments of £50 for over 60s and £100 for over 80s, but that’s due to stop in 2011-12, and as yet there are no plans to continue it.
“We will increase spending on health in real terms every year”
Conservative Manifesto
“I think it is special, the NHS, and we made a special exception of the NHS”
David Cameron, First Leaders’ Debate, 15 April 2010
The NHS budget will increase in real terms – but by just 0.1 per cent above inflation each year. That compares to 6 per cent real terms increases each year under Labour – so those in the Health Service will have less than they’re used to. The NHS is also expected to make “efficiency savings” of £15bn-£20bn, to be reinvested. And more jobs are likely to go – the Royal College of Nurses estimates more than 10,000 jobs have already gone in recent months.
“We will stop the forced closure of A&E and maternity wards, so that people have better access to local services.”
Conservative Manifesto
And yet reports of A&E and maternity wards closing still abound, with Queen Mary’s Sidcup NHS trust, University Hospital of Hartlepool and Rochdale Infirmary all shutting A&E units over the winter because of staff shortages. We’ll have to wait and see if the coalition can turn this one around.
“Provide 10,000 extra university places this year.”
Conservative Manifesto
It’s a FactCheck favourite – yes they did, but it is also 10,000 fewer than the 20,000 places the Labour party planned to create.
“We will make sure if we get involved in these conflicts in the future, we don’t have the situation where we have had troops on the ground without enough helicopters.”
David Cameron, First Leaders’ Debate, 15 April 2010
Yesterday’s Defence Review reduced the number of new Chinook helicopters that the government will buy – from 22 ordered by the Labour government, to 12.
“You cannot put off this decision (to renew Trident)…You have to make it early, you have to keep your country safe and secure.”
David Cameron, Second Leaders’ Debate, 22 April 2010
And yet that is exactly what they’ve done. It was announced in the Defence and Security Review yesterday that the final decision on the Trident nuclear deterrent will be delayed until after the next general election, although David Cameron did insist that they would push ahead with replacement, albeit with the project scaled back.
“We are determined that early release will not be introduced again, so we will redevelop the prison estate and increase capacity as necessary to stop it.”
Conservative Manifesto
In today’s Spending Review, George Osborne said that £1.3bn will be provided to maintain prisons and fund “essential” prison building projects, but plans for a new fifteen hundred place prison have been postponed as part of a 23 per cent cut in the Ministry of Justice’s budget, over the next four years. That’s likely to lead to 3,000 fewer prison places – and a leaked memo shows there are plans to slash 9,000 prison and probation jobs.
“When someone smashes up the bus stop, when someone repeatedly breaks the law… as a magistrate, you’ve got to have that power for a short prison sentence when you’ve tried the other remedies.”
David Cameron, First Leaders’ Debate, 15 April 2010
This might be a difficult one to stick to now – given that the Ministry of Justice now estimates a likely reduction of 3,000 prison places to help it make cuts of 23 per cent over four year. And on the specifics of short sentences while they haven’t been abolished, Justice Secretary Ken Clarke did shock us all by taking a more Lib Dem-sounding line to look more at alternative punishments.
“I think that would show people that going green actually can save you money. It can actually get Britain working again, it can cut carbon emissions, it can cut fuel poverty. For all those reasons, I’d want it to be a really big part of the first Queen’s Speech.”
David Cameron, Second Leaders’ Debate, 22 April 2010
Well, we’ll leave it up to you to decide how big a part of the Queen’s Speech it ended up being – we can only see one line saying “Legislation will be introduced to improve energy efficiency in homes and businesses, to promote low carbon energy production and to secure energy supplies.”
Liberal Democrat promises
“To boost the economy and create jobs for those who need them, we will begin our term of office with a one-year economic stimulus and job creation package.”
Liberal Democrat Manifesto
This pledge was dispensed with in the coalition agreement back in May in favour of the Conservatives’ approach to cut £6bn this year, which Osborne was swift to announce after taking office.
“Scrap unfair university tuition fees for all students taking their first degree, including those studying part-time, saving them over £10,000 each.”
Liberal Democrat Manifesto
It’s well documented how that one turned out – Business Secretary Vince Cable’s welcome of the Lord Browne review into higher education funding paved the way for higher fees, paid back after graduation in a similar way to how they are currently.
“Cut rail fares… so that regulated fares fall behind inflation by 1 per cent each year, meaning a real-terms cut.”
Liberal Democrat Manifesto
In fact, as Channel 4 News has previously reported and Mr Osborne confirmed today, it’ll be a rise of RPI plus three per cent for three years from 2012 – a bit embarrassing for the Lib Dem transport minister responsible, Norman Baker.
“Reject a new generation of nuclear power stations.”
Liberal Democrat Manifesto
That’s not quite what Chris Huhne said on Tuesday when he paved the way for eight new nuclear power stations around the country. They also ditched a barrage across the Severn Estuary which was to generate tidal power on cost grounds – although scrapping this plan was also supported by conservationists.
“I’m the only leader here who is saying very clearly I don’t think we can either justify or afford the like-for-like replacement of the Cold War nuclear missile system, the Trident missile system.”
Nick Clegg, First Leaders’ Debate, 15 April 2010
David Cameron insisted that the government was pushing ahead with replacing the independent nuclear deterrent when he presented the Defence Review yesterday, although Cameron hasn’t had it all his own way on this either – the final decision has been put back to 2016, which the Lib Dems say will provide an opportunity to look at alternatives, and the project has been scaled back.
“I wouldn’t carry on spending money on the Eurofighter Typhoon, consuming billions of pounds.”
Nick Clegg, Second Leaders’ Debate, 22 April 2010
At the moment, the purchase is still going ahead and yesterday’s Strategic Defence and Security Review also paved the way for this.
“In terms of the Royal Air Force, by the 2020s it will be based around a fleet of two of the most capable fighter jets anywhere in the world: a modernised Typhoon fleet fully capable of air-to-air and air-to-ground missions; and the Joint Strike Fighter, the world’s most advanced multi-role combat jet,” the review said.
“Firstly, quite simply, more police on our streets… For pretty well exactly the amount of money, your money, that the government is pouring into that (ID cards), we could put 3,000 more police officers on the streets. That is the absolute priority for me.”
Nick Clegg, First Leaders’ Debate, 15 April 2010
Police spending is going to fall by 4 per cent each year, Osborne announced today, but he insisted that will not affect the quality of frontline police services. But that’s not putting more police on the streets.
The Police Federation says there has already been a cut in police numbers and recruitment bans in some forces, and they expect that to rise, with up to 5,000 or 6,000 job losses in the next year.
“I don’t know why they want to cut the schools building project programme. That’s a silly thing to do. We need to continue to invest in our schools building.”
Nick Clegg, Third Leaders’ Debate, 29 April 2010
That went out the window in July when Education Secretary Michael Gove suspended projects for 715 new schools. And Osborne confirmed that today when he called the programme “hopelessly inefficient and overcommitted.” £15.8bn of maintenance and refurbishment will go ahead.
“Give both Royal Mail and post offices a long-term future, by separating Post Office Ltd from the Royal Mail and retaining Post Office Ltd in full public ownership. 49 per cent of Royal Mail will be sold to create funds for investment. The ownership of the other 51 per cent will be divided between an employee trust and the government.”
Liberal Democrat Manifesto
That’s changed a bit too. Vince Cable’s bill last week paved the way for private buyers to purchase up to 90 per cent of Royal Mail, with the other 10 per cent being offered to staff – although the government will take on the Royal Mail pension fund liabilities. The Post Office, meanwhile, may also not stay in full public ownership but be mutualised instead.
