General election 2024: The key policies and their merits as announced by Labour, the Tories and the SNP

The general election is upon us, and with that an influx of policies that may or may not change lives for the better.

Since Rishi Sunak announced Britain would go to the polls on July 4, most days have seen a new idea unveiled by a political party of varying merit.

These ideas don’t come from nowhere. They come from leaders desperate to win votes while also showing how they can balance the books. A series of major financial commitments have already been made, with both Labour and the Tories accusing each other of not being trustworthy when it comes to the economy. The SNP, under newly-elected leader John Swinney, have also set out to win hearts and minds on the campaign trail in Scotland.

What are the policies being put forward by the Tories, Labour and the SNP under their respective leaders?

So what are these policy ideas from the UK’s four biggest political parties, including the Liberal Democrats, and are they any good?

Conservatives

National Service

The most eye-catching policy announcement is plans for national service. Under the Conservatives’ new proposal, young people would be given a choice between a full-time placement in the armed forces for 12 months or spending one weekend a month for a year “volunteering” in their community.

Costing £2.5 billion a year by 2029/30, it has been roundly criticised as a “gimmick” by unions and opposition parties, which also argued it would do little to address issues over recruitment in the armed forces. Since 2000, the number of personnel across the UK's three military services has plummeted by almost 32 per cent due to cuts and recruitment challenges.

Despite being compulsory, home secretary James Cleverly has already admitted there will no sanctions for non-compliance.

Pensions ‘triple lock plus’

Perhaps the most controversial policy announcement so far is Mr Sunak’s promise to raise the tax-free pension allowance if the Conservatives win the general election.

Costing £2.5bn, the policy would increase the amount that some pensioners receive every year by reducing their tax liabilities, with the Conservatives saying it would mean a tax cut of around £100, rising to an average of £275 a year by the end of the next Parliament.

However, the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ (IFS) Paul Johnson queried where the saving was actually coming from, saying it was more a decision not to impose a planned tax increase “rather than an actual giveaway”.

While helping pensioners is to be lauded, the plans have also been criticised for helping those who are already wealthy, rather than doing anything to address inequality for those in work.

Defence spending

Mr Sunak has also previously announced plans to spend 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence by 2030.

The funding for this policy would largely come from slashing the size of the Civil Service, the government said, without actually explaining the scale of it. The Prime Minister’s decision comes after extensive pressure from within his own party as well as from the SNP. If the funding is explained, the policy has clear benefits in a more dangerous world.

Ending 'rip-off' degrees

The Conservatives are also taking aim at education, promising to create 100,000 high-skilled apprenticeships a year by scrapping “rip-off degrees”.

Under the plans, there would be legislation granting greater powers to the Office for Students, the universities regulator, to close degree courses that are underperforming. These would be based on drop-out rates, job progression and future earnings potential.

The Conservatives say creating 100,000 high-skilled apprenticeships would cost £885 million by the end of the next parliament in 2029-30, and shutting down the worst-performing university degrees would save an estimated £910m. Labour say the policy is “laughable”, given apprenticeship numbers have fallen in England from 500,000 in 2015 to 337,000 last year.

Labour

Closing private education tax loopholes

Labour argue private schools benefit from an unfair tax break that means they avoid paying VAT on fees. Through closing this loophole, the party says it can raise money to boost stretched state schools with 6,500 extra teachers.

The Tories say this is an attack on personal freedom and aspiration, with trade minister Greg Hands saying it would be a “disaster for Chelsea & Fulham”.

Votes for 16

Sixteen and 17-year-olds could be given the right to vote if Labour wins the general election.

Sir Keir said “if you can work, if you can pay tax, if you can serve in your armed forces, then you ought to be able to vote”, in a strong hint the policy will make the Labour manifesto. However, it has not yet been confirmed.

Great British Energy

Labour plans to turn the UK into a “clean energy superpower”, with a zero-carbon electricity system by 2030. This would be done by setting up Great British Energy, a publicly-owned body that would invest in green projects like wind farms.

With a budget of £1.7bn a year, it would be partially funded by expanding the windfall tax on oil and gas producers, which was introduced by Mr Sunak when he was chancellor.

The SNP and Tories are both critical of the plan, with Humza Yousaf saying the expansion of the windfall tax was “throwing oil and gas workers “on the scrapheap”.

And Sir Keir came under fresh criticism around the move on Friday when he admitted the body would not be an energy-generating company, leading SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn to suggest the policy had “completely unravelled”.

NHS waiting times (England)

The party is proposing to clear NHS waits over 18 weeks within five years of taking office. Given the existing government target of 92 per cent of patients being treated within 18 weeks of referral has not been met for almost a decade, this is a lofty ambition, and one that is likely to require more funding than is being promised to do so.

Housing

Labour has pledged to build 1.5 million new homes within its first five years in power, by ripping up “restrictive” laws to allow construction on “poor quality” green belt land. However, MPs consistently break party lines when it comes to building new homes in their area, so this is easier said than done.

SNP

Fiscal rules

The SNP has so far focused on criticising the policy areas they can’t control. They are now calling for both Labour and the Tories to abandon their fiscal rules and focus on spending.

There is no sign of this happening, with the shadow chancellor repeatedly stressing the importance of sticking to the fiscal rules. Ms Reeves has said every Labour policy "will be fully funded and fully costed – no ifs, no ands, no buts", and ruled out tax rises.

Budget

The SNP has also called for an emergency UK budget immediately following the election to “reverse Tory austerity cuts, boost NHS funding, and invest in economic growth”.

First Minister John Swinney said "any delay would see a Labour Party government continue to impose Tory cuts and mean Starmer is offering no change at all". The IFS has warned that Tory spending plans would lead to £18bn of cuts to public services.

NHS

An increase to health spending is almost certain to feature in the manifesto, with the SNP calling for a £15bn uplift earlier this year. This would see the Scottish Government given an extra £1.5bn. Labour has promised to back the NHS, but the rhetoric has been about spending smarter, not more.

SNP health secretary Neil Gray said: “My commitment today to our NHS workforce is that we will continue to value you in the way you deserve. And on his first day in office, the new UK government health secretary – who I think we can say at this point will almost certainly be Wes Streeting – will have me banging his door down demanding that he get round the table in good faith with NHS staff, and deliver them the pay rise they deserve.

“That is not just because it is the right thing to do on its own merits – although it clearly is. But because there are real funding implications for Scotland.”

Brexit

The SNP believe Scotland can be a full independent member of the EU. Given independence isn’t happening anytime soon, it is less than unlikely.

Liberal Democrats

NHS

The Liberal Democrats have announced a five-year plan to give patients a legal right to see a GP within a week or 24-hours if in urgent need.

They say this would be delivered by recruiting 8,000 more GPs by the end of the next parliament, delivering an extra 65 million appointments a year. Labour has also promised to increase GP numbers by improving both retention and recruitment, but the chances of the wait time being met is unclear.

Dental appointments

Reforming dentistry is another pledge, with research showing in some areas of England, two-thirds of adults had not seen a dentist in the past two years.

Vowing to end “dental deserts”, the party says it would start an emergency scheme to guarantee access to free NHS dental check-ups for those already eligible – children, young mothers, those who are pregnant and those on low incomes.

The Lib Dems would also bring dentists back to the NHS from the private sector, make changes to the NHS dental contract and use flexible commissioning to meet patient needs.

In Scotland, the Liberal Democrats have pledged to overhaul the SNP’s Recovery Plan, which barely mentions dentists, as well as boosting the number of dentists taking on NHS dentists with a workforce plan.

Abolishing Ofwat

The party’s manifesto also includes a pledge to bring in a new water regulator and scrap Ofwat.

Liberal Democrat analysis has found that since 2019, the government’s water regulator Ofwat has allowed water company executives to receive £54m in bonuses. Water companies are due to start revealing last year’s bonuses post-election.

Environment Agency data also uncovered there was a 54 per cent increase in the number of sewage spills last year compared to 2022. The number of spills of sewage into Scottish waterways has increased across 20 local authority areas in a year.

Given the widespread fury over sewage in Britain, this policy could well be adopted by Labour.