Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer will participate in their first televised leaders’ debate of the election campaign on Tuesday, ahead of the General Election on July 4.
Conservative Proposals: 1. Mandatory National Service: 18-year-olds will choose between a 12-month placement in the armed forces or community volunteer work one weekend a month for a year. 2. Tax Break for Pensioners: A £2.4 billion tax break, incrementally increasing pensioners’ income tax personal allowance until 2029-30. 3. Defence Spending: Increase defence expenditure to 2.5% of GDP by 2030. 4. Apprenticeships and Education: Boost apprenticeships and eliminate degrees offering poor value. 5. Tax Stability: No increases to income tax, national insurance, or VAT. 6. Fly-Tipping and Anti-Social Behavior: Penalties for fly-tippers and a three-strike rule to evict anti-social tenants from social housing. 7. Levelling Up Funding: Allocate £20 million to each of 30 towns. 8. Healthcare: Expand community care, including Pharmacy First and new GP surgeries. 9. Equality Act Amendment: Define “sex” as “biological sex.”
Labour Proposals: 1. Reduce Treatment Backlogs: Deploy teams to establish evening and weekend clinics to alleviate NHS backlogs. 2. Youth Smoking Ban: Revive plans to prohibit young people from smoking. 3. Increase Police Presence: Employ 13,000 more police officers and PCSOs, costing up to £400 million. 4. Tax Stability: No increases to income tax, national insurance, or VAT. 5. Great British Energy: Create a publicly owned company to invest in domestic energy and lower consumer prices. 6. Welfare and Employment Reform: Aim to raise employment rates from 75% to 80%. 7. Migration: Reduce net migration via educational reforms, without setting specific targets. 8. Foreign Aid Budget: Ensure it does not cover asylum seekers’ hotel costs immediately. 9. Coroners' Powers: Allow coroners more access to data from tech companies after a child’s death. 10. Defence Spending: Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP when economic conditions permit. Establish a new strategic defence review. 11. Nuclear Deterrent: Commit to a triple-lock plan for the UK's nuclear deterrent.
The debate will be broadcast on the BBC and mark a key moment in the lead-up to the election.