Party Policies Compare Green policies against Conservative policies

We will require large and medium sized companies to carry out an independently audited annual audit of their social and environmental impact.

Current trends such as subcontracting are eroding employment rights and adversely affecting the most disadvantaged in society. Short-term contracts shall not be used as a way of avoiding statutory rights.

Registers of genuinely self-employed workers will be set up in appropriate industries e.g. construction. Businesses using non registered labour will be automatically deemed to be employers.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

A Green approach to crime reduction therefore places significant focus on the social causes of crime. As well as social crime prevention, this includes a broader range of social policies which will lessen the social pressures, such as poverty, inequality or addiction to illegal drugs, to commit crime.

We will introduce the principle of "restorative justice", which while denouncing the crime, deals constructively with both the victim and the offender. The primary aim will be to restore and, if necessary, improve the position of the victim and the community; the offender will be required to make amends.

Creation of Department of Crime Prevention: in addition to traditional modes of crime prevention, these departments will also promote social crime prevention.

Creation of Departments of Justice: in addition to responsibility for the judicial system, sentencing policy and practice, these departments will also sponsor services such as assistance to victims.

Ensuring universal access to high quality youth facilities and open spaces.

Improving street lighting and ensuring people-friendly street design.

Ensuring prompt repairs of public amenities and spaces.

Increasing resources for caretakers, attendants and staff on estates, railway stations, parks and other public areas.

Tackling drug related crime by pursuing measures.

Appointment of more community and part-time police.

Recruitment to police forces emphasising selection of candidates with previous experience in other walks of life.

More local police stations.

A comprehensive strategy will be adopted to tackle, significantly reduce and ultimately end hate crime.

We will bring to an end the disproportionate targeting of ethnic minorities through stop and search.

The Green Party calls for the repeal of the Vagrancy Act 1824 because it is open to abuse by police and government. It discriminates against homeless people and wrongly labels them as criminals when their plight is a social problem.

Prisoners will be granted the right to vote. Any decision to deny a prisoner the vote will be taken only by a judge, taking into account the particular circumstances of his/her case.

When individuals fail to make reparation or to pay taxes, maintenance, or other moneys where the present penalty for non-payment is imprisonment, they will be required to make reparation for their default through service to the community if no other way of recovering the money is effective.

The physical and social standards of prisoners will be improved so that as far as possible the only limitation on the dignity of their lives will be the denial of freedom of movement outside the prison.

Existing women's prisons should be replaced with suitable geographically dispersed, small, multi-functional custodial centres.

Cannabis would be removed from the 1971 Misuse of drugs act. The possession, trade and cultivation of cannabis would be immediately decriminalised, roughly following the Dutch model.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

On inspection, there is little or no threat of direct invasion of the UK by any nation. Commitment to a large standing army, a navy of large warships around our coastline, squadrons of fighter planes and a cripplingly expensive missile defence system is therefore unnecessary.

Similarly, the unhelpful and aggressive concept of nuclear deterrence (with the inherent dangers of handling concentrated radioactive substances) is also redundant. As such, immediate nuclear disarmament would be a priority of a Green Government.

The role for military personnel in defending sensitive establishments would also be reduced by the fact that they would be severely reduced in number. At present the military has a sizeable commitment to defending itself, particularly facilities related to nuclear weaponry.

A residual role for military personnel would exist in detection and apprehension of criminals attempting to by-pass customs and immigration.

All serving personnel will be required to sign a pledge that they will not obey any order which would entail any breach of international law. In particular they will be able to disobey any order that required them to fire on unarmed civilians of their own or any other country.

We would reform the Territorial Army to become a body of both civilian and military volunteers, willing to contribute their services in times of domestic and international crisis. As such doctors, nurses, civil engineers, heavy plant drivers and administrators (for example) would be encouraged to make themselves available for reserve work.

The minimum age of recruitment to the Armed Forces will be 18 or older. All members of the Armed Forces will be entitled to the same rights as any civilian employee, including the rights to refuse orders on grounds of conscience and trade union membership.

Some military training areas should be decommissioned and used as nature reserves, with suitable provision for access by the public.

Weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons and biological weapons must be dismantled and banned by international agreement.

Sales of military equipment to other countries will be tightly controlled by a stricter licensing system involving the Foreign Office, Ministry of Defence, Department for International Development, and Revenue and Customs.

It is deeply regrettable that the EU has taken the first steps towards militarisation, by the formation of the so-called Rapid Reaction Force. Our primary aim is to reverse this process.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is a military-oriented body, which imposes conflict cessation rather than encouraging peace building. As such, it is not a sustainable mechanism for maintaining peace in the world. We would take the UK out of NATO unilaterally. We would also end the so-called "special relationship" between the UK and the US.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

A 50% income tax would be payable by those that earn more than £100,000 a year.

People worth £3m or more would pay a wealth tax of 1%-2%.

Railways and energy companies would be renationalised.

Interest rates on the lending of money should be capped at a reasonable rate linked to the Bank of England interest rate. Any money lent should always be preceded by sufficient credit checks.

We would introduce limits on the sizes of banks: no bank operating in the UK would be permitted to have access to more than 10% of the domestic market or 5% of the global market.

A Green government will create a Green National Investment Bank out of one or more of the currently 'nationalised' banks. This bank would focus on funding the move to a green economy by investment in green technologies, renewables, energy efficiency programmes, and providing funds for worker-led buyouts of medium and largesized companies.

Personal tax-free allowances will be abolished, having effectively been replaced by the Citizen's Income. Income Tax will be levied on all income above the Citizen's Income. A Citizen's Income sufficient to cover an individual's basic needs will be introduced, which will replace tax-free allowances and most social security benefits.

Under a green taxation system, National Insurance will be abolished as a separate entity and merged into general Income Tax.

Capital Gains Tax exemptions/thresholds will also be removed with the exception of a person's only or main home which will continue to be exempt.

Inheritance Tax will be reformed so that it is calculated on a "recipient basis" (i.e. with reference to the circumstances of the person receiving the inheritance rather than the donor).

The Green Party would close any existing loopholes so that company profits earned in the UK were taxed here, even where this would mean that profits of trans-national corporations may be taxed twice - once in the UK and again in a foreign country.

The Green Party would phase out VAT over a period of time and replace it with a system of environmental taxation measures ("eco-taxes").

We will explore the feasibility of a tax on superstar performances which is hypothecated to local cultural enterprises.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

We will move towards a system in which early years education extends until the age of 6. This will mean that academic learning is not introduced until the age of 6. That does not preclude those who wish to enter their children into school earlier from doing so.

There will be greater health involvement in these [early] important years and health visitors will make regular visits to all early years establishments.

It will continue to be compulsory for all young people to be educated between the years of 7-16. From the age of 14 this may be provided through a variety of contexts including through skills and practical training, vocational placements and at Youth Schools.

The Green Party will abolish external SATS exams and the Year 1 Phonics Test.

The Green Party will abolish league tables in their current form as they give an over-inflated impression of schools with a higher ability intake which can contribute towards problems with admissions.

The Green Party will instate a system of local accountability using continuous, collaborative assessment of schools. We would replace OFSTED with an independent National Council of Educational Excellence which would have regional officers tasked to work closely with Local Authorities.

We will conduct pilot projects to explore the benefits of all-year- round opening of schools; at the same time, we will also encourage greater community use of school buildings and equipment.

In the long run we would work towards class sizes of 20 at both secondary and primary level.

We would also work towards having smaller schools with a maximum size of 700 for secondary schools. There is evidence that smaller schools have a more positive ethos which can reduce behavioural problems.

Existing large schools will be supported to reorganise internally into smaller communities ('mini-schools').

Schools which remain in the private sector would be classed as a business and have all charitable status removed; they would pay all relevant taxes such as VAT and Corporation Tax.

The Green Party is opposed to creating more Academies and Free Schools and will support community, school and parent campaigns that share this aim. The Green Party will integrate Academies and Free Schools into the Local Authority school system.

The Green Party will allow no new grammar schools and gradually integrate grammar and secondary modern schools into the comprehensive system.

Where parents still choose to educate their children at home this would be supported by Local Authorities which would work to ensure that all young people have a broad and diverse education of a high quality.

We will abolish the requirement for a compulsory daily act of worship. Schools which choose to continue to hold acts of worship will provide an alternative activity for learners who choose not to take part.

It will be a minimum requirement that all children are provided free of charge with a balanced nutritious lunch including local and organic non-GM food, free from additives.

The Green Party opposes the introduction of performance related pay in education.

Under a Green government there would be no student loans as there would be no tuition fees and living costs would be met by Citizen's Income.

There will be a minimum requirement for Universities and Higher Education Institutions to offer a free creche to students and staff, nappy changing and breast-feeding facilities as well as religious facilities such as prayer spaces to cater for people from a wide range of ages, religions and ethnic backgrounds.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Ban fracking, phase out coal power stations and say no to new nuclear.

The Green Party calls for the establishment of annual targets for global and national greenhouse gas emissions reductions, and for the establishment of effective enforcement mechanisms. The Green Party policies shall be consistent with the UK doing its fair share in achieving RCP2.6 greenhouse gas level targets or similar pathways described in the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Emissions Gap Reports.

The Green Party calls for the establishment of a number of targets for global and national greenhouse gas emissions reductions, and for the establishment of effective enforcement mechanisms. All targets herein relate to a baseline of emissions in 1990, as in the Kyoto Protocol.

We should aim steadily to reduce all UK greenhouse gas emissions to 10% of their 1990 levels by 2030.

The Green Party calls for urgent replacement of the Kyoto Protocol with a new protocol which meets the requirement for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in line with prevailing science and which has an equal focus on safeguarding carbon sinks.

In line with party policy on applying the precautionary principle, the Green Party calls for an immediate moratorium on agrofuels from largescale monocultures - a period for scientists and policy makers in the EU and western nations to gain a greater understanding of the true impacts on the social, human rights, land rights, climate impact, and biodiversity impact issues.

he Green Party also calls for a moratorium on the use and development of genetically engineered crops and trees, microbes and fungi for the production of any biofuels including agrofuels, due to the high environmental risks involved in GM technology.

The Green Party calls for an emergency international agreement to stop global deforestation. This must be developed as a priority and implemented in full consultation with the local and indigenous communities recognising traditional land rights.

The Green Party believes that we all have an obligation to live within the natural limits of our environment and to adopt lifestyles that will not irrevocably damage the environment for future generations.

Increase the area and quality of woods, orchards, agroforestry, hedges and other tree cover.

Ensure food security, integrating human health and wellbeing, environmental protection, animal welfare and decent livelihoods for farmers, farm workers and growers.

The Green Party will make it a general offence to cause cruelty to wild animals or suffering where it can be practicably avoided.

The Green Party will ensure that wildlife-rich sites are adequately protected and extend a basic level of habitat protection to the whole countryside. We will ensure that there are sufficient resources to enforce the legislation.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

We will resist all attempts to introduce a 'barrier round Europe' shutting out non-Europeans or giving them more restricted rights of movement within Europe than European Nationals.

While remaining opposed in principle to the Single Market as currently envisaged, the Green Party believes that Greens in Europe must attempt to mitigate its effects.

A Europe wide and co-ordinated attack on corporate tax evasion, including offshore banking centres, and the regulation of corporate investments in a manner involving the wishes of the affected community.

The Green Party supports the closure of all nuclear programmes in the EU and elsewhere as soon as technically feasible.

Enforce restrictions on fishing within the Common Fisheries Policy, and where necessary take appropriate action to prevent the destruction of fisheries by over exploitation.

The Green Party does not wish the European Union to become a continental military power. The EU should neither adopt the WEU as its military arm nor become the European pillar of NATO. We seek the dissolution of both those military alliances.

In the long-term The Green Party wants to see the disbandment of NATO, and its replacement by a well resourced Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The Green Party opposes the creation of a European Army and its precursors such as the Rapid Reaction Force, and the use of the EU to sustain military adventures. We are particularly opposed to suggestions that there should be "Eurobomb" nuclear capability.

The best structure at the European level through which to pursue basic human rights is the European Convention on Human Rights, with its own Court and Commission.

The Green Party believes that any European country which wants to join the European Union should be able to do so if it the country is a democracy, respect human rights, have a free press, an independent judiciary, a commitment to environmental standards at least equal to those demanded in the EU, civilian control of the military, and be at peace both outside and within its borders.

Whilst the Green Party is opposed to the objectives, structure and policies of the EU as currently constituted, as long as the U.K. remains a member of the EU the Green Party will stand in elections to the European Parliament and elected Green MEPs will work for fundamental reform of the EU from within.

Any UK decision to withdraw from the EU shall be subject to a referendum.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Nannies will be registered on a national register, enabling families to check the suitability of their potential employee. The treatment of au pairs will be regulated to stop them from being exploited by their employers.

Provide a comprehensive, free family planning service, available to everyone, in convenient high-street locations, funded by a separate budget within the NHS. This will include information, facilities and the materials necessary for people to plan their families.

Ensure that condoms are supplied free on demand from chemists and at a subsidised price from machines in public places.

The age of consent should be the same for everyone irrespective of their sexual orientation. It should be 16 years of age.

The Green Party deplores the ban on same-sex civil marriage and is committed to repealing it. We support civil marriage equality and believe that a same sex couple should have exactly the same right to get married in a registry office as an opposite sex couple.

The Green Party also supports an end to the ban on civil partnerships being conducted in places of worship whilst recognising it is up to religious bodies to make this decision and not for the state to dictate to them prohibitions on civil partnerships.

The existing [BBC] licence fee will be abolished and in the first instance replaced by a guaranteed inflation linked payment from general taxation.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

The Central Parliament needs to be prepared to surrender many of its traditional powers, and actively assist in the process of decentralisation. To this end, Parliament has a number of key roles to play - first, to devolve functions to more local bodies; second, to lift its hold over councils and enable them to realise their potential; and third, to work with the Constitutional Commission to meet demands from local Government to take on responsibility for resources and functions which are currently dealt with at too high a level by central Government and the private sector.

A Bill of political rights will be enacted at the earliest opportunity to prohibit oppressive actions by unrepresentative Governments and inaccessible bureaucracies.

Legislation will be introduced to provide for referenda to be held on any government decision at the instance of a prescribed percentage of that body's electorate.

When a Bill of Rights has been enacted, a prescribed percentage of the citizens of any area shall be able to take a Citizens' Initiative, whereby they place a proposition on a ballot paper for popular vote. Should the proposition succeed the result will, subject to the law, be binding on the relevant government body.

The right to vote and stand in elections will be based on residence rather than nationality.

The voting age for all elections, and the age at which people may take seats at any level of Government, would be reduced to 16.

All terms for elected representatives to all levels of Government shall be fixed in length, except when a seat is taken following a by-election. Each Parliament at Westminster should normally be for a fixed term of four years, but if the Government loses a vote of confidence in the House of Commons before the end of the fixed term then an earlier General Election should be held.

UK political parties will be funded by the State. Such political funding will be calculated and administered on a regional basis, and funds allocated in proportion to the number of votes cast in the region in the last round of proportional representation elections held across the entire region.

The Green Party will work for the abolition of the City of London Corporation and the special statuses it enjoys, including its international ambassadorial role for the finance industries, its special status under freedom of information legislation, the postition of "City remembrancer" within the House of Commons, and its right to demand meetings with democratic institutions and the monarchy.

In a Green society, the UK central government will have less power than it currently has - with many of its functions being taken over by local authorities or the regions.

Central Government currently revolves around the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, with the role of Parliament greatly diminished. The most important reform needed to redress this imbalance is the move to proportional representation. This will help to bring an end to the traditional dominance of two political parties in Britain.

A First Minister would also be elected by the central Parliament as a whole, who would be responsible for chairing a committee, the Coordination Committee, of all the convenors of parliamentary committees.

The House of Lords, as presently constituted, has no legitimate mandate because it is not elected. It should be abolished and replaced by a second chamber directly elected by proportional representation.

Members of the second chamber would be elected to serve for a period of ten years.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Funding will be diverted away from centralised facilities towards community healthcare, illness prevention and health promotion.

Community Health Centres will be the focal points for self-help and community-based initiatives and will also provide a wide range of services including primary healthcare, and health education and health promotion programmes.

A variety of specialist services, in particular midwifery, obstetrics, family planning, counselling and psychiatry, will also be available.

It becomes an offence to stop nursing mothers from breastfeeding their children in public places (including the breastfeeding of toddlers in premises where children are already allowed). Businesses that break the law, or whose employees break the law, will face significant fines.

Councils are required to provide breastfeeding facilities in all their significant buildings open to the public, such as town halls and libraries.

The Green Party is opposed to the development of "Foundation Hospitals" which, although argued to be locally controlled, could actually result in reduced democratic accountability given that they will be unanswerable to parliament or local authorities.

Foundation Hospitals are in fundamental opposition to the Green Party policy of the public health service remaining fully funded by public taxation, given that they are required to produce a profit and are able to seek commercial partnerships.

We lament the disappearance of the School Nurse and would therefore bring back a dedicated NHS School Nurse in every school, both at primary and secondary level.

Prescription, and other charges, are wrong in principle, unfair in practice, and generate little income for the Health Service. They will be abolished as soon as possible.

The Green Party will support a change in the law to remove the requirement for two doctors to approve a woman's decision to have an abortion, and will support a change in the law to allow the procedure to be carried out by appropriately trained nurses and midwives up to three months of pregnancy.

The Green Party will not support any change to the current laws on abortions which would aim to make it more difficult for women to obtain them.

Assisted death presents moral and legal concerns to health care professionals and the public. We believe that people have a right to an assisted death within the following framework.

The Green Party recognises that suicide is the biggest killer of young men in the UK. We would ensure that local authorities took preventative action in terms of well-known suicide spots. For example, installing barriers and anti-suicide nets on bridges where suicides have taken place.

The Green Party would also introduce a complete ban on the promotion of tobacco and alcohol products, including sponsorship, advertising (direct or indirect) and product placement on remuneration or reward.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

National government has considerable powers to alleviate the housing crisis. However, many of the policies required are more suited to implementation locally, enabled and assisted by national government.

The Green Party proposes introducing LVT (previously known as Community Ground Rent) as a tax payable on the annual value of land. The valuation would be of the land alone, exempting all buildings on it, recent and future improvements to it, or minerals extracted from it. LVT would therefore not be a tax on the rent of buildings, the value of crops, manufactured products or the product of other forms of work.

Disincentives to the speculative ownership of housing will be introduced, including higher rates of Council Tax for unoccupied properties and second homes.

The Green Party seeks to increase the amount of social housing and commonly owned housing as representing the best way of ensuring an availability of affordable housing.

All new houses will be built to improved standards for accessibility, space and facilities, ergonomics, sound and thermal insulation, and energy efficiency. Design standards shall also include consideration of social factors, such as the need for privacy and the need for community focal points.

All new housing will be designed for low energy use, and the same standards applied retrospectively to existing houses where practicable. All sellers of houses will make energy use estimates available to buyers.

Self-build schemes will be encouraged. When unemployed people work on such schemes they shall not be subject to withdrawal of social security benefit.

A duty will be placed on local authorities to provide suitable sites for travellers.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

The Green Party would progressively reduce controls on UK immigration.

We will replace existing British Immigration law with an Immigration law which does not discriminate directly.

We will allow the partners, prospective partners, immediate families and prospective families of British residents to join them without excessive delays or unreasonable requirements for proof of relationship.

A person's right to stay will not be linked to that of partners or families but will be independent. Families will not be divided by deportation unless the deportee poses a serious danger to public safety.

We will abolish the 'primary purpose' rule under which partners are refused entry if it is thought that the primary purpose of relationship is for them to gain entry to the UK.

We will allow the victims of past errors in immigration decisions to come to the UK where these decisions have resulted in continuing serious deprivation.

Migrants illegally in the UK for over five years will be allowed to remain unless they pose a serious danger to public safety.

We will aim to ensure that UK immigration control takes place primarily at ports of entry so that no resident is required to carry proof of residence.

No prospective immigrant will be held in detention for migration-related reasons, other than in the most exceptional circumstances, eg a prospective migrant who poses a serious danger to public safety.

We will provide advice and assistance in appropriate languages at ports of entry and provide legal aid for immigration cases.

The party would introduce additional legal rights for asylum seekers.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

HS2 (High Speed 2) rail network would be scrapped.

Councils would be allowed to impose additional business rates on 'out-of-town' supermarkets in order to fund other local businesses.

Rail and bus fairs would be cut by an average of 10%.

The most obviously sustainable fuel is human muscle power, which is used when walking and cycling. Therefore, these two modes appear at the top of our hierarchy. Animal powered transport, in particular horse powered transport, is also sustainable provided that sufficient care is taken to ensure animal welfare.

The Green Party seeks to dramatically reduce the production of carbon dioxide from all methods of transport. The principle means of doing this are by demand reduction and modal shift.

The Green Party would increase road fuel tax incrementally until the revenue of fuel tax covers a high proportion of road traffic's external costs, with adjustments for transport use and the nature of the fuel.

The Green Party supports the introduction of fuel tax on aviation fuel and emission charges and increased landing charges on aircraft.

The Green Party will introduce a vehicle purchase tax on the purchase of all new vehicles, which would be steeply graded according to a vehicle's pollution level, fuel consumption and type of fuel.

In the short term, road charging should be introduced where road space is most congested and where traffic causes most pollution. These would be expected to be in urban areas and in areas that attract large numbers of tourists.

Maximum permissible lorry weights to 38 tonnes and adopt increasing taxation on vehicles of more than 20 tonnes. Lorry movements on Sundays should be prohibited throughout the EU as a first step to cutting long distance road freight.

There would be no new road building or widening schemes implemented except for essential access.

The Green Party would introduce a 20 mph limit throughout built up areas, including villages.

In rural areas, apart from trunk roads, the maximum speed limit would be 40 mph. Local communities would be encouraged to set lower limits on country lanes where pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders would be particularly vulnerable.

A national network of longer distance cycle routes will be encouraged, within which local networks will be connected. However, the priority in cycling provision will be for local needs.

The Green Party believes that the rail system, including track and operators, needs to be publicly owned, and would seek to bring the service back into public ownership.

The testing of drivers will also be made more comprehensive and stricter to include hazard awareness and environmental aspects and knowledge of working of vehicles. Driving tests would be done at regular intervals (e.g. 5 years) to ensure that drivers remain competent.

The Green Party will reduce the permitted level of alcohol [for motorists] to as close to zero, allowing for natural levels.

All speed limits would be rigorously enforced, as would any other regulations relating to drivers of vehicles (including public transport). Greater use will be made of automatic cameras and other speed measurement.

Driving without a valid licence or insurance will be penalised with immediate confiscation of the vehicle.

Vehicles would not be permitted for road use that had the ability to travel at greater speeds than the majority of EU national maximum speed levels.

All major airports should be taken into public ownership.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

In the short term the Citizens' Income will provide for a proportion of housing costs. To allow for regional variations, this will be supplemented by a specific housing benefit. This will be payable to all, regardless of their forms of tenure. It will be means tested, and related to rent or mortgage repayments.

In the long term the Citizens' Income will be sufficient to cover basic housing costs. Other benefits and tax reliefs will be gradually phased out.

The use of inappropriate short term accommodation (including hostels and bed and breakfast accommodation) as a way of complying with the duty to the homeless will be ended.

Better use of empty privately owned property will be achieved by empowering local authorities to use Empty Property Use Orders.

In the short term the Green Party would restore Income Support to people aged 16-25 to the same level to which those over 25 years old are entitled. In the long term the Citizens' Income Scheme is designed to eradicate poverty throughout society.

Retirement means that people no longer get paid for the work they do but that does not mean they stop working. The Green Party's Citizen Income scheme would enable retirement age to be completely flexible recognising that some want to retire as soon as possible and others want to continue working.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Citizen's income of at least £72 per week given to all citizens.

The Green Party supports a national minimum wage until a Citizens' Income scheme has been fully introduced.

Minimum wage raised to £7.65, which is the same as the living wage.

The Green Party will support and improve legislation to make it an offence to harass or discriminate directly or indirectly against people at work, on grounds of race, sex, family status or responsibilities, disability, sexual orientation, religious belief, age, political opinion or physical appearance. This will include people who are disadvantaged by reason of resistance to discrimination.

Every person should have an opportunity to challenge an employer who has "wrongly & unfairly refused to employ them", or failed to provide equal access to training & promotion.

CVs should be anonymised during the hiring procedure to prevent pre-interview discrimination on the basis of an individual's race or gender.

There should be a legal right to at least 28 days (or 196 hours) paid holiday in a calendar year, in addition to public holidays, for those employed at least 35 hours per week. This should apply pro-rata for those employed less hours per week or for shorter periods; it won't apply to people working fixed term contracts of less than 60 days.

We are committed in the medium-term to a reduction in working hours to an average of 35 hours per week. The Green Party will enact legislation in order to bring about this change.

Someone wishing to leave their current employment shall not be disqualified from claiming unemployment or other social benefits.

We support the right to join a trade union, and condemn discrimination by employers against union members.

Dismissal of a worker for refusing to cross a picket line shall be unfair. Lockouts shall be illegal.

We will grant employees the legal right to buy out their companies and turn them into workers co-operatives. Buy outs would be funded by a Green National Investment Bank and contingent on the co-ops following green and ethical policies.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

The United Nations should be reformed and democratised. The current national basis for membership should be extended to include regional (sub-national) representation and all representatives should be democratically selected. The WTO, International Monetary Fund, World Bank and similar bodies should also be reformed, democratised, or replaced.

Expertise in the UK military in disaster support will continue to be offered for UN operations and harnessed in the training of civilian volunteers. We will aim to put a standing body of unarmed units, under the aegis of the UN, ready to respond to civil disasters such as floods, earthquakes and hurricanes.

All permanent seats on the UN Security Council should be abolished, all nations should take a seat in turn, continents should be represented in proportion to their populations, and decisions should be made by a 2/3 majority.

All foreign debts owed by countries officially defined as "Least Developed" should immediately be written off by concerted international action, as well as those of all other countries which need such support in order to meet their MDG targets.

British aid should become 0.7 percent of Gross National Product (GNP) within five years and 1.0 percent of GNP within ten years. Emergency aid, aid to dependent territories and debt relief should be an addition to this.

British emergency and recovery aid should be allocated in proportion to objectively assessed needs. UK-funded humanitarian action should be guided solely by the principles of humanity, neutrality and impartiality, and should be independent from political, military, economic or other objectives.

The British Government should institute capital controls to ensure money made by trans-national corporations in Britain is re-invested here.

The Green Party believes that all Israelis, Palestinians, and their families should have and be able to exercise full human and civil rights throughout Israel, Palestine and the occupied territories in Palestine. Israel must be subject to the Geneva Convention concerning the rights of individuals and communities, in the same way that other states are.

The Green Party calls for the implementation of United Nations Resolutions 194, 242 and 338, which addressed the problems created by Israeli conquests in the wars of 1948, 1967 and 1973.

The Green Party calls on Israel to evacuate the illegal settlements within the occupied territories of Palestine.

We would promote town twinning, exchange visits, and Internet-based methods for learning about other countries and cultures by direct contact.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

CREATING MORE JOBS by backing small business and enterprise with better infrastructure and lower jobs taxes.

Continuing to back businesses to create jobs - with action on business rates and more help for the high street.

Abolishing the employers' jobs tax on apprenticeships for people under 25 to help more young people get the skills they need.

By reducing red tape, cutting the jobs tax and delivering better infrastructure, we're helping more people set up their own business. And that's creating more jobs, with 1.7 million more people in work since 2010. Every job is another hardworking taxpayer with the security of a pay packet and the opportunity to get on in life.

Tackling tax avoidance by multinational corporations to make taxes fairer and help cut the deficit.

Source: Conservative party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Finish the job of police reform, so you can have more confidence that your local policing team is working effectively

Toughen sentencing and reform the prison system, so dangerous criminals are kept off your streets

Support victims, so that the most vulnerable in our society get the support they deserve.

Scrap the Human Rights Act and curtail the role of the European Court of Human Rights, so that foreign criminals can be more easily deported from Britain.

We will ensure proper provision of health and community-based places of safety for people suffering mental health crises, saving police time and stopping vulnerable people being detained in police custody.

We will allow police forces to retain a greater percentage of the value of assets they seize from criminals.

We will improve our response to cyber-crime with reforms to police training and an expansion in the number of volunteer ‘Cyber Specials’

We will enable fire and police services to work more closely together and develop the role of our elected and accountable Police and Crime Commissioners.

We will legislate to mandate changes in police practices if stop and search does not become more targeted and stop to arrest ratios do not improve.

We will create a blanket ban on all new psychoactive substances, protecting young people from exposure to so-called 'legal highs' And we will make sobriety orders available to all courts in England and Wales, enforced through new alcohol monitoring tags.

We will introduce widespread random testing of drug use in jails, new body scanners, greater use of mobile phone blocking technology and a new strategy to tackle corruption in prisons.

Now we will strengthen victims’ rights further, with a new Victims’ Law that will enshrine key rights for victims, including the right to make a personal statement and have it read in court before sentencing.

A new semi-custodial sentence will be introduced for prolific criminals, allowing for a short, sharp spell in custody to change behaviour.

We will extend the scope of the Unduly Lenient Scheme, so a wider range of sentences can be challenged.

The next Conservative Government will scrap the Human Rights Act, and introduce a British Bill of Rights.

The next Conservative Government will continue to take a tough, intelligent and comprehensive approach to preventing terrorism and confronting extremism.

We will outlaw groups that foment hate with the introduction of new Banning Orders for extremist organisations. These could be

applied to dangerous organisations that fall short of the existing thresholds for proscription under terrorism legislation.

Source: Conservative party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

We will continue to keep our Armed Forces strong so they can continue to keep you safe.

We will maintain the size of the regular armed services and not reduce the army to below 82,000.

We will retain the Trident continuous at sea nuclear deterrent to provide the ultimate guarantee of our safety and build the new fleet of four Successor Ballistic Missile Submarines - securing thousands of highly-skilled engineering jobs in the UK.

We will work closely with our allies to continue to strengthen NATO - supporting its new multi-national rapid response force.

We will maintain our global presence, strengthening our defence partnerships in the Gulf and Asia.

Later this year, we will hold a National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review to plan for the future.

We have made commitments for the equipment plan to be funded at one per cent above inflation for the next Parliament.

We plan to invest at least £160 billion in new military equipment over the next decade: as well as our six new Type 45 destroyers, we are building a class of seven Astute submarines and buying the Joint Strike Fighter, Scout armoured vehicles, Type 26 frigates and

new Apache attack helicopters.

We will bring both of our new Aircraft Carriers - HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, the largest vessels the Royal Navy has ever possessed – into service, so we have one available for use at all times.

We will continue to invest in our cyber defence capabilities.

We have honoured our commitment to enshrine the Armed Forces Covenant in law and done much to support our servicemen and women.

Source: Conservative party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Keep our economy secure by running a surplus so that we start paying down our debts

Increase the tax-free Personal Allowance to £12,500 and the 40p Income Tax threshold to £50,000

Commit to no increases in VAT, National Insurance contributions or Income Tax

Crack down on tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance and ensure those who can afford to pay the most do

Rebalance our economy, build a Northern Powerhouse and back elected metro mayors

Pursue our ambition to become the most prosperous major economy in the world by the 2030s.

Source: Conservative party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Ensure a good primary school place for your child, with zero tolerance for failure.

Turn every failing and coasting secondary school into an academy and deliver free schools for parents and communities that want them.

Help teachers to make Britain the best country in the world for developing maths, engineering, science and computing skills.

Create 3 million new apprenticeships and make sure there is no cap on university places, so we have aspiration for all.

We will start by introducing tough new standards for literacy and numeracy in primary schools.

We will expect every 11-year-old to know their times tables off by heart and be able to perform long division and complex multiplication.

If children do not reach the required standards in their exams at the end of primary school, they will resit them at the start of secondary school, to make sure no pupil is left behind.

We will require secondary school pupils to take GCSEs in English, maths, science, a language and history or geography, with Ofsted unable to award its highest ratings to schools that refuse to teach these core subjects.

We will turn every failing and coasting secondary school into an academy, and deliver free schools if parents in your area want them.

Over the next Parliament, we will open at least 500 new free schools, resulting in 270,000 new school places.

We will continue to allow all good schools to expand, whether they are maintained schools, academies, free schools or grammar schools.

We will support families by providing free meals to all infants.

We will not allow state schools to make a profit.

In the next Parliament, we will expect every teacher to be trained not just in how to tackle serious behaviour issues, but also in how to deal with the low level disruption that stops children from learning properly.

In future, we will recruit and keep the best teachers by reducing the time they spend on paperwork, introducing bursaries for the most

in-demand subjects, paying good teachers more, further reducing the burden of Ofsted inspections and continuing to encourage the growth of Teach First.

We want teachers to be regarded in the same way as other highly skilled professionals, so we are supporting the creation of an independent College of Teaching to promote the highest standards of teaching and school leadership.

We will train an extra 17,500 maths and physics teachers over the next five years.

From September, [we will] abolish the cap on higher education student numbers and removing an arbitrary ceiling on ambition.

Our reforms to university funding mean you do not have to pay anything towards tuition while studying, and only start paying back if you earn over £21,000 per year.

Source: Conservative party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Put in place a new ‘Blue Belt’ to protect precious marine habitats.

Invest in cleaner air and water for you and your family.

Keep our forests in trust for the nation.

We will spend £3 billion from the Common Agricultural Policy to enhance England’s countryside over the next five years, enabling us, among other things, to clean up our rivers and lakes, protect our stonewalls and hedges, and help our bees to thrive.

We will ensure that our public forests and woodland are kept in trust for the nation and plant another 11 million trees.

We will make it easier to access our beautiful landscapes, by providing free, comprehensive maps of all open-access green space.

Building on our introduction of a five pence charge on single-use plastic bags, we will review the case for higher Fixed Penalty Notices for littering and allow councils to tackle small-scale fly-tipping through Fixed Penalties rather than costly prosecutions.

We will launch an ambitious programme of pocket parks – small areas of inviting public space where people can enjoy relief from the hustle and bustle of city streets.

We will protect the Green Belt, and maintain national protections for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, National Parks, Sites of Special Scientific Interest and other environmental designations.

We will now go further, building 1,400 new flood defence schemes, to protect 300,000 homes.

We need a Conservative Government to see through [our] long-term plan and secure clean but affordable energy supplies for generations to come. This means a significant expansion in new nuclear and gas; backing good-value green energy; and pushing for more new investment in UK energy sources.

Onshore wind now makes a meaningful contribution to our energy mix and has been part of the necessary increase in renewable capacity. Onshore windfarms often fail to win public support, however, and are unable by themselves to provide the firm capacity that a stable energy system requires. As a result, we will end any new public subsidy for them and change the law so that local people have the final say on windfarm applications.

At home, we will continue to support the UK Climate Change Act. We will cut emissions as cost-effectively as possible, and will not support additional distorting and expensive power sector targets.

Source: Conservative party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Give English MPs a veto over matters only affecting England , including on Income Tax.

Honour in full our commitments to Scotland to devolve extensive new powers.

Implement the agreed settlement for Wales, handing over more responsibility to the Welsh Assembly.

Continue to build a Northern Ireland where politics works , the economy grows and society is strong.

Give you a say over whether we should stay in or leave the EU, with an in-out referendum by the end of 2017.

Commit to keeping the pound and staying out of the Eurozone.

Reform the workings of the EU , which is too big, too bossy and too bureaucratic.

Reclaim power from Brussels on your behalf and safeguard British interests in the Single Market.

Back businesses to create jobs in Britain by completing ambitious trade deals and reducing red tape.

We will legislate in the first session of the next Parliament for an in-out referendum to be held on Britain’s membership of the EU before the end of 2017.

We will strengthen and improve devolution for each part of our United Kingdom in a way that accepts that there is no one-size-fits-all solution: we will implement the Smith Commission and St David’s Day Agreement or equivalent changes in the rest of the UK, including English votes for English laws.

We will retain the Barnett Formula as the basis for determining the grant to cover that part of the Scottish Parliament’s budget not

funded by tax revenues raised in Scotland.

We will agree new rules with the Scottish Government for how the block grant will be adjusted, to take account of the new devolved

tax and welfare powers.

We will devolve to the Welsh Assembly control over its own affairs – including the Assembly name, size and electoral system, Assembly elections and voting age.

We will maintain Northern Ireland’s position within the United Kingdom on the basis of the consent of its people.

We will protect our economy from any further integration of the Eurozone.

We want to expand the Single Market, breaking down the remaining barriers to trade and ensuring that new sectors are opened up to British firms.

We want to ensure that new rules target unscrupulous behaviour in the financial services industry, while safeguarding Britain as a global centre of excellence in finance.

We will press for lower EU spending, further reform of the Common Agricultural Policy and Structural Funds, and for EU money to be focused on promoting jobs and growth.

Source: Conservative party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

We will back the institution of marriage in our society, enabling married couples to transfer £1,060 of their tax-free income to their husband or wife, where the highest earner is a basic rate taxpayer. This applies to civil partnerships too, and the transferable amount will always rise at least in line with the Personal Allowance.

And we will help

families stay together and handle the stresses of modern life by continuing to invest at least £7.5 million a year in relationship support.

We will bring in tax-free childcare to help parents return to work, and give working parents of three and four year-olds 30 hours of free childcare a week.

In the next Parliament we will give families where all parents are working an entitlement to 30 hours of free childcare for their three and four year-olds.

Freeze the BBC licence fee , to save you money.

Keep our major national museums and galleries free to enter.

Guarantee your child a place on National Citizen Service , so they can learn new skills and meet young people from different walks of life.

Source: Conservative party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Save you money by cutting government waste.

Put more of the essential services you use online, to make them more convenient.

Continue to make government more transparent, so you can hold us to account for how your money is being spent.

We will cut government waste. We plan a further £10 billion annual savings by 2017-18 and £15-20 billion in 2019-20.

We will continue to be the most transparent government in the world.

In the next Parliament, we will legislate to ensure trade unions use a transparent opt-in process for subscriptions to political parties.

We will push ahead with reform of the Civil Service to make it more dynamic and streamlined.

We will make recruitment to the Civil Service more open and actively look for exceptional talent, especially in areas where capabilities are in short supply.

We will continue to tackle all the bureaucracy of Whitehall that clogs the arteries of government.

We will end taxpayer-funded six-figure payoffs for the best paid public sector workers.

We will continue to sell unneeded government property and co-locate services wherever possible.

We have already created 20 high-quality digital services, which include apprenticeships applications and tax self-assessments.

We will save you time, hassle and money by moving more services online, while actively tackling digital exclusion.

While we still see a strong case for introducing an elected element into our second chamber, this is not a priority in the next Parliament.

We have already allowed for expulsion of members for poor conduct and will ensure the House of Lords continues to work well by addressing issues such as the size of the chamber and the retirement of peers.

We will introduce votes for life, scrapping the rule that bars British citizens who have lived abroad for more than 15 years from voting.

We will respect the will of the British people, as expressed in the 2011 referendum, and keep First Past the Post for elections to the House of Commons.

Source: Conservative party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Continue to increase spending on the NHS, supported by a strong economy, so the NHS stays free for you to use.

Spend at least an additional £8 billion by 2020 over and above inflati on to fund and support the NHS’s own action plan for the next five years.

Ensure you can see a GP and receive the hospital care you need, 7 days a week by 2020, with a guarantee that everyone over 75 will get a same-day appointment if they need one.

Integrate health and social care , through our Better Care Fund.

Lead the world in fighting cancer and finding a cure for dementia.

We will implement the NHS’s own plan to improve health care even further – the Five Year Forward View.

Because of our long-term economic plan, we are able to commit to increasing NHS spending in England in real terms by a minimum of £8 billion over the next five years.

Already millions more people can see a GP 7 days a week, from 8am-8pm, but by 2020 we want this for everyone.

We will ensure that your family doctor appointments and repeat prescriptions are routinely available online, wherever you live.

And we will guarantee same-day GP appointments for all over 75s who need them.

We will continue to eliminate mixed-sex wards and hospital infections.

We will continue to ensure that we have enough doctors, nurses and other staff to meet patients’ needs, and consider how best to recognise and reward high performance.

We will boost transparency even further, ensuring you can access full information about the safety record of your hospital and

other NHS or independent providers, and give patients greater choice over where and how they receive care.

We will give you full access to your own electronic health records, while retaining your right to opt-out of your records being shared electronically.

We will take action to reduce childhood obesity and continue to promote clear food information.

We will continue to invest in our life-saving Cancer Drugs Fund. We will work with the NHS, charities and patient groups to deliver the new strategy recommended by NHS England’s cancer taskforce.

We are increasing funding for mental health care. We will enforce the new access and waiting time standards for people experiencing mental ill-health, including children and young people.

We will increase support for full-time unpaid carers. We will guarantee that you will not have to sell your home to fund your residential social care.

Source: Conservative party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Help to keep mortgage rates lower by continuing to work through our long-term economic plan.

Build more homes that people can afford, including 200,000 new Starter Homes exclusively for first-time buyers under 40.

Extend the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme to 2020 to help more people onto and up the housing ladder, and introduce a new Help to Buy ISA to support people saving for a deposit.

Give more people the chance to own their home by extending the Right to Buy to tenants of Housing Associations and create a Brownfield Fund to unlock homes on brownfield land.

Ensure local people have more control over planning and protect the Green Belt.

We will extend Help to Buy to cover another 120,000 homes – in total helping over 200,000 people and we will continue the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee until the start of 2017, and the Help to Buy equity loan until at least 2020.

From this autumn, we will introduce a new Help to Buy ISA to support people who are working hard to save up for a deposit for their first home.

We will build 200,000 quality Starter Homes over the course of the next Parliament, reserved for first-time buyers under 40 and sold at 20 per cent below the market price.

We will now go further, delivering 275,000 additional affordable homes by 2020.

We will extend the Right to Buy to tenants in Housing Associations to enable more people to buy a home of their own.

We will support locally-led garden cities and towns in places where communities want them, such as Ebbsfleet and Bicester.

We will help local authorities keep council tax low for hardworking taxpayers, and ensure residents can continue to veto high rises via a local referendum.

Source: Conservative party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Keep our ambition of delivering annual net migration in the tens of thousands, not the hundreds of thousands.

Control migration from the European Union, by reforming welfare rules .

Clamp down on illegal immigration and abuse of the Minimum Wage.

Enhance our border security and strengthen the enforcement of immigration rules.

Develop a fund to ease pressure on local areas and public services.

We will negotiate new rules with the EU, so that people will have to be earning here for a number of years before they can claim benefits, including the tax credits that top up low wages.

W will continue to strengthen our borders, improve the enforcement of our immigration laws and act to make sure people leave at the end of their visas.

We will insist that EU migrants who want to claim tax credits and child benefit must live here and contribute to our country for a minimum of four years.

We will introduce a new residency requirement for social housing, so that EU migrants cannot even be considered for a council house

unless they have been living in an area for at least four years.

If an EU migrant’s child is living abroad, then they should receive no child benefit or child tax credit, no matter how long they have worked in the UK and no matter how much tax they have paid.

To reduce the numbers of EU migrants coming to Britain, we will end the ability of EU jobseekers to claim any job-seeking

benefits at all. And if jobseekers have not found a job within six months, they will be required to leave

We will negotiate with the EU to introduce stronger powers to deport criminals and stop them coming back, and tougher and longer re-entry bans for all those who abuse free movement.

We want to toughen requirements for non-EU spouses to join EU citizens, including with an income threshold and English language test.

We have already capped the level of skilled economic migration from outside the EU. We will maintain our cap at 20,700 during the next Parliament.

We will reform the student visa system with new measures to tackle abuse and reduce the numbers of students overstaying once their visas expire.

We will also implement a new removals strategy to take away opportunities for spurious legal challenge and opportunities to abscond.

We will introduce satellite tracking for every foreign national offender subject to an outstanding deportation order or deportation proceedings.

To crack down further on illegal working, we will harness data from multiple agencies, including Exit Checks data, to identify illegal immigrants and businesses that employ illegal workers.

We are taking unprecedented action to tackle health tourism and will recover up to £500 million from migrants who use the NHS by the middle of the next Parliament.

We will legislate to ensure that every public sector worker operating in a customer-facing role must speak fluent English.

And to encourage better integration into our society, we will also require those coming to Britain on a family visa with only basic English to become more fluent over time, with new language tests for those seeking a visa extension.

Source: Conservative party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Invest in infrastructure to attract businesses and good jobs across the whole of the UK.

Make your life easier, with more and faster trains, more roads and cycle routes.

Keep commuter rail fares frozen in real terms for the whole of the next Parliament.

Roll out universal broadband and better mobile phone connections, to ensure everyone is part of the digital economy.

We will deliver on our National Infrastructure Plan and respond to the Airports Commission’s final report

We will invest £38 billion in our railway network in the five years to 2019.

In addition to rolling out our national high-speed rail network, with High Speed 2 and High Speed 3, we will complete the construction of the new east-west Crossrail across Greater London, and push forward with plans for Crossrail 2, a new rail route running through London and connecting Surrey and Hertfordshire.

We will invest £15 billion in roads. This will include over £6 billion in the northern road network, with the dualling and widening of the A1 north of Newcastle and the first new trans-Pennine road capacity in over 40 years.

We will secure the delivery of superfast broadband in urban and rural areas to provide coverage to 95 per cent of the UK by the end of 2017, and we will ensure no one is left behind by subsidising the cost of installing superfast capable satellite services in the very hardest to reach areas.

Source: Conservative party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Cut income tax for 30 million people, taking everyone who earns less than £12,500 out of Income Tax altogether .

We will lower the benefit cap from £26,000 to £23,000 to reward work.

Pass a new law so that nobody working 30 hours on the Minimum Wage pays Income Tax on what they earn.

Back aspiration by raising the 40p tax threshold – so that no one earning less than £50,000 pays it .

Cap overall welfare spending , lower the amount of benefits that any household can receive to £23,000 and continue to roll out Universal Credit, to make work pay.

Take the family home out of Inheritance Tax for all but the richest by raising the effective threshold for married couples and civil partners to £1 million.

Continue to increase the State Pension through our triple lock, so it rises by at least 2.5 per cent, inflation or earnings, whichever is highest

Reward saving by introducing a new single-tier pension.

Give you the freedom to invest and spend your pension however you like – and let you pass it on to your loved ones tax-free.

Protect pensioner benefits including the free bus pass, TV licences and Winter Fuel Payment.

Ensure Britain has a strong economy, so we can continue to protect the NHS and make sure no-one is forced to sell their home to pay for care.

Bring in tax-free childcare to support parents back into work, and give working parents of 3 and 4-year-olds 30 hours of free childcare a week.

We have begun to introduce Universal Credit – a way to simplify benefits into a new single payment – so that work always pays.

We are reassessing those on incapacity benefits so that help goes to those who really need it.

The days of something for nothing are over – and all this has helped to reduce by 900,000 the number of people living in workless households.

In the next Parliament, we will continue to reward hard work: raising the tax-free Personal Allowance so that those working 30 hours on the Minimum Wage pay no Income Tax at all and taking hardworking people out of a 40p higher rate tax band originally meant to

capture only the wealthy.

And we will see through our welfare reforms, lowering the benefit cap and rolling out Universal Credit, to make the system fairer and reward hard work.

A Conservative Government will not increase the rates of VAT, Income Tax or National Insurance in the next Parliament. Instead, we will ease the burden of taxation by raising the tax-free Personal Allowance – the amount you can earn before you start paying tax – to £12,500.

We will pass a new law so that the Personal Allowance automatically rises in line with the National Minimum Wage.

We have already announced an above-inflation increase in the threshold next year. Now we will raise the 40p tax threshold much further, so that no one earning less than £50,000 pays the higher rate of Income Tax. The 800,000 people earning between £42,385 and £50,000 will no longer pay the 40p rate of tax.

We will freeze working age benefits for two years from April 2016, with exemptions for disability and pensioner benefits – as at present – as well as maternity allowance, statutory maternity pay, statutory paternity pay, statutory adoption pay and statutory sick pay.

We will review how best

to support those suffering from long-term yet treatable conditions, such as drug or alcohol addiction, or obesity, back into work. People who might benefit from treatment should get the medical help they need so they can return to work. If they refuse a recommended treatment, we will review whether their benefits should be reduced.

Source: Conservative party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Help businesses to create two million new jobs, so we achieve full employment.

Give businesses the most competitive taxes of any major economy.

Back small firms with a major business rates review.

Support three million new apprenticeships , so young people acquire the skills to succeed.

We will abolish long-term youth unemployment, and make sure that all young people are either earning or learning.

We will boost apprenticeships and help you secure a good job.

We aim to achieve full employment in the UK, with the highest employment rate in the G7, and we will help businesses create two million jobs over the Parliament.

We strongly support the National Minimum Wage and want to see further real-terms increases in the next Parliament.

We will continue to help smaller businesses take on new workers through the Employment Allowance, which frees businesses from the first £2,000 of employers’ NICs so that a third of employers pay no jobs tax.

We will replace the Jobseeker’s Allowance for 18-21 year-olds with a Youth Allowance that will be time-limited to six months, after which young people will have to take an apprenticeship, a traineeship or do daily community work for their benefits.

It is also not fair that taxpayers should have to pay for 18-21 year-olds on Jobseeker’s Allowance to claim Housing Benefit in order to leave home. So we will ensure that they no longer have an automatic entitlement to Housing Benefit.

We will, in addition, tackle the disproportionate impact of strikes in essential public services by introducing a tougher threshold in health, education, fire and transport.

Industrial action in these essential services would require the support of at least 40 per cent of all those entitled to take part in strike ballots.

The gender pay gap is the lowest on record, but we want to reduce it further and will push business to do so: we will require companies with more than 250 employees to publish the difference between the average pay of their male and female employees.

We also support the Living

Wage and will continue to encourage businesses and other organisations to pay it whenever they can afford it. We will also take further steps to eradicate abuses of workers, such as non-payment of the Minimum Wage, exclusivity in zero-hours contracts and exploitation of migrant workers.

Give those who work for a big company and the public sector a new workplace entitlement to Volunteering Leave for three days a year , on full pay.

Source: Conservative party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Ensure Britain is a major player on the world stage, using diplomacy to protect your interests, uphold British values and tackle threats to your security and prosperity.

Help generate new trade, investment and job opportunities, to benefit you and your family.

Maintain our world class Armed Forces so they continue to guarantee your security.

Uphold our commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of gross national income on international development.

We will tackle global terrorism and the poisonous ideology of Islamist extremism while taking a patient, long-term approach to preventing conflict and state failure.

Work for peace, stability and an inclusive settlement in Syria and Iraq; and pursue a comprehensive political and military strategy to defeat ISIL.

Uphold the sovereignty, integrity and capacity of Ukraine, and continue to reject Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea.

Stand shoulder to shoulder with our NATO allies, reassuring all its members - especially those closest to Russia - of their security, and continue to support the Euro-Atlantic path for Western Balkan nations.

Ensure that the significant achievements of our Armed Forces in Afghanistan are maintained; and support the Government of Afghanistan in ensuring that the country remains stable and never again becomes a haven for international terrorists.

Support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, robustly defending the right of Israel to protect its security, while continuing to condemn illegal settlement building, which undermines the prospects for peace.

Protect global security by helping to lead international efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon; and work to ensure that North Korea ends its development of nuclear weapons.

We will push for freer global trade, concluding major trade deals with the US, India and Japan and reinvigorating the World Trade Organisation.

We will build on our strong relationship with India, push for an ambitious EU-India trade deal and support India’s bid for permanent representation on the UN Security Council.

We will strengthen our economic links with China, doubling support for British firms selling goods there and championing an EU-China trade deal.

We will stand up for the freedom of people of all religions - and non-religious people - to practise their beliefs in peace and safety, for example by supporting persecuted Christians in the Middle East.

Uphold our Special Relationship with the USA and further strengthen our ties with our close Commonwealth allies, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

Uphold the democratic rights of the people of Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands to remain British, for as long as that is their wish, and protect our Overseas Territories.

Source: Conservative party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.