Every week, we’re keeping tabs on the policy announcements of those candidates still in the race. New entries are in italics.
Michael Gove
- Has not made it clear that Britain should leave without a deal. However, his wife Sarah Vine wrote a column last week explaining that Gove is willing to leave without a deal…
- Originally Gove has said that he is prepared to delay Brexit until 2020, now it has become a few weeks. But, Gove has also said for Britain to leave the EU before the next General Election
- EU nationals living in the UK at the time of the 2016 referendum to apply for citizenship for free – 3 million EU citizens
- Agree a Canada-style free-trade deal
- £1 billion investment into schools
- Continue with the spearheading of banning plastic straws, cotton buds and drink stirrers
- Replace VAT after Brexit with a “lower, simpler” US style sales tax
- Cutting business rates and reduce business regulations following Britain’s exit from the EU
- Strongly opposed to Scottish independence
Dominic Raab
- Leave EU with or without a deal come 31st October and is prepared to halt parliament to get no deal through parliament
- Reduce the basic rate of income tax from 20p to 15 – including a 1p drop straight away. Raab claims that there is a “£26bn of headroom” in public finances to make the move work.
- Cut down the number of Whitehall departments, cut out the bureaucracy. He would recycle half of that into frontline services – teachers, schools, nurses – and the other half into tax cuts for the future
- A special commission looking at the public sector procurement particularly in the NHS and MOD
- Provide more powers to the police to increase stop and search
- Investment of £394 million every week into the NHS following Britain’s exit from the EU
- Radical overhaul of competition laws: take on energy, insurance and telecom giants
- He has indicated that he is not a feminist, and opposes reforms for trans people
- More opportunities of places for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to attend private schools with “fee support”
- Raise the national insurance contribution threshold from £8,628 to £12,500
- An extra ultrasound at 36 weeks to identify late stage problems and day 1 right for Agency workers to attend antenatal appointments
- Protect working women from redundancy throughout their pregnancy, maternity leave and for six months afterwards
- Make properly paid paternity leave for dads a day one right in a new job
- Government action to protect Northern Ireland veterans from the never-ending threat of legal action
- Announced plans to toughen up community sentences – the punishments imposed on offenders as an alternative to a spell behind bars.
- An elected Conservative Party chairman, rather than a chairman chosen by the party leader
- Encourage local Conservative Party Associations to propose motions for them to be debated at Conference
- Extend the current £5 per year membership fee from under-23s to under-25s
- Create a bespoke initiate to raise funds to employ more professional Party ages in the party’s battleground seats
- Strongly opposed to Scottish independence and another referendum
Sajid Javid
- Prepare fully for a no-deal Brexit
- Find a deal that can be approved by Parliament
- Has refused to rule out the possibility of delaying Brexit after the 31st October
- Work with Ireland to amend the Irish backstop to include a time limit or exit clause
- Use technology in place to solve the Irish problem to deliver Brexit
- Mr Javid said he would pay for a “multi-billion pound” spending increase in education by slowing down government debt repayment. He said that could free between £15 billion and £25 billion a year, some of which would go to the education system.
- Tax cut for the richest one per cent of taxpayers in the UK by getting rid of the 45p income tax rate. This applies only to earners over £150k a year
- Legal protection for police who crash cars
- 20,000 more police on streets – which he would believe would cost £1bn
- Slash red tape to make it much easier for police to tackle the rising knife crime on Britain’s streets
- Strongly opposed to Scottish independence and strongly against holding another referendum
Jeremy Hunt
- No deal would be a “last resort” and “political suicide”
- Has claimed to have wanted Brexiteers, including the DUP and Tory hardliners to join the negotiating team
- Defend press freedoms
- Due to the threats of China and Russia – a future increase in defence spending
- Avoid General Election at all costs
- Cut Corporation Tax from 19% to 12.5%
- 1.5 million additional homes for young people over the next ten years
- Slashing unfair rates of interest on tuition fee debt
- Young entrepreneurs would be given more support and a new law to legislate for net zero carbon emissions by 2050. There would also be deliver charging points across the country for electric motors.
- Deploy mental health support teams in every school
- Would like to see the legal time limit on abortions reduced from 24 weeks to 12
- Believes that Scotland do not want another referendum on Scottish independence
Boris Johnson
- Leave the EU by 31st October with or without a deal
- Is not prepared to pay the £39 billion Brexit leave fee unless the Withdrawal Agreement is improved
- Increase the levels of preparations in case of a No Deal Brexit
- Increase funding per pupil in Secondary Schools to £5,000
- Increase number of police on the streets and increase numbers of stop and search following knife crime in London and elsewhere
- Slash income tax for 3 million people by increasing the 40p tax rate threshold from £50,000 to £80,000
- Against another Scottish independence referendum and strongly opposed to Scottish independence
Rory Stewart
- Avoid no deal
- Plans citizens’ assemblies to find a consensus over Brexit. He is prepared to talk to Nigel Farage to find a deal that pleases all – he has also spoken to Len McCluskey
- Double the amount of UK foreign aid spent on tackling climate change to over £2bn
- National citizenship services for all teenagers
- Build 2 million more homes in the next 5 years
- Axe hospital car park charges
- Wants a more powerful Secretary of State for Scotland – “with the money and resources behind it”. Rory Stewart is strongly opposed to Scottish independence