What Ben and a Conservative government will mean for you

Claire, sixth-form student (central Ipswich)

“With the cost of university going up and up, and training places in short supply, I know that leaving school is a worry to most students”, says Ben. “That is why we will do all we can to help people venturing out into the workplace or to high education. So, this is what we’ll do for people in college and sixth-form in Ipswich:”

• We will create 100,000 New Apprenticeships and Training Places.
• We will help fill the gap between supply and demand for university places by creating an extra 10,000 funded places in 2010.
• We will provide independent careers advice for every young person.
• We will do everything we can to increase student satisfaction levels and ensure young people feel they are getting a fair deal from their university.
• We will do all we can to ensure that young people from all backgrounds are encouraged and helped to attend university.
• We will offer Skills Scholarships for talented apprentices to go to university worth, on average, £18,000 total for a three-year part-time foundation degree.
• We will work on a fairer deal for part-time students.

Claire says:

“With one year left until I should be at university, the worry isn’t so much what degree do I take, but will I even be able to get into university, and will I be able to afford it? However, if the Conservatives win the election, the extra 10,000 funded places and the Skills Scholarships would help me get the degree and training I need to succeed. These policies aimed to help students like me have not come out of Labour, even though they have had 13 years to make a difference, and that’s why I hope Ben Gummer and David Cameron win this General Election.”

 

Taff and Linda, working parents (south-west Ipswich)

“David Cameron has made plain that we will make Britain the most family-friendly country in Europe”, says Ben. “This is what we pledge for Ipswich families:”

• We will remove the “couples penalty” in the tax and benefits system.
• We will reverse the rise in National Insurance Contributions brought in by Labour.
• We will freeze Council Tax for two years.
• We will protect and expand Sure Start.
• We will ring-fence NHS spending.
• We will put parents and teachers in control of schools, not Whitehall.
• We will cut paperwork so we get more police out on the beat fighting crime.
• We will ensure that the public sector – Britain’s biggest employer – becomes a world leader in providing flexible working opportunities.
• We will extend the right to request flexible working to all parents with children under 18.
• We will increase the flexibility of the system so that either the mother or the father can take more time off to spend with their child.
• We will review the funding of childcare so all types of providers can compete.
• We want to simplify tax credits so families can get the support they need.

Taff and Linda say:

“Our family is our top priority and we know after talking to Ben that he shares our values and the family is a top priority for him and the party. The new married couples tax break will be a real help and their promise to work with councils to freeze Council Tax for two years will be good too in these difficult times.”

 

Maureen and Nico, retired (east Ipswich)

“We must protect the dignity and welfare of older people”, says Ben. “This is what we pledge to do for Ipswich pensioners:”

• We will increase the value of the basic state pension for all pensioners and help to stop the spread of the means test by linking pensions to earnings.
• We will freeze council tax for the next two years.
• We will make it worthwhile to save for a personal pension and get rid of the rules that force people to get a compulsory annuity.
• We will help people protect their home rather than have to sell it to pay for care.
• We will take all family homes worth less than £1 million out of inheritance tax.
• We will increase spending on the NHS every year, which is our number one priority.
• We will cut paperwork so we get more police out on the beat fighting crime.
• We will protect the Winter Fuel Payment.
• We will protect your free bus pass and your free TV licence.
• We will protect the pension credit.
• We will not introduce a ‘death tax’ of up to £50,000.
• We will not cut attendance allowance and disability allowance for the over 65s.

Maureen and Nico say:

“All these measures will help pensioners at a time when their income has been greatly reduced by the abnormally low level of interest rates available on their savings. It would be reassuring to see some policemen out on the beat fighting crime again instead of having to deal with the excessive paperwork that has been heaped upon them.”

 

Matt, graduate (east Ipswich)

“I know that getting a job now is harder than it has been for a very long time – especially if you’re just out of university”, says Ben. “We want to help people get into work – and to get a foot on the property ladder. This is what we’ll do for Ipswich young people looking for a job or just starting out:”

• We will help first-time buyers get on the housing ladder, by increasing the Stamp Duty threshold for them to £250,000 meaning nine out of ten first-time buyers will pay no Stamp Duty.
• We will reverse the rise in National Insurance Contributions brought in by Labour.
• We will freeze Council Tax for two years.
• We will provide independent careers advice for every young person.
• We will give graduates an incentive to repay their student loan debts to the taxpayer ahead of schedule.
• We will abolish tax on the first ten jobs created by new businesses in the first two years of a new government.

Matt says:

“Along with owing tens of thousands of pounds, graduate job prospects are becoming few and far between. This government has done nothing but create a disillusioned generation of graduates. The Conservative Party wants to help people like me, not only with careers advice and helping me pay back my student loan, but also by helping me get on the property ladder.”