1. Party responses to austerity in the context of the 2015 General election Conservative Labour Lib Dems SNP Plaid Cymru UKIP Party Neo-liberalism Balance the budget; £12 billion welfare cuts; Cut household benefit caps; Increase tax credit; Prioritise benefits for the elderly Balance the budget; Cap structural welfare spending; Prioritise benefits for the elderly; Increase tax credit Balance the budget; Prioritise benefits for the elderly; Increase tax credit Prioritise benefits for the elderly Cut business rates for small and medium sized businesses Balance the budget; Restrict child benefit to two children; Cut benefit caps; Increase tax credit; Cut business rates for small businesses N/A Individualism Privatisation in various sectors N/A Encourage further private sector investment in various sectors N/A N/A Encourage the use of private health services; Stimulate private energy investment N/A N/A Scrap the bedroom tax; Increase benefit cap for two years; Reform the bedroom tax Scrap the bedroom tax; Back increase of at least the cost of living in benefits Scrap the bedroom tax Reform the bedroom tax Introduce a maximum 35-hour working week Social Investment Create 3 million apprenticeships Increase access to childcare; Apprenticeship for every school leaver who gets the grades Expand apprenticeships; Develop national colleges for vocational skills Continue free university education in Scotland N/A N/A university tuition fees Predistribution Increase minimum wage Increase minimum wage; Retain the triple lock on pensions; Control on rent and utility prices Retain the triple lock on pensions Increase minimum wage; Retain the triple lock on pensions and protect the winter fuel allowance Living wage for all employees by 2020 No tax on minimum wage Create jobs that pay at least a living wage; Provide 500,000 social homes for rent by 2020 and control rent levels
Fightback N/A Tax on bankers’ bonuses; Mansion tax Extra corporation tax on banking sector Oppose austerity and increase spending; Tax on bankers' bonuses; Mansion tax and crackdown on tax avoidance Oppose austerity and spend on infrastructure; Oppose a ‘welfare cap’; Oppose NHS privatisation End austerity by leaving the European Union End austerity and restore the public sector Welfare chauvinism Four-year wait before EU migrants can claim benefits; Lower immigration; EU referendum Two-year wait before EU migrants can claim unemployment benefits Phase out child benefit for children living outside the UK; Language tests for benefit claimants N/A N/A Five-year wait before migrants can claim benefits Point-based system capped at 50,000 skilled migrants/year; EU referendum; Prioritise social housing for people with local connections N/A Percentage of popular vote (whole country) 36.8% 30.5% 7.9% 4.7% 0.6% 12.7% 3.8% Percentage of seats 50.8% 35.7% 1.2% 8.6% 0.5% 0.2% 0.2%
For fair society, differences in standard of living should be small (% disagree) differences in income acceptable to reward talents and efforts (% agree) Government should reduce differences in income levels (% disagree) Social benefits/services place too great strain on the economy (% agree) Social benefits/services cost businesses too much in taxes/charges (% agree) Globalisation is an opportunity for economic growth (% agree) A more important role for the EU in regulating financial services be effective to tackle the current financial and economic crisis (% agree) 27.2% 63.9% 20.9% 51.8% 51.3% 59% 48% Source: European Values Survey 2008 Source: European Values Survey 2008 Source: European Values Survey 2008 Source: European Values Survey 2008 Source: European Values Survey 2008 Source: Eurobarometer 2014 Source: Eurobarometer 2014 Attitudes towards neo-liberalism in the United Kingdom Immigrants are a strain on our welfare system (% agree) Immigrants receive more than they contribute (% agree) Immigrants should only obtain the same rights to social benefits and services as citizens already living here after working and paying taxes for at least a year, or once they have become a citizen (% agree) Immigrants contribute less in taxes than they benefit from health and welfare services (% agree) Social benefits/services encourage people other countries to come live here (% agree) Immigrants take jobs away from people who were born in Britain (% agree) 51.8% 56.7% 79.9% 51.0% 76.0% 50.6% Source: European Quality of Life Survey 2011 Source: European Social Survey 2008 Source: European Social Survey 2008 Source: Eurobarometer 71, 2009 Source: European Social Survey 2008 Source: British Social Attitudes 2013 Welfare chauvinism in the United Kingdom