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Do they measure up?Party manifestos and the common goodJonathan Tulloch - 1 May 2010 Next week the British people will decide who governs their country for the next five years. When it comes to policy, Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats are similar on some issues, but divide radically on others. But where do they stand in the light of the bishops’ recent pamphlet on the common good? Here we offer readers an election guide
SINCE POPE LEO XIII’S 1891 encyclical letter Rerum Novarum (subtitled in English “On Capital and Labour”), which spoke out against the inhuman conditions suffered by working people in industrial societies, the Church has developed a robust and challenging position on governments’ responsibility to the poor. As a focus for thought in the forthcoming election, the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has issued a pamphlet entitled “Choosing the Common Good”, in which they draw on their own social justice document of 1996. The essence is our interdependence and mutual responsibility for one another’s dignity – the common good.
What follows is an examination of each of the main parties’ policies on a range of topics in the light of the common good. In particular, the bishops are adamant that the cost of our economic recovery should not fall on the shoulders of the poorest – those who gained least before the banking crisis brought our economy to its knees.
There is a well-known saying, “fine words butter no parsnips”. It applies to politics in field-sized proportions. This examination of policy eschews fine-sounding rhetoric and concentrates only on hard pledges and specifics.
Environment and energy
Conservative (C): Future energy generated by coal, nuclear power and small-scale domestic renewable sources. Coal will be burnt with unspecified “clean technology”. The planning system will be rigged in favour of nuclear power stations. Two marine national parks are guaranteed. Home insulation grants of up to £6,500 will be available.
Labour (L): Future energy generated by coal, nuclear power and large-scale renewables. £9 billion pledged to develop “carbon-capture” technology. The planning system will be rigged in favour of nuclear power stations. Renewables funded from a “green bank” in which £1bn of private investment will be matched by public funds. Some 400,000 new green jobs created by 2015.
Liberal Democrats (LD): Future energy generated by coal and large-scale renewables. Coal will be burnt with “carbon capture”. Renewables encouraged by £400m to convert former shipyards to wind-turbine construction. No new nuclear power stations. Domestic flight tax. Air-passenger duty replaced by a per-plane tax to prevent the recklessly damaging practice of importing goods by air. Double woodland coverage by 2050.
The Common Good (CG): The bishops urge vigorous action to avoid exposing future generations and the poor to the hardships of climate change. None of the three main parties are treating climate change as an “emergency”. The Liberal Democrats have the boldest approach. Also their opposition o nuclear power resonates with the bishops’ view of humanity as stewards of creation.
Poverty and taxation
C: Raise the threshold of inheritance tax to £1m. Cut corporation tax. Allow multinationals to pay tax only on income generated in the United Kingdom.
L: Raise income tax for earners of more than £150,000 to a 50p rate. Raise National Insurance, described as a job tax by other parties because it makes employers also pay more, by 1 per cent. Pledge not to raise VAT as it discriminates against low earners.
LD: Raise the income tax threshold to £10,000 to help the poorest by £700 a year. It will be paid for by choking traditional tax loopholes exploited by the wealthy such as off-shore trusts, and length of non-dom status. Capital gains tax will rise to level of income tax; a mansion tax will be levied on dwellings above £2m. Council tax replaced with a more income-discriminating local income tax.
CG: While acknowledging that much has been done recently to alleviate poverty, the bishops point out that inequality continues. Labour and Liberal Democrat tax cuts would modestly redistribute wealth. Tory tax cuts reflect their article of faith that business and entrepreneurs are the engines to alleviate poverty – others may worry that they lead to more profiteering by large concerns, which are often also subsidised by not paying for their environmental and social impact.
Health
C: Increase spending on health until 2015. End mixed-gender wards. A million more people to be given access to NHS dentists. GP access guaranteed from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Link GPs’ pay to results.
L: Frontline NHS protected from cuts. Cancer patients guaranteed specialist treatment within two weeks, results within one week, and one-to-one nursing.
LD: Frontline NHS such as cancer treatment, mental-health care, maternity services, dementia care and preventive medicine protected from cuts. Banning of low-cost alcohol, reduction in aviation and car pollution to prevent illness.
CG: A profound belief in the equality of all means that equal access and quality of health care must inform any government. While past Labour investment in the NHS has been high, the scandal of some very poor care remains. Ring-fencing funding is likely to be beneficial as are plans to increase spending. Linking GPs’ pay to results may improve care or introduce new levels of bureaucracy; it might lead to creeping discrimination against the elderly and chronically sick.
Housing and transport
C: Social housing tenants with five years’ good behaviour given a 10 per cent equity stake. No expansion at Heathrow. No pledge to stop expansion in other airports. High-speed rail line connecting London and Heathrow with Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds. National high-speed rail link. No new speed cameras.
L: Pledge to end rough sleeping by 2012. £7.5bn for affordable homes. All new houses to be zero-carbon by 2015. Build the third runway at Heathrow but no more runways elsewhere. National high-speed rail link. Electrify line to Wales.
LD: Replace all council houses sold under right-to-buy. Renovate 250,000 empty homes. No aviation expansion in the south-east. Money on road building diverted to reopening closed railway lines. All regulated rail fares to fall below inflation. A bus scrappage scheme. National high-speed rail link.
CG: The bishops define the common good as a sum total of social conditions which allow people, alone and in a social context, to reach their fulfilment. In day-to-day life, housing is central to this social context. Transport impacts doubly both as a means for work and leisure, and in the effect the increase in cars and aviation has socially and environmentally.
All parties pledge to help first time buyers by abolishing stamp duty up to £250,000. The pledge to end rough sleeping and spend heavily on affordable homes will do much to ease the curse of homelessness. Heathrow’s third runway is a scandal. The block on new speed cameras will lead to more fatalities and research shows this would impact particularly in poorer areas.
Care of the elderly
C: Restore the link between state pension and earnings. Raise pensionable age to 66. A one-off £8,000 payment on retirement will guarantee the elderly care without having to sell their homes. Cap public-sector pensions at £50,000. Require all employees to join an employer-run pension scheme.
L: Restore the link between state pension and earnings. Tax credits extended to working over-sixties. Free personal care for those most in need. After two years in residential care, government will meet all costs.
LD: Restore the link between state pension and earnings. Create funds to boost state pension by restricting tax relief on wealthiest pension schemes and large public-sector pensions. Long-term aim for Citizen’s Pension based on residence not contributions.
CG: The bishops have made care of the elderly highly prominent, underlining the fact that many are on low incomes. Lamenting the persistence of long-term inequality across a lifetime and into the next generation, they urge government to remedy this. The winter fuel payments, free buses pass, TV licences and pension credits must be acknowledged as significant achievements in the well-being of the elderly. The cross-party restoration of state pension to earnings is a victory for the common good.
Education
C: No promise to ring-fence spending. Ten thousand extra university places for 2010. Unspecified pupil premium to divert funds to poorer pupils. Allow parent, charities and teacher groups to open their own private academies. Raise teacher-training entry requirements. Four hundred thousand work pairings, apprenticeships, college and training places.
L: Increase spending for education up to age 19. Unspecified local pupil premium to divert funds to poorer pupils. Increase number of academies. Guarantee education/training for 16- to 19-year-olds. Legal guarantee for education quality including extra help for struggling 7- to 11-year-olds.
LD: No promise to ring-fence spending. £2.5bn for pupil premium to divert funds to poorer pupils. Scrap university tuition fees over six years. Scrap the government target of getting 50 per cent of people to university. Scale down National Curriculum to a minimum curriculum entitlement.
CG: Education is an essential tool for equality. Increasing spending is a good step in this direction. For many, tuition fees are a block to the opportunity of tertiary education. The Tories’ “Parent Power Academies” could help some specific children but if not properly funded, it will be at the expense of other local schools.
Asylum, race and immigration
C: Drop the net rate of immigration to 1990s numbers through an annual limit for non-European Union migration.
L: Continue the points-based immigration system and tighten new Border Agency. Compulsory ID cards for foreign nationals.
LD: A National Border force with police powers. Asylum seekers allowed to work. End child detention in immigration centres. Long-term migrants’ amnesty.
CG: The bishops urge politicians to remember that the starting point for policies on migration must be the recognition of human dignity and its inalienable rights. Immigration must never be reduced to mere numbers. The idea of a National Border police force may further criminalise the whole area of immigration. ID cards have unfortunate totalitarian overtones. Allowing asylum seekers to work, ending child detention and long-term amnesty are concrete steps towards the common good.
Marriage and family life
C: End government Child Trust Funds. Allow couples (married or in civil partnerships) to transfer up to £750 of personal tax allowance to partner. Provide 4,200 more health visitors. Improve the right to request flexible working hours for parents. Allow parents to share maternity leave. Jobseekers refusing a “reasonable” job will lose all benefits for up to three years.
L: Protect Child Trust Funds. Increase free nursery hours to 15 a week. Give tax credits for toddlers. Double paid paternity leave to a month.
LD: End government Child Trust Funds. Allow all employees to request flexible working practices. Restrict tax credits to the neediest.
CG: Marriage is a strong force for the common good. The bishops state that while interfering as little as possible in family life, government has a duty to use finances and resources to support marriage and the family.
Abortion, euthanasia and the ‘seamless robe’
C: No pledge to change abortion law or introduce euthanasia. No pledge to support the Tobin Tax.
L: No pledge to change abortion law or introduce euthanasia. No pledge to support the Tobin Tax. Introduction of working tax credits and minimum wage has eased child poverty in UK. Low earners are guaranteed to be £40 a week better off when leaving benefits for work.
LD: No pledge to change abortion law or introduce euthanasia. No pledge to support the Tobin Tax.
CG: The bishops write poetically of the immeasurable value of human life as being part of a “seamless robe”. Thus they argue that true opposition to abortion and euthanasia requires a mirroring commitment to alleviate child poverty, neglect, isolation, ill-health, and life expectancy – worldwide. None of the parties specifically proposes the Tobin Tax, also known as the Robin Hood tax, which would be levied on currency speculation, using the money raised to aid development in poorer countries and combat climate change, thus alleviating child poverty, ill-health and low life-expectancy.
Foreign policy, defence and international development
C: Their manifesto offers no mention of fair trade. Committed to Afghan war. They will ring-fence defence spending until 2011. Dedicated to nuclear weapons; Trident replacement project kept. Increase aid budget to 0.7 per cent of National Income.
L: Will quadruple an unspecified spending on fair and ethical trade. Committed to Afghan war. Dedicated to nuclear weapons, will keep Trident project. Two new aircraft carriers to be built. Increase aid budget to 0.7 per cent of National Income.
LD: Will use government procurement policy to expand the market for sustainable and fair-traded products. Will get UK troops home during next parliament by dealing with “moderate Taliban”. Aim to kick-start multi-national nuclear disarmament by not renewing Trident and halving UK nuclear stockpile.
CG: The principle of the common good extends internationally. In a compelling image, the bishops liken the common good to a multiplication sum so that if any number is zero, all is zero. One of the best ways of raising the scandalous zero of world poverty is in a country’s foreign policy of trade, defence and aid. None of the parties demonstrate a radical foreign policy to fight the zero of world poverty. For example, none recognises the potential for the common good that
resides in cutting defence spending and using the capital to organise a fair-trade economy.
Other parties at a glance
Greens: raise minimum hourly wage to £8.10; nationalise railways; subsidise public transport by £1.5bn; spend £45bn on developing renewables.
Scottish National Party: Continue free tertiary education and care for elderly.
Plaid Cymru: increase personal income tax allowance by £1,000; new 50 per cent income tax for earning over £100,000.
Do they measure up?Party manifestos and the common goodJonathan Tulloch - 1 May 2010 Next week the British people will decide who governs their country for the next five years. When it comes to policy, Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats are similar on some issues, but divide radically on others. But where do they stand in the light of the bishops’ recent pamphlet on the common good? Here we offer readers an election guide
SINCE POPE LEO XIII’S 1891 encyclical letter Rerum Novarum (subtitled in English “On Capital and Labour”), which spoke out against the inhuman conditions suffered by working people in industrial societies, the Church has developed a robust and challenging position on governments’ responsibility to the poor. As a focus for thought in the forthcoming election, the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has issued a pamphlet entitled “Choosing the Common Good”, in which they draw on their own social justice document of 1996. The essence is our interdependence and mutual responsibility for one another’s dignity – the common good.
What follows is an examination of each of the main parties’ policies on a range of topics in the light of the common good. In particular, the bishops are adamant that the cost of our economic recovery should not fall on the shoulders of the poorest – those who gained least before the banking crisis brought our economy to its knees.
There is a well-known saying, “fine words butter no parsnips”. It applies to politics in field-sized proportions. This examination of policy eschews fine-sounding rhetoric and concentrates only on hard pledges and specifics.
Environment and energy
Conservative (C): Future energy generated by coal, nuclear power and small-scale domestic renewable sources. Coal will be burnt with unspecified “clean technology”. The planning system will be rigged in favour of nuclear power stations. Two marine national parks are guaranteed. Home insulation grants of up to £6,500 will be available.
Labour (L): Future energy generated by coal, nuclear power and large-scale renewables. £9 billion pledged to develop “carbon-capture” technology. The planning system will be rigged in favour of nuclear power stations. Renewables funded from a “green bank” in which £1bn of private investment will be matched by public funds. Some 400,000 new green jobs created by 2015.
Liberal Democrats (LD): Future energy generated by coal and large-scale renewables. Coal will be burnt with “carbon capture”. Renewables encouraged by £400m to convert former shipyards to wind-turbine construction. No new nuclear power stations. Domestic flight tax. Air-passenger duty replaced by a per-plane tax to prevent the recklessly damaging practice of importing goods by air. Double woodland coverage by 2050.
The Common Good (CG): The bishops urge vigorous action to avoid exposing future generations and the poor to the hardships of climate change. None of the three main parties are treating climate change as an “emergency”. The Liberal Democrats have the boldest approach. Also their opposition o nuclear power resonates with the bishops’ view of humanity as stewards of creation.
Poverty and taxation
C: Raise the threshold of inheritance tax to £1m. Cut corporation tax. Allow multinationals to pay tax only on income generated in the United Kingdom.
L: Raise income tax for earners of more than £150,000 to a 50p rate. Raise National Insurance, described as a job tax by other parties because it makes employers also pay more, by 1 per cent. Pledge not to raise VAT as it discriminates against low earners.
LD: Raise the income tax threshold to £10,000 to help the poorest by £700 a year. It will be paid for by choking traditional tax loopholes exploited by the wealthy such as off-shore trusts, and length of non-dom status. Capital gains tax will rise to level of income tax; a mansion tax will be levied on dwellings above £2m. Council tax replaced with a more income-discriminating local income tax.
CG: While acknowledging that much has been done recently to alleviate poverty, the bishops point out that inequality continues. Labour and Liberal Democrat tax cuts would modestly redistribute wealth. Tory tax cuts reflect their article of faith that business and entrepreneurs are the engines to alleviate poverty – others may worry that they lead to more profiteering by large concerns, which are often also subsidised by not paying for their environmental and social impact.
Health
C: Increase spending on health until 2015. End mixed-gender wards. A million more people to be given access to NHS dentists. GP access guaranteed from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Link GPs’ pay to results.
L: Frontline NHS protected from cuts. Cancer patients guaranteed specialist treatment within two weeks, results within one week, and one-to-one nursing.
LD: Frontline NHS such as cancer treatment, mental-health care, maternity services, dementia care and preventive medicine protected from cuts. Banning of low-cost alcohol, reduction in aviation and car pollution to prevent illness.
CG: A profound belief in the equality of all means that equal access and quality of health care must inform any government. While past Labour investment in the NHS has been high, the scandal of some very poor care remains. Ring-fencing funding is likely to be beneficial as are plans to increase spending. Linking GPs’ pay to results may improve care or introduce new levels of bureaucracy; it might lead to creeping discrimination against the elderly and chronically sick.
Housing and transport
C: Social housing tenants with five years’ good behaviour given a 10 per cent equity stake. No expansion at Heathrow. No pledge to stop expansion in other airports. High-speed rail line connecting London and Heathrow with Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds. National high-speed rail link. No new speed cameras.
L: Pledge to end rough sleeping by 2012. £7.5bn for affordable homes. All new houses to be zero-carbon by 2015. Build the third runway at Heathrow but no more runways elsewhere. National high-speed rail link. Electrify line to Wales.
LD: Replace all council houses sold under right-to-buy. Renovate 250,000 empty homes. No aviation expansion in the south-east. Money on road building diverted to reopening closed railway lines. All regulated rail fares to fall below inflation. A bus scrappage scheme. National high-speed rail link.
CG: The bishops define the common good as a sum total of social conditions which allow people, alone and in a social context, to reach their fulfilment. In day-to-day life, housing is central to this social context. Transport impacts doubly both as a means for work and leisure, and in the effect the increase in cars and aviation has socially and environmentally.
All parties pledge to help first time buyers by abolishing stamp duty up to £250,000. The pledge to end rough sleeping and spend heavily on affordable homes will do much to ease the curse of homelessness. Heathrow’s third runway is a scandal. The block on new speed cameras will lead to more fatalities and research shows this would impact particularly in poorer areas.
Care of the elderly
C: Restore the link between state pension and earnings. Raise pensionable age to 66. A one-off £8,000 payment on retirement will guarantee the elderly care without having to sell their homes. Cap public-sector pensions at £50,000. Require all employees to join an employer-run pension scheme.
L: Restore the link between state pension and earnings. Tax credits extended to working over-sixties. Free personal care for those most in need. After two years in residential care, government will meet all costs.
LD: Restore the link between state pension and earnings. Create funds to boost state pension by restricting tax relief on wealthiest pension schemes and large public-sector pensions. Long-term aim for Citizen’s Pension based on residence not contributions.
CG: The bishops have made care of the elderly highly prominent, underlining the fact that many are on low incomes. Lamenting the persistence of long-term inequality across a lifetime and into the next generation, they urge government to remedy this. The winter fuel payments, free buses pass, TV licences and pension credits must be acknowledged as significant achievements in the well-being of the elderly. The cross-party restoration of state pension to earnings is a victory for the common good.
Education
C: No promise to ring-fence spending. Ten thousand extra university places for 2010. Unspecified pupil premium to divert funds to poorer pupils. Allow parent, charities and teacher groups to open their own private academies. Raise teacher-training entry requirements. Four hundred thousand work pairings, apprenticeships, college and training places.
L: Increase spending for education up to age 19. Unspecified local pupil premium to divert funds to poorer pupils. Increase number of academies. Guarantee education/training for 16- to 19-year-olds. Legal guarantee for education quality including extra help for struggling 7- to 11-year-olds.
LD: No promise to ring-fence spending. £2.5bn for pupil premium to divert funds to poorer pupils. Scrap university tuition fees over six years. Scrap the government target of getting 50 per cent of people to university. Scale down National Curriculum to a minimum curriculum entitlement.
CG: Education is an essential tool for equality. Increasing spending is a good step in this direction. For many, tuition fees are a block to the opportunity of tertiary education. The Tories’ “Parent Power Academies” could help some specific children but if not properly funded, it will be at the expense of other local schools.
Asylum, race and immigration
C: Drop the net rate of immigration to 1990s numbers through an annual limit for non-European Union migration.
L: Continue the points-based immigration system and tighten new Border Agency. Compulsory ID cards for foreign nationals.
LD: A National Border force with police powers. Asylum seekers allowed to work. End child detention in immigration centres. Long-term migrants’ amnesty.
CG: The bishops urge politicians to remember that the starting point for policies on migration must be the recognition of human dignity and its inalienable rights. Immigration must never be reduced to mere numbers. The idea of a National Border police force may further criminalise the whole area of immigration. ID cards have unfortunate totalitarian overtones. Allowing asylum seekers to work, ending child detention and long-term amnesty are concrete steps towards the common good.
Marriage and family life
C: End government Child Trust Funds. Allow couples (married or in civil partnerships) to transfer up to £750 of personal tax allowance to partner. Provide 4,200 more health visitors. Improve the right to request flexible working hours for parents. Allow parents to share maternity leave. Jobseekers refusing a “reasonable” job will lose all benefits for up to three years.
L: Protect Child Trust Funds. Increase free nursery hours to 15 a week. Give tax credits for toddlers. Double paid paternity leave to a month.
LD: End government Child Trust Funds. Allow all employees to request flexible working practices. Restrict tax credits to the neediest.
CG: Marriage is a strong force for the common good. The bishops state that while interfering as little as possible in family life, government has a duty to use finances and resources to support marriage and the family.
Abortion, euthanasia and the ‘seamless robe’
C: No pledge to change abortion law or introduce euthanasia. No pledge to support the Tobin Tax.
L: No pledge to change abortion law or introduce euthanasia. No pledge to support the Tobin Tax. Introduction of working tax credits and minimum wage has eased child poverty in UK. Low earners are guaranteed to be £40 a week better off when leaving benefits for work.
LD: No pledge to change abortion law or introduce euthanasia. No pledge to support the Tobin Tax.
CG: The bishops write poetically of the immeasurable value of human life as being part of a “seamless robe”. Thus they argue that true opposition to abortion and euthanasia requires a mirroring commitment to alleviate child poverty, neglect, isolation, ill-health, and life expectancy – worldwide. None of the parties specifically proposes the Tobin Tax, also known as the Robin Hood tax, which would be levied on currency speculation, using the money raised to aid development in poorer countries and combat climate change, thus alleviating child poverty, ill-health and low life-expectancy.
Foreign policy, defence and international development
C: Their manifesto offers no mention of fair trade. Committed to Afghan war. They will ring-fence defence spending until 2011. Dedicated to nuclear weapons; Trident replacement project kept. Increase aid budget to 0.7 per cent of National Income.
L: Will quadruple an unspecified spending on fair and ethical trade. Committed to Afghan war. Dedicated to nuclear weapons, will keep Trident project. Two new aircraft carriers to be built. Increase aid budget to 0.7 per cent of National Income.
LD: Will use government procurement policy to expand the market for sustainable and fair-traded products. Will get UK troops home during next parliament by dealing with “moderate Taliban”. Aim to kick-start multi-national nuclear disarmament by not renewing Trident and halving UK nuclear stockpile.
CG: The principle of the common good extends internationally. In a compelling image, the bishops liken the common good to a multiplication sum so that if any number is zero, all is zero. One of the best ways of raising the scandalous zero of world poverty is in a country’s foreign policy of trade, defence and aid. None of the parties demonstrate a radical foreign policy to fight the zero of world poverty. For example, none recognises the potential for the common good that
resides in cutting defence spending and using the capital to organise a fair-trade economy.
Other parties at a glance
Greens: raise minimum hourly wage to £8.10; nationalise railways; subsidise public transport by £1.5bn; spend £45bn on developing renewables.
Scottish National Party: Continue free tertiary education and care for elderly.
Plaid Cymru: increase personal income tax allowance by £1,000; new 50 per cent income tax for earning over £100,000. Back to the front page
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In this week’s issue
When the hurt stops and the healing starts
Making markets moral
Iron and velvet
Love in a Catholic climate
Someone to talk to
A good Lent takes planning
South American surprise
Can the Church support abuse victims on its own terms?
Elena Curti
Is the Church too slow in recognising that academies are the future for Catholic schools?
Christopher Lamb
Goodwin the scapegoat
Elena Curti
The pain of being a coeliac Catholic
Sr M, guest contributor
The Church's moral obligation to victims of clerical sexual abuse
Speeches from this week's conference in Rome
This week in Rome bishops and religious superiors met at the first Vatican-backed symposium devoted to forging a global response to the crisis of clerical sexual abuse that has disgraced ...
Archbishop voices 'shame and sorrow' after priest's abuse trial
Longley to visit parishes 'damaged' by Walsh
Today, Tuesday 7 February, Bede Walsh, who served as a Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Birmingham, has been convicted by a jury, following a 10-day trial at Stoke-on-Trent ...
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