The Tory-led Government:

A programme for no change

Out of Touch

Out of touch Unfair Incompetent

The Tory-led Government: A programme for no change

The Tory-led Government: A programme for no change

Foreword
Back in 2010, David Cameron and Nick Clegg came together in the Downing Street Rose Garden. Amid smiles they promised that they would deliver change for Britain, setting out their Coalition Programme. In that document they set out their goals for their Tory-led Government. It was a programme to judge them on, one which included big promises of what they would deliver. They promised change. But things have got worse, not better. And the British people are paying the price.
Over halfway through this Parliament David Cameron and Nick Clegg are preparing to relaunch, desperate to distract from their failure to date. We will no doubt hear soaring rhetoric, claims of great achievement and promises of what they will do next. But Britains strivers know that the true picture is very different and will judge them on what they have done, not what they say. This is an incompetent, out of touch, shambolic Government making it up as they go along. Their true record is one of failure. They have failed on growth and jobs, prices are going up faster than wages, the economy went in to double dip recession and the benefits bill is set to soar by 13.6 billion higher than forecast. They are borrowing more to pay for the cost of their failure while launching a naked attack on hard working families through a strivers tax which is forcing them to pick up the bill for David Camerons economic failure. At the same time millionaires are getting a tax cut worth on average 107,000 for 8,000 people earning over 1 million. This is a Government which is no longer fit to govern, more interested in exploiting the challenges the country faces than solving them. Meanwhile they have pushed through a massive, wasteful upheaval in the NHS while almost 7,000 nurses have been axed and more people wait longer in A&E; and 15,000 police are set to go by the next election despite their promises to protect the frontline. People dont want relaunches, they want a One Nation government which will bring the country together to overcome the challenges we face together. With hardworking people struggling to make ends meet we desperately need a change of direction. David Cameron and Nick Clegg cannot be the change we need when they are dividing the country and offering more of the same. They are completely out of touch. This document looks at the real record of David Cameron, Nick Clegg and their Tory-led Government, examining the areas outlined in the original Coalition Agreement to reveal a record of failure, of a Government putting the wrong people first. David Cameron and Nick Clegg promised change but things have got worse, not better.

The Tory-led Government: A programme for no change

CoNTeNTs
1. Banking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2. Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 3. Civil Liberties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 4. Communities and Local Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 5. Consumer Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 6. Crime and Policing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 7. Culture, olympics, Media and sport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 8. Defence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 9. Deficit Reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 10. energy And Climate Change. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 11. Environment, Food and Rural Affairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 12. equalities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 13. europe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 14. Families And Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 15. Foreign Affairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 16. Government Transparency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 17. Immigration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 18. International Development. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 19. Jobs and Welfare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 20. Justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 21. National security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 22. Nhs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 23. Pensions and older People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 24. Political Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 25. Public health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 26. schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 27. social Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 28. social Care and Disability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 29. Taxation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 30. Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 31. Universities and Further education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

The Tory-led Government: A programme for no change

1. BANKING David Cameron promised to reform the banking system so it would sustain the recovery and help to protect and sustain jobs. he promised a bank levy and robust action to tackle unacceptable bonuses in the financial services sector. he also promised to take action to ensure small businesses had adequate access to credit including considering the use of net lending targets for the nationalised banks. By failing to repeat Labours bank bonus tax David Camerons Government actually gave the banks a tax cut last year even with their weak bank levy. And the independent Office for Budget Responsibility has said the bank levy will not raise the 2.5 billion this year promised by David Cameron. The Government has completely failed to stand up to the banks meaning large bonuses continue to be paid. And they have refused to implement legislation which Labour put on the statute books which would require banks to disclose details of all pay over 1 million. They have failed to make the banks lend to small businesses. Their Project Merlin deal was a failure and despite the Funding for Lending scheme net lending to businesses has fallen by over 18.5 billion in the last year. The Government has watered down proposals on banking from the Vickers Report, and the Parliamentary Commission on Banking standards has warned that the Governments draft legislation on banking reform falls well short of what is required. 2. BUSINESS Two and a half years ago David Cameron promised to support businesses by reviewing employment laws to ensure they maximised flexibility for employees and employers while protecting fairness. he also promised to make it easier for people to set up a business. In the regions, David Cameron promised that the creation of new Local enterprise Partnerships

would replace Regional Development Agencies and promote local economic development. The Tory-led Government is letting businesses down. over 40,000 businesses have gone bust since the Tory-led Government took office. The regional National Insurance Contributions holiday was designed to encourage new small businesses to take on employees, but only around 5 per cent of the 400,000 companies predicted by the Chancellor have taken advantage of the scheme. The Government has refused to adopt Labours suggestion to use the almost 1 billion of unspent funds set aside for the policy to give a national insurance holiday to all small firms, in every part of the country, who take on extra workers. The Government has no plan for jobs and growth. By targeting workers rights they are making it easier to fire rather than hire people. Fewer than five of the 209 organisations that responded to the Governments consultation on its shares for rights scheme fully supported the proposal, while the Office for Budget Responsibility warned that the cost of the scheme could rise to 1 billion and it could encourage tax avoidance. The regions have been hit hard by the decision to scrap Regional Development Agencies. The Governments flagship Regional Growth Fund is in chaos with some businesses waiting over a year for their cash. 3. CIVIL LIBERTIES David Cameron promised to restore the rights of individuals in the face of encroaching state power and protect historic freedoms, saying that the state had become too authoritarian. The Government has caused huge alarm with proposals to allow increased surveillance of emails and the internet the so-called snoopers charter and proposals in the Justice and security Bill on holding Closed

The Tory-led Government: A programme for no change

Material Proceedings in court, on which the Government was recently forced to concede and allow additional safeguards after defeats in the house of Lords. When these proposals were announced last spring, Nick Clegg tried to distance himself from them despite his role as Deputy Chair on the security Council which signed the very same proposals off. 4. COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT The Tory-led Government promised radical devolution of power, with the localisation of the planning system and powers for local communities to shape the areas in which they live, alongside measures to promote home ownership. house building has fallen, rents are rising, homeownership is becoming a harder, not easier goal for young families to achieve, and homelessness has risen. There has been a 9 per cent fall in house building starts over the past year. The Localism Act in fact gave central government dozens of new powers over local government, including an extraordinary new power to amend, repeal, revoke or disapply any duty on local authorities. 5. CONSUMER PROTECTION In May 2010 David Cameron promised action to protect consumers, particularly the most vulnerable, and to promote greater competition across the economy. he promised to promote more responsible corporate behaviour through greater transparency. From bank charges to train costs, from energy companies to low cost airlines and pensions, the Tory-led Government has completely failed to stand up for consumers. The Government has allowed train companies to hike fares by as much as 9.2 per cent this year, reversing the strict cap on fare rises introduced by Labour. Meanwhile, the

new franchise agreements give successful bidders the right to cut services, close ticket offices and reduce front-line staff on trains and at stations. Last summer, all of the Big six energy companies announced plans to hike their prices by in excess of 10 per cent with some announcing energy price rises of as much as 20 per cent. 6. CRIME AND POLICING David Cameron promised police forces that are better able to deal with crime and anti-social behaviour. Front-loaded cuts to the police are leading to the loss of over 15,000 police officers and police forces being driven to the cliff-edge. Despite promises that their 20 per cent cuts would not affect the frontline, 6,800 frontline police officers had been lost by March 2012 from roles including 999 response, neighbourhood and traffic teams. The Government is weakening the powers of the police to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour including making it harder for them to use DNA evidence to catch dangerous criminals and scrapping AsBos. The Government spent 100 million on the shambolic elections for Police and Crime Commissioners. The Electoral Reform society described the elections which had a historically low turnout figure of 14.9 per cent as a comedy of errors. 7. CULTURE, OLYMPICS, MEDIA AND SPORT David Cameron promised to promote a strong and diverse media industry, and to encourage philanthropic investment in the arts. David Cameron had to be shamed into setting up the Leveson Inquiry after revelations about phone hacking by the News of the World. Despite clear warnings he defended his Director of Communications, former News of the World

The Tory-led Government: A programme for no change

editor Andy Coulson, even after Coulsons resignation until Coulson was arrested over phone-hacking allegations.

Despite commissioning the inquiry and saying that the test would be whether the victims thought it would make a difference to them, within a few hours of the report, David Cameron rubbished its central recommendation, failing to stand up to vested interests. secret emails revealed at the Leveson Inquiry showed that Jeremy hunts special adviser was acting as a backchannel to News Corporation during its bid for BskyB. Despite clear evidence that hunt had broken the Ministerial Code, he refused to resign and David Cameron refused to sack him. George osbornes 2012 Budget included changes to rules around philanthropic giving the charity tax but was forced to u-turn after arts organisations and other charities warned it would cost them hundreds of millions of pounds and threaten their ability to raise funds at a time when the Government was cutting their funding and advising them to attract more of their income from charitable donations. The Government have failed to build on the olympic legacy by systematically undoing the progress made by Labour on school sport, including relaxing the rules on selling off school playing fields and scrapping Labours guarantee of two hours of sport per week and school sport Partnerships 8. DEFENCE Two and a half years ago the Government promised to safeguard our national security at home and abroad and ensure that our Armed Forces have the support they need. The Governments strategic Defence and Security Review was widely criticised and unravelled before the ink was dry.Vital military resources that the SDSR said should be cut had to be extended for use in Libya and senior

military figures have warned that operations would have been more reactive, and cheaper, if our Armed Forces had kept some capabilities that were scrapped in the SDSR. The biggest embarrassment for the Governments has been their chaotic aircraft carrier programme.The Government has left Britain with no aircraft to fly from aircraft carriers for years after scrapping the harrier fleet and now Ministers cannot tell us how or when they will close this capability gap. A humiliating u-turn on the type of fast jet used, reverting back to Labours preferred policy, has cost the country millions of wasted pounds.  he Governments plans are as unfair as they are T unwise. Many long-serving personnel have been sacked just months away from receiving the pensions in a move that looks at best careless and at worst callous. Government changes to housing benefit could see thousands of regular and reserve forces living in social housing having their benefit docked while away serving their country on patriotic duty. The Government claim to be investing in service accommodation but their plans amount to a 40 million net cut overall. And the Government have cut 250 million in allowances, including for those on the frontline, leaving many to question their priorities. The Government are sacking 30,000 members of the Armed Forces, 20,000 from the Army, 5,000 from the RAF and 5,000 from the Royal Navy, leaving our Forces with skills shortages in vital areas and serious questions over our ability to achieve our ambitions in the world. 9. DEFICIT REDUCTION Two and a half years ago, David Cameron claimed rapid deficit reduction as justification for an economic policy which would squeeze family budgets, hit business confidence, and cut services and police numbers across the country. The economic failure of the Tory-led Government took the UK into a double-dip recession.

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The Tory-led Government: A programme for no change

David Cameron and George osbornes failure on jobs and growth means borrowing has risen by 10 per cent so far this year and the welfare bill is soaring.They are set to borrow 212 billion more than planned, which is equivalent to over 12,500 for every working household in the country. David Camerons Government has chosen to make millions of working and striving families pay the price for their economic failure by cutting their tax credits and benefits in real terms while giving a 3 billion tax cut to the very richest people in the country. 10. ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE David Cameron in his first days as Prime Minister promised the greenest government ever, and the Coalition Agreement speaks of joint ambitions for a low carbon and ecofriendly economy. The Tory-led Government has failed to deliver on David Camerons pledge and in fact has set back the development of a low carbon economy. The review of feed-in tariffs has put jobs at risk in Britains nascent solar power industry, while George osbornes anti-green rhetoric has caused fear, not certainty, among potential investors in low carbon technology and industry. Investment in renewable energy has fallen by half since this Government came to power. In the last full year before the election investment was 10.65 billion. In the first full year after the election it was 5.04 billion. 11. ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS The Coalition Agreement promised new measures to protect wildlife, biodiversity and natural habitats.
The Government was forced into a u-turn on their controversial plans to sell off Britains public forests.

The plans were only dropped following widespread public outrage, the campaigning of groups such as the Woodland Trust and RSPB, and Labours opposition in Parliament. The Government supported a badger cull despite official advice that it would cost more than it would save and could spread bovine TB further in the short term as badgers are disturbed by the shooting. Then they postponed the cull at the last minute While communities suffer from flooding the Government has failed to agree a new deal with insurance companies. At the same time they have cut investment in flood defences by 27 per cent. 12. EQUALITIES In the Coalition Agreement the Government talked about the need for concerted government action to tear down barriers to social mobility and equal opportunities in Britain today. A leaked Number 10 memo in september 2011 admitted there are a range of policies we have pursued as a Government which are seen as having hit women, or their interests, disproportionately. Women are bearing a disproportionate burden of the Tory-led Governments attack on family finances. 81 per cent of the key additional direct tax, tax credit, and benefit changes announced in the Autumn statement will come from women - thats 867 million of the 1.065 billion raised over a million women are unemployed, while rising childcare costs are making it even more difficult for women to choose to work. The Government has abandoned plans in Labours equality Act to tackle the gender pay gap.

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The Tory-led Government: A programme for no change

13. EUROPE Two years ago the Government promised that the British Government would be a positive participant in the european Union, playing a strong and positive role with its partners. David Camerons actions in leaving December 2011 eU summit negotiations early with the veto that wasnt demonstrated his failure to show leadership on the global stage for ensuring jobs and growth. he is so obsessed and imprisoned by his eurosceptics he had nothing to say on the most important issues facing the UK and other countries in europe. David Cameron now risks sleepwalking towards the european exit betraying Britains national interest. The Government say they want to keep Britain in europe but have no clear strategy for doing so and no influence to make it happen. The Government are indulging backbench Tory euroscepticism with a plan to opt out of the european Arrest Warrant which risks making it easier for criminals to flee justice and badly undermining the fight against international crime. 14. FAMILIES AND CHILDREN The Government promised to support sure start and increase its focus on the neediest families. The independent Institute for Fiscal studies has found that, as a result of the tax and benefit reforms announced in the Autumn statement, a one earner family with children will on average be 534 per year worse off by April 2012. The Governments policies mean that families with children are paying more than twice as much as the banks in reducing the deficit. Despite pre-election pledges, sure start funding has been cut since the 2010 general election. Ofsteds 2012 Annual Report showed

there are now 381 fewer sure start centres and many more are scaling back services such as childcare. The Government has scrapped the Child Trust Fund, even for the poorest families and those with disabled children. 15. FOREIGN AFFAIRS The Coalition Agreement committed the Government to playing an active role in the global community while standing up for Britains interests. The Tory-led Government stresses bilateral relations and is a reluctant and intermittent multilateralist, failing to build confidence in institutions and taking a sidelined role in europe. At a time in international affairs when leadership and a pragmatic approach is most needed, the Tories have retreated into misguided dogmatism and are prioritising short term party gain over promoting what is in the long term national interest of the country as a whole. 16. GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY David Cameron promised to remove big money from politics and enable the public to hold politicians to account. Tory Treasurer Peter Cruddas was filmed by undercover reporters offering them secret dinners with David Cameron in return for donations of 250,000, and telling them It will be awesome for your business. Cruddas resigned, but it emerged that donors who had given the Conservatives a total of more than 25 million had attended undisclosed functions at No. 10 and Chequers. ed Miliband published details of meetings at his home or in his office with Labour donors who have given more than 7,500. David Cameron has refused to match him.

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The Tory-led Government: A programme for no change

17. IMMIGRATION David Cameron claimed that he would control migration and promised to cut net migration to the tens of thousands. The Government is weakening action on illegal immigration, deporting fewer foreign national offenders, seeing mounting casework backlogs, writing off tens of thousands of lost asylum cases and abandoning checks at our border in summer 2011. The Government is making 20 per cent cuts to the UK Border Agency that will result in over 5,000 fewer border staff by 2015. This led to embarrassing queues at our borders last year when thousands of people were stuck in queues at our major airports and is undermining the security of our borders. Last year, the Chief Inspector of Immigration published a report criticising action on the backlog of asylum and immigration claims including details about how in one UKBA office 100,000 items of post relating to cases remained unopened 18. INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT Two years ago the Government promised to honour Labours commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of GNI on overseas aid from 2013, and to enshrine this commitment in law. The Government failed to include 0.7 per cent legislation in the Queens speech as promised and George osborne said that we do not need a piece of legislation. In November 2011, George osborne announced that the Government would cut the international development budget by 1.17 billion after previously saying that the Government would not balance the budget on the backs of the poor. This cut would be the equivalent of more than five billion polio vaccinations or just over 290 million insecticide-treated mosquito nets.

In December 2012, George osborne announced a further 680 million cut in the international development budget between 2013 and 2015. Andrew Mitchell controversially restored aid projects to Rwanda despite evidence of Rwandan involvement in fighting in the DRC. 19 JOBS AND WELFARE The Government promised to encourage responsibility in the welfare system by providing help for those who cannot work and training and support for those looking for work. It also promised a new Work Programme to help unemployed people get back to work. In the Autumn statement, George osborne claimed he was making scroungers and benefit cheats pay the price of bringing down the benefits bill. But since then it has become clear that their changes are actually hitting people who have a job and a working hard to make ends meet. Two-thirds of people hit by the cuts to tax credits and benefits in the Autumn statement are in work. The Tory-led Governments Work Programme is worse than doing nothing with just two in 100 jobseekers helped into sustained employment. And the Governments wider economic failure, with a flatlining economy and rising long-term unemployment, means the welfare bill is set to be over 13 billion higher than George osborne planned. The Governments flagship Universal Credit scheme is late and over budget. one Cabinet minister reportedly said of it The information technology for the new system is nowhere near ready. Its a disaster waiting to happen. One of the first decisions of the Tory-led Government was to scrap Labours successful Future Jobs Fund which had helped young unemployed people back into work. In the last year the number of young people claiming Jobseekers Allowance for more than 12 months has more than doubled.

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The Tory-led Government: A programme for no change

The Governments Welfare Reform Act unfairly takes support away people who need help most. Time-limiting contributory employment and support Allowance after just 12 months will hit the genuinely ill. It also cuts support for disabled children by around 1,400 per year. Instead of supporting people into jobs, cuts to childcare support are making it harder for parents to go out to work. And the Governments unfair changes to working tax credits mean some families will actually be better off claiming benefits than in work. on top of this, David Camerons Government has chosen to make millions of working and striving families pay the price for their economic failure by cutting their tax credits and benefits in real terms while giving a 3 billion tax cut to the very richest people in the country. 20. JUSTICE David Cameron promised more fairness in the justice system including more effective sentencing policies and greater support and protection for the victims of crime. The Government tried to introduce 50 per cent discounts to sentences for criminals who plead guilty early and abolished Labours indeterminate sentences, seriously weakening protection against re-offending by some of the most serious and violent offenders. David Cameron broke his promise that anyone caught with a knife would go to jail, and failed to stand up for victims of crime, making cuts to the compensation payable to innocent victims of crime and attempting to make it harder to claim legal aid in cases of domestic violence. January 2012 saw the first category A prisoner escape from custody in over 17 years.

21. NATIONAL SECURITY David Cameron promised that his Governments primary responsibility would be to ensure national security The Governments shambolic handling of the deportation of Abu Qatada led to warnings that he could be re-released on bail as a result of the Government not knowing what day it was. The home secretary weakened restrictions on terror suspects, replacing control orders with TPIMs a change which includes removing the power to relocate suspects. This Christmas, a terror suspect subject to this weaker legislation absconded. Border chaos in summer 2011 means that, according to home secretary Theresa May, we will never know how many people entered the country without the proper checks. 22. NHS David Cameron and Nick Clegg promised to stop top-down reorganisations of the Nhs, and stop centrally dictated closures of A&e and maternity wards. They said they would cut administration, support doctors and nurses on the frontline and increase health spending on the Nhs in real terms, every year. The Government is imposing the biggest top-down reorganisation of the Nhs in its history, costing an estimated 3 billion, and increasing bureaucracy according to the Royal College of GPs, the NHS is moving from having 163 statutory organisations to 521. They cut Nhs spending two years running, while spending almost 1billion making Nhs staff redundant and failing to stop closures of A&e and maternity wards. since the election almost 7,000 nurses have been cut, and research by the Royal College of Nursing suggests the Nhs is set to lose thousands more.

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The Tory-led Government: A programme for no change

The number of people who wait more than four hours in A&e has doubled. 23. PENSIONS AND OLDER PEOPLE David Cameron said that people deserved dignity and respect in old age and that they should be provided with the support they need. The Coalition Agreement stressed that this means safeguarding key benefits and pensions. David Cameron and George osborne used the Budget last March to raid pensioners at the same time as giving millionaires a tax cut. The Granny Tax means that 4.4 million pensioners will lose an average of 83 per year from April and people who turn 65 this year will lose up to 323. The Government has also cut the amount of support available through the Winter Fuel Allowance a cut of 50 for the over-60s and 100 for the over 80s. 24. POLITICAL REFORM David Cameron promised fundamental reform and much greater co-operation across party lines. The Government have failed to deliver on constitutional reform following a major split between the Tories and the Lib Dems. Despite promises they have failed to deliver on Lords reform, having to drop proposals for change after a backbench Tory rebellion. David Camerons plan to redraw boundaries in a partisan way designed for his own party political advantage is currently faltering after Nick Clegg withdrew his partys support. The Tories continue to support this partisan change even though the plan to cut the number of parliamentary seats from 650 to 600 is based on an electoral register that is missing 3.5 million eligible voters such a plan risks disenfranchising millions.

David Cameron has created over 100 new peers in the house of Lords at an estimated cost of 18 million- more than the savings the Government said they would expect from cutting the size of the house of Commons. Promises to limit the number of special advisers have been broken with the Government actually increasing their number. Before the General election David Cameron called lobbying the next big scandal waiting to happen. In the Coalition Agreement the Tory-led Government pledged to introduce a statutory register of lobbyists. Despite this the Government have yet to take the action required to clean up lobbying. 25. PUBLIC HEALTH Two years ago the Government promised to take action to promote public health, and encourage behaviour change to help people live healthier lives. The Tory-led Government has chosen to put responsibility deals between the food and drinks industries and government at the heart of its public health policy. Major companies including Mars, McDonalds, Pizza hut and KFC have signed up. In November 2011 it was reported that Department of health ministers and civil servants had held 85 meetings with the drinks industry since the election. Meanwhile, health charities and medical organisations working on public health have been marginalised from the process. Many, including Alcohol Concern, the British Association for the study of the Liver, the British Liver Trust, the British Medical Association, the Institute of Alcohol studies, and the Royal College of Physicians, have pulled out of the deals on the grounds that their scope is too limited and prioritise industry views. Diabetes UK and the British heart Foundation also pulled out of the deals on food, health at work and physical activities.

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The Tory-led Government: A programme for no change

Chef and food campaigner Jamie oliver has described the Governments obesity strategy as just worthless, regurgitated, patronising rubbish, and has warned that allowing academy schools to opt out of national food rules will allow junk food to return to school canteens and vending machines. 26. SCHOOLS The Government promised to improve school standards and help parents, community groups and others to start new schools. The Government oversaw chaos in the GCse system, with thousands of pupils having to retake English exams. Rather than acting to reassure pupils, David Cameron and Michael Gove sat on their hands, refusing to order a regrade and an inquiry to restore confidence in the system. Rather than raising standards, the Government is taking us backwards to an out-of-date and narrow curriculum. since 2010, the CBI, creative industries, top head teachers and the Governments own advisors have all voiced concern that changes being made to the curriculum and exams will waste the talents of many young people and fail to equip them for a 21st century job market. The Government has made the biggest cut to education funding since the 1950s. one of the Governments first acts was the cancellation of Labours Building schools for the Future programme, stopping over 700 school building projects.

By summer 2012, one in seven parents failed to get a place for their child at the primary school of their choice. By spring 2012, over 10,000 teachers had left the profession since the Government came to office. Millions have been spent propping up the Governments poorly executed free schools policy, with schools failing to open or left half empty. The Department for education have been unable to provide the exact number of parent-led proposals. 27. SOCIAL ACTION David Cameron has repeatedly talked about the Big society, referring to it as his great passion. In the Coalition Agreement the Government promised to take action to support and encourage social responsibility, volunteering and philanthropy. The Big society idea remains mired in confusion. David Cameron has been forced to relaunch his big idea at least five times since the election. In a letter to the Prime Minister, sir stephen Bubb, head of the Association of Chief executives of Voluntary organisations, which represents charities said that the Big society plans were effectively dead. he said the reality many charities now face is crippling spending cuts. In the Budget, George osborne announced a new cap on income tax reliefs for those who give more than 50,000 to charity. Charities have warned that this charity tax could have a serious impact on their ability to raise funds through philanthropic giving and the Government was forced to u-turn on the policy.

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The Tory-led Government: A programme for no change

28. SOCIAL CARE AND DISABILITY The Government said it understood the urgency of reforming the social care system, and promised to ease the cost burden faced by individuals needing care and their families. There is a growing care crisis, with 1.4 billion already cut from older peoples care services and local councils restricting the care available to people who need it. No progress has been made on social care funding reform since the election. The Government promised to implement Andrew Dilnots review on social, but have delayed for months. Any change is now set to wait until 2015. The number of people being kept in hospital because appropriate care is not available in the community or at home is rising, costing the Nhs hundreds of millions of pounds since the Government took office. 29. TAXATION David Cameron promised that he would reform the tax system to make it simpler and said that action would be taken to ensure the tax framework better reflects the values of this Government. By cutting the 50p tax rate the Government has given 8,000 millionaires an average tax cut of over 107,000 a year at the same time as cuts to tax credits are making some families better off on benefits than in work. The Governments Granny Tax means that 4.4 million pensioners will lose an average of 83 per year in April and people who turn 65 this year will lose up to 323. VAT was increased to 20 per cent, despite promises not to raise it and warnings from the Lib Dems of a Tory VAT bombshell.

30. TRANSPORT The Coalition Agreement committed the Tory-led Government to fair pricing for rail travel and making Network Rail more accountable. It also pledged support for sustainable travel. The Government has allowed train companies to hike fares by as much as 9.2 per cent this year, reversing the strict cap on fare rises introduced by Labour. Meanwhile, the new franchise agreements give successful bidders the right to cut services, close ticket offices and reduce front-line staff on trains and at stations. The InterCity West Coast rail franchise fiasco saw at least 40 million of public money wasted. Despite the Governments attempts to dump the blame on civil servants, Ministers received a report warning of the problems with the tender process five days before awarding the contract, yet would have gone ahead with the FirstGroup franchise had it not been for the legal challenge by Virgin. Ministers stood by refusing to act as Network Rail bosses proposed huge bonus payments to themselves payments which they only chose not to take following Labours intervention. Progress in promoting sustainable transport has been set back by the decision to cut funding for local transport too far and too fast, with one in five supported bus services being axed as a result of the 28 per cent cut in funding to local authorities and 20 per cent cut in funding direct to bus companies.

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The Tory-led Government: A programme for no change

31. UNIVERSITIES AND FURTHER EDUCATION The Government claimed that they were committed to ensuring higher and further education was accessible to all, and that they would help young people from all backgrounds enhance their education attainment. The Government trebled tuition fees to a maximum of 9,000 a year. Their fees policy is set to cost the taxpayer more, not less, than the policy it replaced perhaps by as much as 1 billion. They scrapped the education Maintenance Allowance (eMA) and replaced with a system that will leave thousands of students from poorer backgrounds without the support they need to pay for books and transport costs. Funding provided to further and higher education institutions has been slashed, including an 80 per cent reduction in the teaching budget for universities across the county.

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