2015 is an important year for Britain – the year we decide whether to stick to our long-term plan that is turning our country around or to squander the progress we’ve made.
Five years ago, we came into office determined to get Britain back on her feet. To achieve this, we set out a long- term economic plan. We asked for the patience and sacrifice of the British people to see this plan through and, together, we’ve been turning our country around. We’ve taken our economy out of the mire of the Great Recession and, in 2014, made it into the fastest-growing economy of all the major advanced nations. We’ve cut our deficit in half. For every day we’ve been in Government, an average of 1000 new jobs have been created. And thanks to major tax cuts, over 24 million people are keeping more of their hard-earned money.
But the backdrop remains stark. The global economy is still struggling, with the Eurozone teetering on the brink of a possible third recession, emerging markets slowing down, and global trade talks stalling.
Against this uncertainty, the choice remains clear: between the competence of sticking with our long-term plan or the chaos of the alternative. Labour have no plan beyond more spending, more borrowing and more debt. Just this week, Labour were plunged into chaos when analysis revealed they’ve made £20.7 billion of unfunded spending commitments for the first year of the next Parliament alone. The astonishing figure is the equivalent of £1,200 additional borrowing for every working household in the country – hurting the economy and loading our children with more debt than they could ever hope to repay. And as for the Liberal Democrats, UKIP, the SNP and others, all they can deliver is Ed Miliband into Downing Street. Only the Conservatives offer the competence of a plan that’s working.
So our choice is clear: between the competence that has got us this far or the chaos of giving it up, going backwards and taking huge risks. Let’s continue to spread our message to voters to ensure a majority Conservative Government is elected on 7th May and Britain stays on the road to a stronger economy.
Campaign Material and Digital Content
Some new campaign material and digital content that has already been produced this year:
· Yesterday the Prime Minister and Chancellor were in the North West to talk about our plans to develop a powerhouse economy in the region. Here he is talking about his vision for the area: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=914683461889306&set=vb.653092548048400&type=2&theater
· Since 2010, we’ve created 2 million apprenticeships, helping young people learn trades and kick-start their own careers. To highlight this achievement, we produced the following video that’s been viewed more than 50,000 times. Share it with friends and family by sending them the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlkNFeBwcBA
· We created the attached graphic to reveal Labour’s unfunded plans for £20.7bn more borrowing, as well as the following Share the Facts post which contains a link to the full dossier: http://betterfutu.re/1tD5iht
· We’ve also produced a number of other Share the Facts posts over the past week:
o Labour have confirmed they don’t understand how the economy works – by making false claims about Conservative plans to reduce the deficit. Their new poster claims that our plans would take spending "back to the levels of the 1930s.” But in actual fact, our plans would mean day-to-day spending on public services would be the level that it was in 2002-03 (when Labour were in power) – as confirmed by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility: http://betterfutu.re/1Htf9i0
o Thanks to our long-term economic plan, first-time buyers have risen to their highest level since 2007. A new report by the Halifax, one of Britain’s biggest mortgage lenders, shows that 326,000 people bought their first home last year – a rise of 22% compared with 2013: http://betterfutu.re/1BFj0oK
o Over the past five years, we’ve helped create over 700,000 more businesses and 1.75 million jobs across the country – giving more people the security of a pay packet to provide for themselves and their families. That’s why we’ve launched our six-point long-term economic plan for the North West: http://betterfutu.re/1FuiqA3
Local Government By-Elections
Please visit http://www.conservativecouncillors.com/elections to see if there’s a by-election taking place near you.