COMMON

SENSE

A Conservative manifesto for a safe and prosperous United Kingdom

CONTENTS
1-2. 3-4. 5-8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 13. Foreword Economy Safety Foreign Affairs Defence Education Health & Welfare Northern Ireland Local Government Environment James Whitelaw Reuben Reich thelred Oakes Eleanor Johnstone Craig Warwick Emily Logan John Butcher Craig Warwick Hector Monro Jock Aitken

FOREWORD
Dear Reader, What you are holding in your hands is not just a book of proposition, a collection of ideas and suggestions, but a contract - an agreement. This manifesto extends the hand of the Conservative Party to the people, and invites you to take it. Our programme over the past few years has been built upon actions, not words, on real, conviction politics, not populist stunts. If you honour us with your vote on February 6th, I will not promise that we will get everything right. We will make mistakes like anyone would, but we will endeavour to do what is right, to defend Britain, Britons and British interests around the world and to continue to uphold the ideals of liberty, democracy and justice which are founded in our United Kingdom's long history. Do you remember Britain in 1979, Britain in decline? We were no longer a strong nation, but the joke of the world, the sick man of Europe. We were "ungovernable," victims of the "British disease," a country in which mismanagement and bureaucracy had crippled the economy and in which the leader of a Union had far more powers than his entire membership combined and than any elected representative. The worst strikes since the 1920s crippled our Britain, as rubbish piled our streets uncollected, as gravediggers refused to work and as even James Callaghan admitted that, were he a younger man, he would emigrate. The hard working man counted for nothing, and nor did our once great nation: we could not bear it. We could not bear Britain in decline. And so, whilst the leadership offered by Labour sung songs to the TUC and became famous for asking "Crisis? What Crisis," the firm, strong hand of Margaret Thatcher dragged our economy through the storm and into years of successive growth. Since the Conservatives took power in 1979, inflation has come down. Strikes have come down. The economy is booming. We have faced a war over the Falklands and won and emerged victorious from the battle on our streets as we finally succeeded in doing what no previous Government had dared do in democratising Unions, curbing the power of their leaders and restoring authority, liberty and choice to every worker.

In the last seven years our country has changed - changed for the better. We have discovered a new strength and a new pride. We have fostered a new spirit of enterprise. We have risen to fresh challenges at home and abroad. Once again our economy is strong. Our industries are flourishing. Unemployment is falling. Founded on this new prosperity, we are building a better Health Service and providing more care for those in need. Living standards are higher than ever before. Our people have the protection of a stronger defence and more police. Britain has come right by her own efforts. We trusted in the character and talents of our people. The British instinct is for choice and independence. Given the opportunities provided by Conservative policies, many more families now enjoy the pride of ownership of homes, of shares and of pensions. When Mrs Thatcher was killed, brutally murdered by cowards from the shadows in 1984, many thought that the Government might fall. When the coal strike continued for over a year, many were certain that we could not survive. Through strength, resolve and a partnership with the people of this extraordinary nation, we have faced challenges every day and came out on top with the best deal for the British person. Together we are building One Nation of free, prosperous and responsible families and people. A Conservative dream is at last becoming a reality. Now, with all of the main parties led by new faces and with the political climate having evolved and changed, the time is ripe to ask Britain to renew her contract with the Conservative Party. The time is ripe to show you this, our programme for the future, and hope that you will endorse us to continue serving this country into the next decade.

Yours, James Whitelaw

A PROSPEROUS ECONOMY SAFE FOR THE LONG HAUL

It is politically unwise, they say, to blame one's time in government on the policies of predecessors. Now that extreme unions have been democratized, militant councils tempered, public order returned to our cities' streets, and the leadership of terrorist insurgency neutralized, we are free to increasingly allocate resources towards giving something back. That something is the ability to hold the reins to one's own destiny, and to ride unhindered and unobstructed towards pastures green. The ability to labour diligently and create wealth to keep without undue interference is the principle which lies at the heart of the programme for long-term prosperity which we have underwritten: To this end, we have drawn up a schedule of simple yet effective cuts in taxation and spending. We will eliminate the start-up rate of corporation tax, facilitating those all-important first steps for some of the most vital people in our economy - the pioneers and entrepreneurs. Likewise, the employer's rate of National Insurance will be ended in order to give relief to struggling firms around the country. VAT will be reduced to 14.9%, lower than before 1985, and these decreases will be secured through a responsible solution to the problem of state industries, whereby the fate of each sector will be determined on its unique merits and idiosyncrasies. The monetary system is one of the most crucial facets of a sound economy. We want to play a key role in forming the national debate over whether the pound sterling should be backed with gold, silver or other assets in order to promote long-term price stability, protection from inflation, and more confidence to British businesses and individuals who would be able to trade in their banknotes for hard and valuable commodities. We also undertake to avoid the creation of artificial credit and Government-set rates which are the chief culprits for the causation of recessions and depressions. To synthetically meddle in this way flies in the face of common sense, and we're proud to value long-term, stable growth over a short-term peak-and-trough.

We do not believe it is in Britain's best interests to keep overburdening businesses, especially the small- and medium-sized concerns whose role in creating jobs and wealth for our communities cannot be understated. We will therefore reform the system of unfair dismissal tribunals, making it optional in terms negotiations for new employees. The balance must be struck between workers' ability to assert their rights, and the increasing, unfortunate tendency of litigiousness when unproductive workers are sacked after pulling one sick day too many. This worrying trend must be allowed to be halted, while at the same time respecting existing contracts between the employer and the employee to their full extent. On a similar note, those businesses who seek to expand cannot be enveloped in a mountain of red tape. We will trim the restrictive tax on carbon dioxide emissions, and balance the cut by holding to account those who spill and pollute the atmosphere in which we all live. We will stand up against punitive planning permission and zoning regulations for expanding companies, provided that there is no encroachment on community spaces or areas of natural beauty. We stand by our commitment to remove the onus from those blazing a trail in the healthcare world, too: we will end the innovation-strangling state licensing ceiling for doctors, allowing people to be at liberty over whether they use NHS services or those of experimental or alternative physicians. Likewise, the inflexibility of medical patents, which so stifle the progress of path-finding researchers and practitioners, must be reversed. Re-install this Conservative Government, and these changes will be promptly made through a Budget and a Jobs Act. The cumulative effect will be simple: strengthening the huge strides we've already made in regenerating prosperity, allowing British people more space than ever to further their prospects in the employment market, and ensuring ordinary people freedom from excessive charges to bring home a healthy reward for their loved ones. Our word is our bond, and this is our pledge to you. Yours, Reuben Reich

THE FOUNDATIONS OF BRITAIN'S NEW-LOOK SOCIETY

A vast change separates the Britain of today from that of the late 1970s - yet the Conservatives have only been in power for 7 years. It seems so longer ago since, under the last Labour administration, inflation hit 27%; since the leader of the Transport & General Workers' Union was widely seen as the most powerful man in the land; since Labour's much vaunted 'pay pact' with the Unions inflicted upon this nation the industrial anarchy of the Winter of Discontent brought the country to a standstill and while rubbish piled up in the streets, the dead were stacked in warehouses waiting to be buried. Under the Conservatives, our Britain has turned a corner, and we have done so in a short amount of time, considering the damage inflicted on it by the socialists. The job was started by our late, great Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and, with plenty still to do, the job will be continued by her successor, James Whitelaw. The improvements in this country have only been possible because we have had a strong government with a decisive majority in Parliament. A weak government such as the last Labour administration, which staggered from disaster to disaster on borrowed money and was propped up by Liberals while it suited them would have buckled under the pressures faced by us. Such a government would have been beaten by the illegal miners strike, or been overcome with indecision when confronted by the indiscriminate violence of the IRA. In this election, only the Conservative Party is offering strong, decisive and united government. Labour offers splits between left and right, internal strife that sometimes comes to the fore; while no one really knows what the Alliance stands for or who really runs it. When I was made Home Secretary, my agenda was simple: Look outside the box for different ways to deal with problems that face our society. So, in just over one year I have brought in common sense Bills

to reform sentencing structure and the way we deal with criminals; to reform trade union laws and make them fairer; to abolish the barbarity of capital punishment; to ensure the transparent policing of the police; and to deal with terrorism. Conservatives have always believed that a fundamental purpose of government is to protect the security of the citizen under the rule of law. There can be no half-heartedness, no opting out, in the fight against crime and violence: all of us, not just the Government or the police, share a responsibility to make safer our streets and homes. We do not underrate the challenge. Crime has been rising steadily over the years; not just in Britain but in most other countries, too. The origins of crime lie deep in society: in families where parents do not support or control their children; in schools where discipline is poor; and in the wider world where violence is glamorised and traditional values are under attack. Government alone cannot tackle such deep-rooted problems easily or quickly. But Government must give a lead: by backing, not attacking the police; by providing a tough legal framework for sentencing; by building the prisons in which to place those who pose a threat to society - and by keeping out of prison those who do not; and by encouraging local communities to prevent crime and to help the police detect it. All this we have done; and we will intensify these efforts. In addition to fighting crime, we owe a duty of care to victims of crime, and those who wish to give evidence in court but are afraid to do so. We will bring in measures to help these people. We will strengthen our position on illegal immigration, and require visas for visitors from the Indian sub-continent and Africa, both to protect genuine travellers and to guard against bogus visitors seeking to settle here illegally. We will tackle the problem of those who fraudulently pose as refugees and who seek to exploit Britain's long tradition of giving refuge to the victims of persecution. We will set strict limits on the time it takes to assess a claimant's status, and on the time it takes to deport those whose applications for asylum fail. We want to see members of the ethnic minorities assuming positions of leadership alongside their fellow citizens and accepting their full

share of responsibility. Racial discrimination is an injustice and can have no place in a tolerant and civilised society. We are particularly concerned about racial attacks. They require effective and sympathetic attention from the police and we will ensure that they receive it. Progress towards better community relations must be on a basis of equality. Reverse discrimination is itself an injustice and if it were to be introduced it would undermine the achievement and example of those who had risen on their merits. But we must work with ethnic communities in order to make them feel accepted as part of society this is the only way to ensure there is no repetition of the riots in London last year. Our Operation Flavius took out most of the IRA leadership, and paved the way for the potential for peace in Northern Ireland, after over 20 years of fighting - and bombing campaigns by terrorists on mainland Britain. We will continue to make difficult decisions whenever we need to, and follow them up with ideas to ensure that the problems we solve now do not come back in the future. In the next Parliament we will:

Increase police manpower Give special priority to helping crime victims Bring in reforms to help tackle child abuse including live video link evidence Introduce special training for police when dealing with rape victims Give sex crime victims statutory anonymity Extend the same anonymity to those accused but not found guilty of sex crimes Provide strict time limits by which the cases of those held in custody must be heard Build more courts and appoint more judges Give crime victims a statutory right to compensation Allow courts to order the confiscation of assets of all serious criminals Promote crime prevention through Neighbourhood Watch Schemes Make immigration controls firm but fair Bring in Police Charters to give local people information about, for instance, response times Provide all resources to combat terrorist organisations who seek to undermine democracy Underpin the combating of terrorism with comprehensive plans to maintain peace.