Labour and Conservatives policies

Examples of united welfare policies for Labour

Wes Streeting aligned with progress (New Labour faction), raised NHS spending by £1.8bn in 2024

Aligns with - Corbyn - 2019 manifesto - promised to increase health spending by 4.3%.

Also welcomed by Old Labour faction - Labour first.

 

Examples of economic polices that Labour are united over

2019 Labour manifesto - Corbyn pledged to nationalise railways

2024 - Less nationalisation but agreed to set up GB railways and GB energy

Both old and New Labour belive in taxing wealth and income.

Old Labour chancellor - Denis Healey - tax the rich ‘until the pips queak’

Where Mandelson - ‘intensely relaxed about people getting rich’ as ‘long as they paid their taxes’

Welfare polices Labour is divided over

2024 - Winter fuel payments - rebellion of 53 Labour MPs - abstained votes

June 2025 - >100 Labour MPs - from different factions threatened to rebel over reforms to PIP ( disability payments)

Economic polices Labour is divided over 

OL - Widespread state intervention in economy, NL - encourage a private sector

Corby’s pledges in 2019 - reflected - water, post and broadband to be nationalised.

BUT - Starmer -Reece’s - encourage private investment - £20bn of private investment in 2025, including £7bn by BlackRock

 

Labour United over foreign policy 

•  Labour who began Britain’s nuclear weapons programme in 1945 and joined NATO in 1949; Old Labour favoured a strong national defence; New Labour in Tony Blair launched wars in Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003).

• The Labour manifestos of 2017 and 2019 (Corbyn) and 2024 all agreed on staying in NATO and keeping Trident nuclear weapons.

Labour not united over foreign policy

·   growing disagreements within Labour over policy towards Israel since 2023 – the Labour left (especially under Corbyn) pushed for recognition of Palestine and suspension of arms sales to Israel. The Labour right, represented by Old Labour group Labour First, and the Labour Friends of Israel (which has 120 Labour MPs as members inc. Keir Starmer) has supported Israel through the conflict. BUT (In 2025, despite this, the UK recognized the state of Palestine.)

Labour was also bitterly divided over Brexit 2016-2019; with Labour MPs like Diane Abbott and John McDonnell represented remain seats and Ian Lavery and others representing leave seats. Labour backed a second referendum.

Labour United over law and order

• In the 2017 manifesto under Corbyn, Labour promised 10,000 extra police officers. The 2024 manifesto also called for thousands of extra officers.

• Tony Blair in 1997 called for being ‘tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’ summing up the Labour approach

Labour divided over law and order

Labour under Starmer have been tough on immigration – Starmer gave a speech in August 2025 which was accused by the left of echoing the racist Enoch Powell; Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood in 2025 also planned to make it harder for people to earn ‘Indefinite Leave to Remain’.

Both New Labour under Blair and Labour under Corbyn had more positive attitudes towards – under New Labour 1997-2007 around 3 million people (net) immigrated to the UK, whereas in 2019 Labour pledged to end the ‘hostile environment’ and have a ‘humane immigration system

Conservative United over welfare

Welfare cuts - A large degree of consensus in the Conservative Party since 2010-2024 that welfare should be reduced:

from Universal Credit reforms in 2012 (which reduced benefits by £200 per month on average) under Cameron, to the two-child benefit cap in 2017

under May, to the proposal by Sunak to cut welfare spending by £12bn

Conservatives divided over welfare 

Social care and tax - Theresa May attempted to introduce a social care reform in 2017 which would have meant people paying more towards their social care if they owned over £100,000 of assets, this was criticized as a ‘dementia tax’ by the neoliberal right and was dropped by the party;

Boris Johnson - 2021 introduced National insurance rise of 1.25% to pay for a social care, dropped by Liz Truss in 2022.This reflects a ONC vs NR divide on the role of the state and level of taxation.

Conservatives divided economic policy 

Austerity  - Since 2010, there has been consensus around the idea of ‘austerity’: reduction in public spending and the role of the state.

From 2010 to 2020, government spending was reduced from 46.3% of GDP to 39.5% of GDP. Covid led to an increase to 53.1%, but successive Conservative governments have focused on reducing it again, and it was down to 43.4% in 2023

Conservatives divided over economic polices

·       State intervention - In the 2020s, there were tensions between the One Nation and New Right factions over the economy:

• Boris Johnson believed the state should be used to ‘level up’ inequality across the UK, by distributing industries and economic opportunities (2019-2024); Sunak continued this policy with £2.1bn of new funding.

• Liz Truss aimed for a more neoliberal approach – lower taxes (cutting national insurance and £45bn of other tax cuts) in 2022. She faced opposition from her own party and had to resign.

Agreement on foreign policy

Ukraine – since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Kemi Badenoch have all fully supported Ukraine and argued for increased UK and NATO support for it. The UK committed £12bn across the Conservative governments 2022-2024

Division over foreign policy

Europe – the Cons was historically bitterly divided over Europe.

The pro-European faction helped bring down Thatcher in 1990, and the Eurosceptic wing rebelled against John Major in 1993.

Due to growing Conservative Party divisions over Europe, David Cameron pledged a referendum on the EU in 2013 (to be held in 2016). When Britain voted to leave, some Conservatives (led by the European Research Group or ERG) wanted a ‘hard Brexit’ whereas others, such as Dominic Grieve wanted a ‘soft Brexit’ or even to remain.

Boris Johnson expelled 21 Conservative MPs who defied the government on Brexit in 2019. After 2019the party became more settled on Europe, and now there is a consensus on leaving the

Conservatives United over law and order 

The Police and Crime bill of 2022 also ensured longer sentences for particular crimes such as child murder (life sentence) and child harm (14 years). This was a continuity with the tough sentences imposed after the 2011 riots under Cameron. Sunak also presided over tough sentences for Just Stop Oil protesters (3 years in prison) in 2023

• United over Traditonal family an life + Traditonal education 

Conservatives divided over foreign polices

Immigration Rwanda etc vs. Boriswave

o   Theresa May created the ‘hostile environment’ as Home Secretary, and Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak all backed the Rwanda Plan to deter illegal migrants.

But Johnson was very pro-legal immigration, with the numbers immigrating being described as a ‘Boriswave’ (over 2m 2021-2023)

Policing – David Cameron cut police numbers by 21,000 ; Boris Johnson hired 9,000