#GE2015: Most popular policies from Vote for Policies (Part two)

On Wednesday at 1800 we will publish the People’s Manifesto 2015. This will be based on the hundreds of thousands of you who have used the Vote for Policies survey to find which party’s policies most aligns your views and beliefs. To see 2010’s People’s Manifesto click here.

This is the state of play as of midday on Friday. Today we deal with the Environment, Crime, Democracy, Europe and Foreign Policy/Defence. Yesterday we looked at the top five Health/NHS, Education, Economy, Welfare and Immigration.

Environment, Labour

1. The new Infrastructure Commission will prioritise investment in flood prevention. We will deal with the problems of air pollution by giving local authorities the powers they need, backed up by a national framework.

2. Keep our forests in public ownership, and promote access to green spaces in local planning.

3. Support the work of the Natural Capital Committee to protect and improve wildlife habitats and green spaces, and make them an important part of our thriving tourism industry.

4. Expand the role of the Department of International Development to mitigate the risks of a changing climate, and support sustainable livelihoods for the world’s poorest people.

5. Make the case [at the UNFCCC conference in Paris, in December 2015] for ambitious emissions targets for all countries, strengthened every five years on the basis of a scientific assessment of the progress towards the below two degree goal.

6. Push for a goal of net zero global emissions in the second half of this century, for transparent and universal rules for measuring, verifying and reporting emissions, and for an equitable deal in which richer countries provide support to poorer nations in combatting climate change.

7. Protect animal welfare – ending the inhumane and ineffective badger cull, maintaining the ban on hunting with dogs, and introducing a ban on wild animals in circuses.

Crime, Green Party

1. Expand the use of restorative justice, with the offender making amends to the victim and the community.

2. Restrict police use of random stop and search powers.

3. Treat drug addiction as a health problem rather than as a crime.

4. Improve the design of our cities to provide safer streets and public spaces.

5. Focus on crime prevention measures, including more community policing under local democratic control and more local police stations.

6. Oppose the privatisation of policing and the probation service.

7. Provide proper funding for Women’s Refuges for survivors of domestic violence, and make domestic abuse a specific criminal offence.

8. Provide access to real work and education for prisoners, the work to include repairing damage done by crime, and literacy and numeracy classes from the first day of imprisonment.

Democracy, Liberal Democrats

1. Reform the House of Lords with a proper democratic mandate starting from the 2012 Bill.

2. Get big money out of politics with a £10,000 cap on donations and reform of party political funding.

3. Reform our voting systems for elections to local government and Westminster. We will introduce the Single Transferable Vote for local government elections in England and for electing MPs across the UK, while transferring responsibility for the local government election system in Wales to the Welsh Assembly.

4. Better democracy with votes at 16.

5. Delivering on promises made to Scotland and the rest of the UK and transfer more powers from Westminster and Whitehall to the nations and communities of the UK.

6. “Devolution on demand” to transfer more power and control to areas within England.

7. Pass a new Freedoms Act, to protect citizens from excessive state powers and improve rights of access to information.

8. Protect your privacy by updating data laws for the internet age with a Digital Bill of Rights.

Europe, Labour

1. Return Britain to a leadership role in Europe, but reform the EU so that it works for Britain.

2. Guarantee no powers will be transferred to Brussels without an in/out referendum.

3. Focus on the completion of the single market and tougher budget discipline, including on those items where spending at the EU level can save money at the national level.

4. Drive reform of the Common Agricultural Policy and a Commission led zero­based review of spending on EU agencies to reduce waste and inefficiency.

5. We will not join the Euro, and we will ensure EU rules protect the interests of non­Euro members.

6. Secure reforms to immigration and social security rules, as well as pushing for stronger transitional controls, which will enable member states to manage the flow of workers for longer when new countries join.

7. Continue to open up EU decision­making, and implement institutional reforms to help build levels of trust among European citizens.

8. Work to strengthen the influence national parliaments have over European legislation, by arguing for a ‘red card mechanism’ for member states.

Foreign Policy/Defence, UKIP

1. Reduce the foreign aid budget to £4 billion (more than given by Spain and Italy combined) and prioritise sanitation and clean water programmes, disaster relief, inoculation and healthcare.

2. Spend 2% of GPD on defence to honour our commitment to NATO.

3. Keep our nuclear deterrent.

4. Give Parliament the final say on whether we go to war.

5. Protect Gibraltar, the Falklands and all overseas British Territories.

6. Guarantee those who have served in the Armed Forces for a minimum of 12 years a job in the police force, prison service or border force.

7. Create a dedicated Minister for Veterans to look after our war heroes.

8. Support a National Service Medal for all those who have served in the armed forces.

You can still see which party’s policies most matches your own views by using the Vote for Policies survey here, or see your local Vote for Policies results here.

To see the how parties are doing by policy across the country take a look here.

To see the newly released Guide to Sustainable Democracy, click here.

Photo: Khairil Zhafri via Flickr

Further reading:

General election: attention given to sustainability in campaigns criticised