Conservative manifesto published

The Conservative Party has issued its manifesto for the 2024 General Election. There are a number of policy commitments which may be relevant to the food and consumer goods industry, including:

Taxes

• No increase in corporation tax (p. 6)

• Rate reform to treat real-world and online businesses more fairly (p. 7)

• 2p cut to national insurance for employees by April 2027 (p. 14)

• Full abolition of national insurance by the end of the Parliament (p. 6)

• Abolition of national insurance for the self-employed by the end of the Parliament (p. 14)

• No increase in income tax rates or VAT (p.14)

Benefits

• Triple Lock Plus to maintain the value of the state pension and to protect pensioners from tax (p. 15)

• Reforms to manage the rising cost of sickness-related benefits (p. 15-16)

Training and skills

• A and T Levels to be combined into new Advanced British Standard (p. 26)

• Creation of 100,000 more apprenticeships by the end of the Parliament (p. 27)

• Lifelong Learning Entitlement for support training for adults, from Autumn 2025 (p. 28)

Migration

• The income threshold for skilled migrant workers will rise annually, in line with inflation (p. 37)

• Binding legal caps on immigration, with caps reduced annually (p. 37)

• No return to free movement (p.37)

• Higher visa fees (p. 37)

Health

• Tobacco & Vapes Bill to return in the first year of next Parliament (p. 41)

• Limits on the advertising of HFSS (p. 41)

• Further studies on ultra-processed foods (p. 41)

Crime

• Tougher sentences for assault on retail workers (p. 45)

Farming and food

• Expanded funding to support grants for agricultural development (p. 62)

• New, legally binding targets to improve UK food security (p. 62)

• Public sector procurement to focus on UK-produced or sustainable food (p. 62)

• Move away from seasonal migrant labour in favour of new technology (p. 62)

• R&D support to focus on agri-tech (p. 62)

• Further financial support to develop the fishing industry (p. 63)

Hospitality

• Review of night-time economy, with a view to reinvigorating the industry (p.70)

• Brexit pubs tax guarantee to be retained (p. 11)

Other

• Increased public spending on R&D (p. 9)

• Tax relief on R&D spending to be maintained (p. 9)

• Further development of Advanced manufacturing Plan (p. 9)

• National Living Wage will continue to rise, likely to reach £13 per hour over the Parliament (p. 15)

IGD Opinion

The Conservative manifesto suggests a broad continuation of established policy themes. The focus on infrastructure, technology and skills intended to build a more productive economy echoes recent Budgets.

There is considerable coverage of food, farming and rural issues. The introduction of a new national food security target is especially important, although at present it is not clear how this will be set or what the target will be.

It is also disappointing that food manufacturing apparently still does not fall within the government’s favoured “advanced manufacturing” category.

Policies seem sensible and rational, though unlikely to create quick results – they have not, so far. More worrying is the lack of detail on exactly where government funds will come from.

The Party is clear that it intends to go on pursuing the current fiscal goals (p. 6). This suggests that either taxes will rise or government expenditure will fall.