David Cameron has promised that a Conservative government will support India’s bid for permanent representation on the United Nations Security Council.
Launching the party’s election manifesto in Swindon on Tuesday, Mr. Cameron said that his party will, if elected, “Build on our strong relationship with India, push for an ambitious EU-India trade deal and support India’s bid for permanent representation on the U.N. Security Council.”
The manifesto also calls for strengthening ties and economic links with China, “doubling support for British firms selling goods there and championing an EU-China trade deal.”
The reference to India comes at the end of the 81-page manifesto of what Mr. Cameron referred to as the “party of the working people.” The manifesto presents his party as the go-to place for working people “offering security at every stage of your life.”
He promised a range of measures in keeping with that pledge that had a definite Labour ring to them — from lifting taxes on working people who work at minimum wages for 30 hours a week; to increasing spending on the National Health Service to £8 billion a year by 2020, and double free childcare to 30 hours a week.
Green Party’s manifesto The Green Party also released its manifesto on Tuesday, choosing the Arcola theatre in east London as a venue to showcase the fuel-efficient business that it runs. The party had only one MP in the last elections, but could play a role in government formation if it performs better, more so there is a hung Parliament.
The focus of its manifesto was on ending economic austerity and addressing the environmental crisis. Hopeful of a green surge, the Green Party leader Natalie Bennett said that they would support a Labour government on issues.
The manifesto has promised £85bn of spending on energy saving schemes, an increase in welfare benefits, re-nationalising the railways and a £10 per hour minimum wage by 2020.
For the non-whites The only party to launch a separate manifesto for the BAME (Black African Minority Ethnic) population, the Labour chose Leicester to do so — a city where 55 per cent of the population is non-white, and where the high-profile Indian-origin Labour politician Keith Vaz is standing.
Promising a “better plan” to break down the barriers still faced by people from non-white backgrounds in Britain, Labour leader Ed Miliband pledged a “cross-government race equality strategy to drive progress across government.”
On the crucial issues of immigration, terrorism and the radicalisation of British Muslim youth, the manifesto had nothing to say.
