Tories 2017

THE CONSERVATIVE AND UNIONIST PARTY MANIFESTO 2017
meaning households and businesses can become systematically overcharged. We will therefore
examine ways in which the regulation of utilities and transport infrastructure can be improved
to deliver a better deal for customers and sharper incentives for investment efficiency.
NEW RULES FOR A CHANGING
ECONOMY
Conservatives believe that if you value something, you must be prepared to reform
it in order to conserve it. So it is today with our economy. Capitalism and free markets
remain the best way to deliver prosperity and economic security, lifting millions of
people out of poverty around the world. Markets need rules and these rules need to be
updated to reflect our changing economy.
Guaranteeing a decent wage
We must first ensure that everyone is paid fairly for their work. It was a Conservative
government that introduced the National Living Wage and as a result, people across
the United Kingdom now receive a minimum of £7.50 an hour. A new Conservative
government will continue to increase the National Living Wage to 60 per cent of median
earnings by 2020 and then by the rate of median earnings, so that people who are on
the lowest pay benefit from the same improvements in earnings as higher paid workers.
Rights and protections in the ‘gig’ economy
In the modern economy many people choose jobs like driving, delivering and coding, that
are highly flexible and can be mixed with other employment. This brings considerable
advantages to millions of people but we should not ignore the challenges this kind of
employment creates. These workers are officially classed as self-employed and therefore
have fewer pension entitlements, reduced access to benefits, and no qualification for sick
pay and holiday pay. Yet the nature of their work is different from the traditional selfemployed
worker who might be a sole trader, a freelancer or running their own business.
We will make sure that people working in the ‘gig’ economy are properly protected. Last October,
the government commissioned Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the Royal Society of
Arts, to review the changing labour market. We await his final report but a new Conservative
government will act to ensure that the interests of employees on traditional contracts, the selfemployed
and those people working in the ‘gig’ economy are all properly protected.
Stopping tax evasion
We have taken vigorous action against tax avoidance and evasion, closing the tax gap –
the difference between the amount of tax due and the amount collected – to one of the
lowest in the world.
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