2yrs on, Tories’ trail of broken promises

TWO years ago today, Britain went to the polls and gave the Tories their first majority since 1992. These are 20 promises they have broken. 1 PROMISE: We will balance the books by 2017 and then run a budget surplus. REALITY: The deficit is still £50billion a year and will not even be closed by 2020. 2 PROMISE: We will not increase VAT, Income Tax or National Insurance Contributions. REALITY: Chancellor hiked NICs in first Budget before being shamed into a U-turn a week later. 3 PROMISE: We will work to end child poverty. REALITY: Child poverty is on the rise and forecast to get even worse when new welfare cuts kick in. 4 PROMISE: We will deliver a strong NHS. REALITY: Waiting times have soared, A&E is in meltdown and medics were forced to strike. 5 PROMISE: We will cut net migration to below 100,000 people a year. REALITY: Migration is running at 273,000 a year. 6 PROMISE: We will safeguard British interests in the EU single market. REALITY: Theresa May is pulling us out of the single market as part of her plan for Brexit. 7 PROMISE: We will protect schools funding. REALITY: Funding is being cut by 6.5% with many inner city schools facing even bigger losses. 8 PROMISE: We will boost mental health funding. REALITY: Only half of mental health trusts say they received a real-terms increase to budgets. 9 PROMISE: We will scrap the Human Rights Act and introduce a British Bill of Rights. REALITY: Theresa May abandoned the plan after becoming PM. 10 PROMISE: We will abolish long-term youth unemployment. REALITY: Latest stats show 80,000 aged 16-24 have been unemployed for more than 12 months. 11 PROMISE: We will electrify main North rail routes. REALITY: Project was “paused” two months after the 2015 election and is now well behind schedule. 12 PROMISE: We will recover £500million a year from migrants who use the NHS by the middle of the next Parliament. REALITY: Barely half of that is being recovered. 13 PROMISE: We will give workers the right to three days’ volunteering leave a year on full pay. REALITY: It never happened. 14 PROMISE: We will increase British exports to £1trillion by 2020. REALITY: Now admit target will not be hit. 15 PROMISE: We will ban wild animals in circuses. REALITY: Tory MPs blocked the Bill in Parliament. 16 PROMISE: We will ensure the NHS has enough staff to meet patients’ needs. REALITY: NHS has a staffing crisis while pay rises for key workers are still pegged below inflation. 17 PROMISE: We will clamp down on dangerous extremists with new Extremism Disruption Orders. REALITY: Counter-Extremism Bill never appeared as lawyers failed to agree a definition of “extremism”. 18 PROMISE: We will improve welfare with the new Universal Credit system. REALITY: It was delayed yet again in 2016. 19 PROMISE: We will introduce a new Victims’ Law to enshrine key rights for victims of crime. REALITY: It never happened. 20 PROMISE: We will cap residential social care charges from April 2016. REALITY: The plan was delayed until 2020.