Party Policies Compare Plaid Cymru policies against Labour policies

Start a 'buy local' campaign, including legislation to improve public procurement, as well as improving opportunities for Welsh based business within the procurement chain to create 50,000 new jobs.

A Business bank for Wales to support SMEs and with promotion of the Welsh economy as a priority

Support new infrastructure projects which create jobs now and increase connectivity, such as the Valleys Metro, and special purpose investment vehicles such as Build 4 Wales.

Promote co-operative and mutual forms of business, including social enterprises, to develop and improve business and entrepreneurial skills in our communities.

Plaid Cymru would extend the Business Rate support scheme we established during our time in Government to cover all businesses with a rateable value of £15,000 or less. The scheme would cover 80,000 businesses across Wales and would relieve 70,000 businesses of having to pay business rates at all.

Businesses with a rateable value of up to 10,000 would receive 100% relief from business rates with tapered relief for businesses between £10,000 and £15,000.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

We believe that crime and justice policy should be decided here in Wales, so that we can set our priorities for keeping our streets safe.

Plaid Cymru calls for a Justice (Devolution of Powers Wales) Bill. We will continue to campaign for Welsh control over our crime and justice system in its entirety, including policing and youth justice, so that Wales can fully tackle the complex problems of individual and community safety and rehabilitation.

We call for the building of juvenile and women's prisons and we fully support a prison in the north of Wales. We are also committed to the campaign for bilingual juries in Wales and a separate legal jurisdiction for Wales.

We believe that crime is committed for a wide number of interlocking reasons and so can only be dealt with through a full range of policies for the economy, education, social justice and the regeneration of communities.

We call for a National Community Safety Strategy for Wales, more drug rehabilitation places and programmes, drugs and alcohol education in every school in Wales and better amenities for young people in their communities.

We also want to see the introduction of stricter controls on how drinks are advertised and marketed, greater support for victims and witnesses to help people feel safer in their communities and a political commitment to restorative justice and community sentencing where appropriate.

Plaid Cymru has noted the disproportionate number of ex-service personnel in prison and has called for a strategic review of the ways in which welfare support is administered to veterans.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Plaid Cymru did not support the war in Iraq; in fact, we vociferously opposed it. Moreover, our MPs led the campaign to impeach Tony Blair for war crimes.

We also opposed the invasion of Afghanistan from the beginning and we now call for a move towards a situation in the country where Afghans can be safe to develop their own country without external political influence. Plaid Cymru therefore call for a sufficient humanitarian framework following the gradual withdrawal of troops.

We do, of course, believe that while they are there, the young men and women in the armed forces should be protected and cared for, so we have called for a Military Well-Being Act to promote and safeguard the physical and mental health and wellbeing of military personnel.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Plaid Cymru propose a new Green Skills Construction College that would specialise in green energy.

The party would establish a publicly-owned energy company.

A Plaid Cymru government would rebuild our economy around our strengths and create an environment in which the private sector can flourish. Rather than hand out individual support packages to individual businesses, we would make Wales an attractive place to do business through creating a skilled workforce specialising in high value sectors, investing in our internal and external infrastructure and making finance more accessible.

Plaid Cymru has called for a new arm’s length, publically-owned Bank of Wales business investment bank. The bank would make finance available to small businesses at competitive rates, encouraging existing businesses to invest in themselves, potentially boosting employment and encouraging new business startups.

Plaid believes that we should abolish the unfair and outdated council tax system and introduce a local income tax. A local income tax would be based on the ability to pay, not on the value of property. It would be fairer and more efficient.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

A single national curriculum will provide for core learning whilst enabling greater flexibility for schools and professionals to innovate, e.g. outdoor learning, third foreign language, Information Technology.

We will respect the professionalism of teachers and assistants, expect Continuous Professional Development and reward good practice with less bureaucracy

Examinations should be independently regulated, including a reduction in the confusing range that pupils are allowed to sit.

There should be a closer alignment between under-graduate and vocational skills, especially at the higher level.

We call for a study into the feasibility of providing every infant school child in Wales with free school meals as there is a clear link between poor diet and educational attainment.

We will continue to oppose foundation schools, academies and free schools, which lack public accountability and in many cases have poor staffing practices, including lack of union recognition and weaker conditions of service for staff, as well as introducing the private sector into our education system.

We strongly believe that every child in Wales has the right to education in the Welsh language, including pupils with Special Educational Needs and we will continue to push for strengthened targets.

We support the recommendations made in the review of qualifications for 14-19 year olds to retain GCSEs and A Levels and to develop and enhance the Welsh Baccalaureate as a framework for learning for this age group.

We will call for the Welsh government to look at moving from a per-pupil funding mechanism to a funding model based on the catchment area. It is crucial that education authorities have sufficient resources to provide Welsh medium education and adequate services for children with special educational needs.

The Party of Wales will not support any further increases in tuition fees for our higher education students, and will seek the abolition of tuition fees as and when public finances allow.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

The National Assembly has agreed, with cross-party support, to reduce emissions by 40% below 1990 levels by 2020. Plaid will work to ensure that this decision is turned into meaningful and effective action to achieve the full reduction.

Plaid Cymru demands the full devolution of all powers over energy policy to the National Assembly.

Wales must take full advantage of our renewable energy resources and support micro generation and other small-scale sustainable power generation schemes, including tidal, wave-power, on-shore and off-shore wind, hydro and biomass.

Our preferred option for harnessing the energy of the Severn is a combination of lagoons and tidal-stream turbines which would minimise environmental damage while maximising zero-carbon electricity generation at a cost affordable to consumers.

We call for emission performance standards for all new power stations and we reaffirm our opposition to the construction of any new nuclear power stations in Wales.

Plaid in Westminster will continue to campaign for a windfall tax on energy companies to help pay for grants for insulation for lower income families.

We will continue to oppose the use of waste incinerators and support binding targets for waste prevention. We support recycling targets of 80% of domestic waste by 2020 and the introduction of a higher landfill tax.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

We are committed to an independent Wales as a full member of the European Union.

We will continue to support further democratic reform of the EU.

We are committed to increased representation for Wales in the EU. This includes a fair number of MEPs for Wales, a European Parliament office in Wales, a rotating European Commissioner and most importantly, a vote for Wales in the Council of Ministers.

Plaid will continue to fight for transitional European financial support to continue after 2013.

We support further enlargement of the EU provided that those countries that wish to join improve conditions of democracy, justice and the rule of law. We support ongoing membership negotiations with Turkey as a means to encourage democratic reform in that country, improve women's rights and promote the democratic interests of the Kurdish people.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Plaid Cymru has three policy options for childcare: 1) Free optional full-time Foundation Phase place for all three and four year olds, 2) Top-up the existing ten hours Foundation Phase place offered to three and four year olds with twenty hours free childcare, and 3) Ten hours free childcare for three year olds on top of the existing ten hour Foundation Phase place and twenty hours free childcare for two year olds.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

We oppose the micro management of local councils by central government and are committed to ensuring that local councils have the freedom and funding to respond appropriately to local issues.

In the long term, Plaid would create an All-Wales Civil Service, with civil servants and officers able to move freely between the National Assembly for Wales, Local Government in Wales and The National Health Service in Wales. We believe that this model will encourage cooperation, the sharing of best practice, and will result in more joined-up thinking.

We will make sure that voluntary groups, local businesses and individuals have every opportunity to share their views on decisions impacting their local community. We will support the campaign for participatory budgeting in our local authorities to ensure that local citizens have a voice in how money is spent.

Plaid is committed to a fairer voting system and will continue to campaign for the introduction of the Single Transferable Vote for every election in Wales including local authority elections. We will also continue to call for the right to vote at 16 as a way of encouraging young people to take part in the political process.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Plaid Cymru wants to train, retain and recruit a well-motivated, caring and expert NHS and social care workforce. We want to increase our capacity to train the future medical workforce and we will incentivise training in hard-to-recruit areas and specialisms.

We want to see the Welsh NHS participate in more clinical trials and research. We want to see improved availability of diagnostics for cancers and chronic conditions. We want to see a medical service that is judged on its outcomes for people, not on inputs.

Where individuals have developed substance addictions, then we want to provide a service to enable people to conquer their addiction.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

The next Plaid Cymru government would introduce several schemes designed to help young people in Wales get onto the housing ladder.

We would change planning laws to ensure that local people benefited from housing developments, and that young people were no longer forced to move away from their communities due to second home owners pushing up prices and lack of high wage employment in many parts of Wales.

We will reform the way in which social housing is allocated to stop abuses in the system and ensure fairness.

We will improve the quality of housing in the private rented sector through better regulation and tenancy reform that ensures both landlords and tenants are aware of their rights and responsibilities.

We will invest in the retro-fitting of older homes to ensure that families keep their fuel bills low and stimulate the local economy.

Plaid Cymru also believes that VAT for home repairs should be cut to 5% - people should not be paying excessive tax simply to ensure their home is a healthy and safe place to live.

Empty Properties are also an issue we want to tackle. We will extend the empty properties scheme to ensure more derelict and empty homes are brought back into use, and no longer will communities have to deal with the crime and anti-social behaviour that can accompany such housing.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Plaid Cymru recognises the invaluable contribution that migrants have made to Wales. Our civic nationalism celebrates tolerance, mutual understanding and difference. Equally, we recognise the potential shared benefits of greater co-operation in asylum and immigration at EU level, and the important role that Europe could play in assisting the integration of new migrants including in the languages of the stateless nations.

We condemn the point-scoring used by other parties and the pandering to unfounded xenophobic prejudices in the debate on immigration.

We oppose a points-based system, which we know would take no account of the skills requirements in different parts of Wales.

Plaid Cymru also supports the right of asylum seekers to work in Wales while they wait for status decisions to be made and we call for the speeding up of the unnecessarily complicated asylum system.

We condemn the practice of housing recently-arrived asylum seekers, especially children, in "detention" or "removal" centres as punitive and cruel, and we will continue to lobby the Westminster government to ensure that they keep their promise to shut these centres.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

We now have major plans for the future of public transport in Wales. We recognise that the rail network will never help us to achieve our environmental objectives unless it is both cheap and attractive to use, and that will not happen without significant and ongoing commitment of public funds.

We reiterate our call for the railway system to be brought back into public ownership. While we will pursue this objective, we will also pursue other socially useful options such as not-for-dividend or co-operative rail services, and greater devolution of rail infrastructure powers and responsibilities to Wales.

Plaid Cymru also supports providing alternatives to the car. Walking and cycling, particularly in urban centres, needs to be protected in legislation, and the right infrastructure provided in terms of routes, signage, and information.

Rural areas also need the right transport solutions, including demand-led bus services and the ongoing expansion of the Traws Cymru bus network, which aims to compensate for the disastrous Beeching rail cuts inflicted on Wales in the past.

To function as an economy and be recognised internationally, Wales needs an international airport of its own, as well as connections to hubs in neighbouring countries. Plaid Cymru suggested the idea of taking Cardiff Airport into public ownership, in order to prevent it from closing down.

We would look to use more of the annual Welsh Government budget to make rail fares more affordable, viewing this not as additional subsidy but as investment that also would benefit road users and the environment.

We will continue to campaign on the issue of “Barnettising” HS2 and in favour of spreading rail investment across the state, as part of a wider rebalancing of the United Kingdom and a state-level economic policy for the nations and regions.

Plaid Cymru is committed to maintaining the concessionary fares scheme which is a lifeline for many of our older citizens and accounts for over 40% of all local bus journeys.

Plaid Cymru is of the view that the case for a new M4 motorway is not sustainable or affordable.

Our proposal on the Severn Tolls is for ownership to transfer to the Welsh Government, and a reduction in tolls to cover maintenance levels only.

Plaid Cymru supports increasing the number of 20mph zones, especially around schools, but in whichever neighbourhoods where there is local demand.

We support the devolution of speed limits. Plaid Cymru does not see the case for changing the existing motorway speed limit, but notes that the UK Government has considered increasing the motorway speed limit for England and Wales.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Plaid Cymru is opposed to the welfare reform which links benefit payments to work and threatens benefit sanctions for those unable to meet unfair and unrealistic government demands. Plaid believes that this will simply result in a vicious cycle of people who live between in-work and out-of-work poverty.

Plaid Cymru in government will make the abolition of child poverty a top priority. We will press for a move away from complex and expensive means testing for child-related benefits.

Because legislation on pensions is not devolved, Plaid will instead continue to campaign for the introduction of a living pension during the period of the next parliament for those aged 80 and over. In the longer term, when the state of the public finances allows, we would lower the qualifying age.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Plaid Cymru would enforce a living wage for all.

Create apprenticeships and job opportunities by investing in training and working with both large and SME businesses and training providers to ensure that young people have market-ready skills.

Tackle under-employment by supporting people into work, supporting higher value jobs, flexible working patterns and childcare assistance.

Plaid calls for stringent implementation of labour laws for all workers, including enforcement of a living wage to address the injustice of poor pay and unfair working conditions.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Plaid will press the UK government to honour the commitment to delivering 0.7% of GDP as international aid and we will continue to campaign for the cancellation of developing countries' unaffordable debts.

We also reaffirm our support for the international Fair Trade movement. We will continue to campaign for the rights of minority nations and minority language speakers in Europe and in future possible accession countries such as Turkey.

We support a global tax on financial transactions as a means of encouraging more responsibility and stability in the global markets.

We support urgent and far-reaching reforms of the World Bank and IMF in order to improve regulation and accountability.

Source: Plaid Cymru party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

We will require listed companies to report on whether or not they pay the living wage.

We will ban employers from requiring zero-hours workers to be available on the off-chance that they'll be needed.

We will make it easier to start and grow businesses. We'll create a British investment bank that will lend money to new and growing businesses.

We'll support small businesses by cutting business rates for 1.5 million small firms and freezing their energy bills.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Protect neighbourhood policing by safeguarding over 10,000 frontline police officers over the next three years

We will put visible neighbourhood policing back in its rightful place at the heart of our communities, with a Local Policing Commitment that gives a guaranteed minimum level of neighbourhood policing.

We will insist on new professional standards in our police service, with officers guilty of serious misconduct struck off, and a tougher Police Standards Authority.

We will abolish Police and Crime Commissioners and put the savings back into frontline policing instead.

We will take domestic violence and violence against women seriously, with a ban on the use of community resolutions for dealing with domestic abuse and sexual crimes, and the introduction of compulsory sex and relationship education in schools.

We will create a justice system with witnesses and victims at its heart, including the country's first ever Victims' Law.

We will put rehabilitation at the heart of a prison system which aims to reduce reoffending and cut crime, ensuring that prisons properly punish and reform while mobilising the talents and expertise of all agencies to cut crime.

Labour will consult on lowering the sentence threshold for EU migrants who commit crimes having only recently arrived in the UK, so that, for example, a migrant who committed common assault or robbery within a few months of arriving would be automatically considered for deportation - Labour Euro Manifesto.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Conduct a Strategic Defence and Security Review in the first year of government

Outlaw discrimination against and abuse of members of the Armed Forces

Enshrine the Military Covenant in the NHS Constitution

Reserving the right to act in national self-defence, as we did in government by intervening alongside our allies in Afghanistan following 9/11.

Using military force only after all peaceful and diplomatic avenues to avert conflict have been exhausted and within international law.

A commitment to preserving and protecting universal human rights and to doing what we can to uphold the internationally recognised principle of the responsibility to protect.

A commitment to effective conflict prevention as well as being responsible post-conflict stakeholders once a conflict has ended.

A commitment to helping others to help themselves and a capacity-building approach which might apply to states regional organisations.

A commitment to multilateral cooperation. The threats we face are global and therefore shared and so the most effective solutions will inevitably be joint.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Cut the deficit every year and balance the books as soon as possible in the next Parliament

Reverse the 50p tax cut so that the top one per cent pay a little more to help get the deficit down

Not increase the basic or higher rates of Income Tax, National Insurance or VAT

Cut and then freeze business rates and maintain the most competitive corporate tax rates in the G7

Abolish non dom status

Increase the National Minimum Wage to more than £8 an hour by October 2019 and introduce Make Work Pay contracts to provide tax rebates to firms becoming Living Wage employers

Ban exploitative zero-hours contracts

Guarantee an apprenticeship for every school leaver who attains the grades and require any firm that gets a large government contract to offer apprenticeships

Reduce tuition fees to £6,000 a year

Freeze energy bills until 2017 and give the regulator the power to cut bills this winter

Introduce a British Investment Bank and support a network of regional banks.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Introduce a new gold-standard Technical Baccalaureate for 16 to-18-year olds

Protect the entire education budget from early years through to post-16 education

Guarantee all teachers in state schools will be qualified

Appoint Directors of School Standards to drive up standards in every area

Cap class sizes for five, six and seven-year-olds

Ensure all young people study English and Maths to age 18.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Push for an ambitious target in Paris to get to goal of net zero global emissions in the second half of this century.

We will make life more affordable for millions of people. We'll freeze gas and electricity bills until 2017 and reform the broken energy market to stop the cost of energy bills soaring.

We will fix the broken energy market, increasing competition and transparency so that it works for consumers. This will include introducing a simple new tariff structure so that people can compare prices in place of the complex and confusing system that exists today.

We will abolish Ofgem which has failed to stand up for consumers, and replace it from January 2017 with a tough new energy watchdog.

We will unlock investment in clean energy by setting a firm 2030 decarbonisation target and giving the Green Investment Bank more powers.

We will stick to ambitious, legally binding targets for carbon reduction including the decarbonisation of our electricity supply by 2030, and full implementation of carbon budgets and we'll make Britain a world leader in low carbon technology and green jobs, creating a million new high technology, green jobs by 2025.

We will strengthen the Green Investment Bank with borrowing powers, ensuring it is better placed to support investment in small and medium green businesses seeking to grow.

We will prioritise flood prevention and introduce a new climate change adaptation plan to help us properly prepare for the effects of a changing climate.

We will 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.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

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

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

A referendum on whether the UK should be in or out of the EU only if there is a proposed transfer of more powers from London to Brussels.

Labour are proposing a new Commissioner for Growth, bringing together some of the existing Commission portfolios on economic policy, to help ensure the EU is focused on growth and held accountable for progress.

Alongside this, Labour are proposing that the EU establish its own equivalent of the UK's Office for Budget Responsibility with the narrower mandate of auditing all EU spending decisions based on the impact that they have on promoting growth and jobs across the EU.

Labour will continue to argue for the completion of the Single Market in digital, energy and services, providing potentially huge gains for Britain and helping deliver the economic recovery that Britain needs. The operation of the Single Market in existing sectors must also be protected in the face of possible closer integration between Eurozone states.

Labour will continue to support the conclusion of Free Trade Agreements as a means of promoting economic growth and development.

Tackle rising energy bills and climate change by reforming the European single market in energy.

Labour supports a proper framework for police forces to work together across borders.

Labour will seek to enhance our defence cooperation with allies in Europe where it is in our interests to do so, but we will not support the creation of a European Army.

We do, however, recognise that it is in Britain's interest for sovereign forces from European countries to engage in joint EU missions for peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance, in full coordination with NATO. And we will continue to lead the way in tackling global poverty, making sure that everyone has an equal chance in life.

Labour will continue to campaign for the wasteful second seat of the European Parliament in Strasbourg to be scrapped. Labour believes we can bring down the cost of the Parliament and reform the Commission to help it operate more effectively as well as reforming how the EU spends its money and how Britain gets best value.

From the 2010 party manifesto:

On the Euro, we hold to our promise that there will be no membership of the single currency without the consent of the British people in a referendum.

We support the enlargement of EU membership to include Croatia, and believe that all Western Balkan states should open negotiations on EU accession by 2014, one hundred years after the start of the First World War.

Turkey's future membership is a key test of Europe's potential to become a bridge between religions and regions; there must be continued progress on its application to join the EU.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Extend free childcare from 15 to 25 hours for working parents of three and four-year-olds, and ensure all primary schools guarantee access to wraparound childcare from 8am to 6pm

Double paternity leave from two to four weeks and increase paternity pay by more than £100 a week

We will renew and reinvigorate Sure Start, reforming the way local services work together to shift from sticking-plaster services to radical early help, to provide good quality support to all families that need it.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Set up a people-led Constitutional Convention to determine the future of UK’s governance

Replace the House of Lords with a Senate of the Nations and Regions

Pass an English Devolution Act, handing £30 billion of resources and powers to our great English city and county regions

Give new powers for communities to shape their high streets, including power over payday lenders and the number of fixed-odds betting terminals

Meet our promises to devolve further powers to Scotland and Wales

Give 16 and 17-year-olds the vote

Create a statutory register of lobbyists

Ban MPs from holding paid directorships and consultancies

Require large companies to publish their gender pay gap

Implement the recommendations of the Leveson Inquiry.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Invest £2.5 billion more that the Conservatives to recruit 8,000 more GPs, 20,000 more nurses and 3,000 more midwives

Guarantee GP appointments within 48 hours and cancer tests within one week

Join up services from home to hospital, with a single point of contact for all who need it

Give mental health the same priority as physical health, with a new right to access talking therapies

Repeal the Government’s privatisation plans, cap profits and put the right values back at the heart of the NHS

End time-limited 15 minute social care visits and recruit 5,000 new home-care workers to support people in their home

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Ensure at least 200,000 new homes a year are built by 2020, with first priority for local first time buyers

Provide security for renters by guaranteeing three-year tenancies with a ceiling on excessive rent rises

Abolish the Bedroom Tax

Labour will build the homes Britain needs by getting 200,000 homes built a year by 2020. We will get a fair deal for renters with longer, more predictable tenancies and a ban on rip-off letting fees.

We will change the law to make three-year tenancies the norm instead of the six or 12-month short-term tenancies that most renters have now so that landlords and tenants both have more stability, but with the ability to terminate contracts early with proper notice if they have to, just as they can now.

We will get 200,000 homes built a year by 2020. This will close the gap between the number of homes we build and the number of homes we need, as well as providing up to 230,000 jobs in construction.

We will unblock the supply of new homes by giving local authorities "use it or lose it" powers over developers who hoard land that has planning permission so that they can sell it on for a bigger profit, instead of building on it now.

We will deliver a new generation of New Towns and Garden Cities, and give a new "right to grow" to communities who want to expand but are blocked by neighbouring local authorities.

We will tackle empty homes by giving councils more power to charge higher rates of council tax on empty properties, and ensure new homes are advertised in the UK first, not overseas.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Ensure migrants will not be able to claim benefits until they have lived here for at least two years

Stronger border controls: we will make it easier to deport foreign criminals, check people in and out of the country, and do more to stop illegal immigration.

A smarter system of controls: so we get the top talent and investment we need, whilst controlling low skilled migration.

Fair rules at work: a new law to prevent employers undercutting wages by exploiting immigration, and banning agencies from recruiting only from abroad. Fines will be increased for companies who employ illegal immigrants.

Earned entitlements: people coming here won't be able to claim benefits for at least two years.

Integration, not divided communities: people working in public services in public facing roles will be required to speak English.

We will take action to better manage the pace of immigration, reform our economy to be less reliant on low skilled migrant labour, and do more to help migrants integrate into our society so they can play their part - Labour Euro Manifesto.

We will do more to cut illegal immigration, with tougher action including the reinstatement of fingerprint checks at the border and closing down loopholes that enable people to exploit short-term student visitor visas - Labour Euro Manifesto.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

From the 2010 party manifesto:

High-speed rail is not just about faster journey times. It will free up capacity on existing intercity rail lines, enabling more rail freight, commuter and local services

We will press ahead with a major investment programme in existing rail services, hugely improving commuter services into and through London, and electrifying new rail-lines including the Great Western Main Line from London to South Wales.

We will complete the new east-west Crossrail line in London adding ten per cent to London transport capacity.

Rail passenger numbers have increased by 40 per cent in the last ten years and punctuality and quality of service are improving steadily.

We will encourage more people to switch to rail with an enforceable right to the cheapest fare, while trebling the number of secure cycle-storage spaces at rail stations.

Tackling road congestion is a key Labour priority. We will extend hard-shoulder running on motorways, alongside targeted motorway widening including on the M25.

Too much disruption is caused by local road works: we will increase tenfold the penalties on utilities who allow work to overrun.

We rule out the introduction of national road pricing in the next Parliament [2010-2015].

Heathrow is Britain’s international hub airport, already operating at full capacity, and supporting millions of jobs, businesses and citizens who depend upon it.

We support a third runway at Heathrow, subject to strict conditions on environmental impact and flight numbers, but we will not allow additional runways to proceed at any other airport in the next [2010-2015] Parliament.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

From the 2010 Labour Party Manifesto:

No young person in Britain should be long-term unemployed: those out of work for six months or more will be guaranteed employment or training through the £1 billion Future Jobs Fund, with mandatory participation after ten months. The fund will support 200,000 jobs.

All those who are long-term unemployed for two years will be guaranteed a job placement, which they will be required to take up or have their benefits cut.

More people with disabilities and health conditions will be helped to move into work from Incapacity Benefit and Employment Support Allowance, as we extend the use of our tough-but-fair work capability test.

We will reassess the Incapacity Benefit claims of 1.5 million people by 2014, as we move those able to work back into jobs.

For those with the most serious conditions or disabilities who want to work there will be a new guarantee of supported employment after two years on benefit.

We are radically reforming how Job Centre Plus helps lone parents: providing extra help with childcare, training and support to find family-friendly work, while requiring those with children aged three to take steps to prepare for work and actively to seek employment once their youngest child is seven years old.

Housing Benefit will be reformed to ensure that we do not subsidise people to live in the private sector on rents that other ordinary working families could not afford. And we will continue to crack down on those who try to cheat the benefit system.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Make it illegal for employers to undercut wages by exploiting workers

Introduce a compulsory jobs guarantee, paid for by a Bank Bonus Tax

Parents shouldn't face the prospect of taking a job that ends up costing them more than they'll earn. We will give working parents 25 hours of free childcare for three and four-year-olds per week.

We will increase the National Minimum Wage to £8 an hour by the end of the next Parliament to help ensure that those doing a hard day's work are rewarded for doing so.

We will increase fines for employers who fail to pay the minimum wage and give local authorities a role in enforcement.

We will introduce 'Make Work Pay' contracts, giving a tax rebate to those companies that sign up to become living wage employers in the first year of the next Parliament.

We will abolish exploitative zero-hours contracts, with rules introduced to give new rights to employees on zero-hours contracts.

We will create a clear route for the forgotten 50 per cent, with a new gold standard Technical Baccalaureate for 16 to 19-year-olds, with rigorous vocational qualifications, accredited by employers, a high quality work placement and English and maths to 18.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Push for global targets to tackle inequality and promote human rights

Conduct a Strategic Defence and Security Review in the first year of government

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

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

Appoint an International LGBT Rights Envoy and a Global Envoy for Religious Freedom

Outlaw discrimination against and abuse of members of the Armed Forces

Enshrine the Military Covenant in the NHS Constitution

Push for global targets to tackle inequality and promote human rights

Establish a Centre for Universal Health Coverage

Push for an ambitious target in Paris to get to goal of net zero global emissions in the second half of this century.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.