The Party Manifestoes 2024: SNP

Politics  The PDF version of the SNP manifesto still has crop marks around the edge which suggests this is exactly the same file which was sent to the printers.  The back page has a portion of John Sweeney's shoulder against a blue background which is presumably supposed to evoke the saltire.  

It's also very short, just 32 sides of which only 22 have policy detail, the rest just blank pages and chapter headings.  The website has much more detail in relation to policy but it seems designed to cover both bases - at the UK parliament and Scottish Assembly.

For consistency the following is just based on what's in the document launched today and the overall tone is directed towards independence and Scotland which probably accounts for why its so short.  They can't ever govern in the Westminster even if they win every seat so like Plaid Cymru the focus is on what the UK Government can do for Scotland.  

They used to be better at this.  Every section says "SNP MPs will demand the UK Government" which is very People's Front of Judea of them ("We're giving Pilate two days to dismantle the entire apparatus of the Roman Imperialist State, and if he doesn't agree immediately, we execute her") but voters looking at this will see that they've reduced themselves to being a single issue party in this context.  Previous manifestos were more collegiate in terms of how having SNP MPs would help not just Scotland but the whole of the UK.  Hey ho.

The BBC

Not much directly:

This is probably referring to the fact that the Media Bill (or at least that press release) has a whole section about S4C but nothing about Gaelic broadcasting or even Scotland (although judging by Hansard the majority of it was lost during the wash-up).  I could go on again here about how Wales and Scotland both have channels promoting their culture at a granular level but England does not, but this probably isn't the time.  Justice for the Kernewek.

Global Emissions

No particular target is given for net zero.  Some of the demands are a bit weird.

The evidence is that all fossil fuels are killing the planet.  There's also a section about wanting to extend refining at Grangemouth for as long as possible - which I can see from a commerce and employment perspective but dear god man, we're killing the patient.  So much of the Scottish economy is wrapped up in oil and gas I don't know what the answer is.  Incidentally, solar energy doesn't appear even though Scotland has about as many hours of sun as the rest of the UK, and also nothing on cutting subsidies for fossil fuels (that I could see).

Libraries & Film

Nope.  The only section which talks about culture in any detail just covers broadcasting.

Creative Scotland's funding is devolved so it makes sense that that the SNP wouldn't mention these things in a Westminster manifesto.  Unlike Plaid there's no demand for Eurovision independence.

Gender Equality

Not a lot of detail here either.  

It is a bit weird that the intersex community are included but none of the rest of us in the +.  Given recent comments from some Labour MPs and what's in the manifesto, it also doesn't look like Labour will allow the gender ID law to go ahead after the election either.

Democracy

Sixteen and seventeen year olds already have the right to vote in Scotland.  On the other themes:

On voting reform:

Same as Plaid.  

I don't live in Scotland but I do think it should have independence if it's the will of the people.

The Party Manifestos 2024:The Reform Party.

Politics  Back in when I did this exercise in 2015, I covered UKIP and have been considering whether to bother with their latest iteration, especially since I'm not a media organisation per se and don't have to follow the whims of Ofcom or whoever in relation to balance.  But I am a firm believer in knowing who your enemy is so here we are.  By the way this does not stretch to having that man's face on my blog so find right the contents with its ridiculous typo in the page numbers half way down.  These are not serious people.  This is not a professional party.  Oh god.  Here we go again ...

The BBC

Not much detail here to be honest.

Global Emissions

Considering they want to scrap it, the phrase "net zero" appears twenty-eight times in the Reform manifesto.  There's even a page about it.  Well, half a page if you don't include the dreamy sunset over an oil rig.  This is policy dictated by the Daily Mail.  Unsurprisingly, "The party’s biggest donor last year was Terence Mordaunt, a previous Tory donor, businessman and former chair of the climate change sceptic Global Warming Policy Foundation, whose companies have given £200,000 to Reform." [source: The Guardian].  Basically it's fuck the planet, give us your money.  Fucking grifters.

Solar energy in contrast is mentioned once:

They also talk about subsidies - scrapping subsidies for renewables and anything related to keeping the lights on without fossil fuels.

Libraries

Nope.

Film

Also not mentioned.  In fact there is half a page about culture, but for some reason it's about leaving the WHO, replacing the 2010 Equalities act and a "Free Speech Bill" which seems to be about nothing of the sort:

We want free speech, but only if you agree with us.  They also want to make St George's and St David's Day public holidays (yeah, fuck you St Andrew) and launching an "anti-corruption unit for Westminster" which will "investigate past scandals".  OK.  

There is no beauty here.  

Gender Equality

You can probably guess.

Lesbian, gay, queer, non-binary, asexual or intersex people are not mentioned.  Probably notable:

"My name is Sam Tyler. I had an accident, and I woke up in 1973. Am I mad, in a coma, or back in time? Whatever's happened, it's like I've landed on a different planet. Now, maybe if I can work out the reason, I can get home."

Democracy

Do you have to ask?

This doesn't take into account the people who work in numerous jobs and industries for whom it isn't convenient to get to a polling station.  

The Party Manifestoes 2024: Labour

Politics   As you can see the cover of the Labour manifesto dispenses with the title of the document, most people on the receiving end will know this is Labour's manifesto, and instead offers us Keir Starmer in black and white next to the word "change", the first time a party leader has appeared on the front cover since Tony Blair's repeat showing in 2001.  

Starmer appears throughout the manifesto with his photo on almost every page mostly grinning at people in a way which disconcertingly makes him look like Stephen Colbert (they're same age too) or with his serious face when necessary.  Most of these are with members of the shadow cabinet to show much of a team they all are.  

Along with pictures and quotes from members of the public ("Charlie, cafe owner and former Conservative voter" etc), the general tone is "the Tories fucking suck don't they?"  There's even the famous shot of him talking to Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the D-Day commemoration something the current Prime Minister didn't manage just to really drive in the sword.  They're even committed to privatising the railways, thank god.  Anyway.

The BBC

No direct mention of the licence fee.  Instead, there's this rather vague paragraph:

And this indirect mention of the World Service in relation to soft power: 

Which is kind of disappointment - the impression is supposed to be that the BBC will have greater protection under Labour but it would have been nice to see something solid on that here.

Global Emissions

I couldn't see a direct target for net zero.  There's a pledge to have zero-carbon electricity by 2030 which is roughly similar:

No specific mentions of putting solar panels on rooftops but they talk about a "Warm Homes Plan" which "will offer grants and low interest loans to support investment in insulation and other improvements such as solar panels, batteries and low carbon heating to cut bills" which must mean the same thing.

They've also pledged to keep the north sea oil fields open for business although they won't issue licences for new field exploration or coal mines and they''ll "ban fracking for good".

Libraries

Are not mentioned.

Film

Barely mentioned:

This is a bit woolly.  The features of the "creative industries sector plan" do not appear in the document.

Gender Equality

Bit of a mixed bag.

No mention of self-ID, trans people will still need a diagnosis of gender dysphoria from a hopefully sympathetic doctor.  The modernising of the "gender recognition law" also feels fraught with danger given the statements of some Labour MPs.

Democracy

Whilst committing to giving 16 and 17 year olds the right to vote in all elections they don't commit to abolishing voter ID rules:

There isn't any mention of electoral reform which means they're probably still committed to first past the post.  Boo.

No sundries.

It doesn't matter who I vote for.  It's a safe Labour seat in this election.

The Party Manifestoes:Plaid Cymru Party of Wales

Politics  Busy morning so let's get to it.  As with all the parties, Plaid Cymru's website is a bit of a mess in terms of navigation.  Nowhere in the visible part of the front page is there a link to the manifesto you have to dig through menus upon menus to find a hyperlinked version and even further to a pdf.  If I was a political party, I'd have a link to the manifesto at the top of the front page in big letters so that a voter can find out what I stand for.  Only the Tories have a direct link even if its at the bottom of the page underneath a scary collage of headlines from newspapers about bloodbaths along with Angela Rippon's face twice.

Anyway, back to Wales.

The BBC

The corporation isn't directly mentioned by name in the manifesto but there are a couple of things which might impact.  

Sporting events would be free-to-air if terrestrial broadcasters could afford the rights.  The BBC would still have live cricket or premiership football if they could justify bidding for them.  Presumably PC isn't proposing to offer direct funding.

Honestly, I'm not completely against devolving participation in Eurovision.  Perhaps S4C could join the EBU as a separate entity.

Global Emissions

Net-zero targets aren't mentioned in the main text but on one of the title pages:

Wales wants to reach net-zero in ten years, which is immensely ambitious.  But just in Wales mind.  A lot of this manifesto feels like it was written for a Welsh Assembly rather than Westminster election.

They're really scared of pylons and panels fucking up the landscape:

They mention this twice:

I agree with them.  But Plaid Cymru, roof-tops are right there.

Nothing particular about fossil fuel subsidies but the section about farming mentions cutting taxes on renewable liquid fuels.

Libraries

Never said in the manifesto.

Film Industry

Never said in the manifesto.

Gender Equality

LGBTQ+ has a whole section in the manifesto, and it's brilliant:

Not even the Green Party manifesto goes that hard, especially in its support for trans people.  Well done.  No notes.

Democracy

On enfranchisement:

It's true, since May 2021, 16 and 17 year olds have been able to vote in the Senedd Elections under a Labour government in Wales.  

On voter ID:

On proportional representation:

So not quite proportional representation in terms of the number of MPs rather more of a chance for people's second or even third choice candidates to win a seat, the system used for Deputy Speakers elections in the House of Commons, Northern Ireland Assembly elections and local elections in Scotland and Northern Ireland (source).

No sundries.

I can't vote for Plaid Cymru.

The Party Manifestoes 2024: Green Party

Politics  The Green Party manifesto comes in three flavours, the easy read (designed by Inspired Services Publishing for people with learning difficulties), the short version (bullet points and stock photos) and the long version (all text, no filler).  For the purposes of this investigation I shall be consulting the long version although I'll use the cover of the short version with the Obama slogan on the front for illustrative purposes.  

The BBC

The Green Party Manifesto doesn't mention the BBC or broadcasting at all apart from in the broadest sense of "the media".  They say:

Which sounds fine in theory but depends on how that 20% is measured.  By audience?  By profits?  By the amount of content produced?

Global Emissions

It's the Green Party!  So let's just stick to the three topics.  On Net Zero:

Which is the only mention of net zero in the document but in the section about green energy they propose the de-carbonizing of energy systems by 2030.  

On roof top solar panels:

The short version also has this stock photo:

My guess is roof top solar will only really take off when there's a version which doesn't look so ugly on existing properties and can deal with gables.

On subsidies, you'll be unsurprised to see:

It's worth noting throughout manifesto, unlike some previous years, the Greens are very aware that they're not going to be in government so much of the time it suggests "Green MPs will push for ..."  They're just hoping to have more than one MP in this election of all elections.

Libraries

The best offer so far:

It's not very specific but it'll very much do.

Film Industry

A section titled "digital rights" calls for the regulation of social media providers and AI plus:

"Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

Gender Equality

Unlike other parties, the Greens manifesto spreads policies regarding diversity throughout the manifesto rather than lumping it all into a single section.  Some examples.  Under mental health:

They're unfortunately missing a comma between Gay and Bisexual, but they're also the first party to explain the acronym and include intersex and ace people.

Education:

When I was at school we were taught that there were two genders and two men kissing on television was still a scandal.  Please can we not return to that era?

On human rights:

A Private Members Bill was introduced in 2019 to abolish the spousal veto and judging by this manifesto pledge it didn't go anywhere.  It's an extremely weird piece of fuckery which was introduced during the coalition government in 2013 that I previously hadn't been aware of and is amazingly stupid.  Here's an explainer from The Pink Paper.  

Democracy

The Greens are advocating not just for the enfranchisement of over 15s but also for young MPs.

They're surprisingly woolly about PR:

No sundries this time.  Of all the parties, I would have thought the Greens might have mentioned the Sugababes, that most recycled of pop bands.

I might still vote for them nonetheless.

The Party Manifestoes 2024: The Conservative and Unionist Party

Politics  Ugh.  The Tory manifesto contains a lot of empty space so although the page count is eighty pages, only fifty-two contain actual pledges and of those about seven have only half a page of text and a lot of white space and even then a couple are essentially finishing off a paragraph from the page before.  It feels like a university dissertation which was only been finalised in the few hours before handing in with page breaks throughout to keep the sections together.  

When you hear journalists saying there are 80 or 76 pledges over the coming days, that just isn't right.  There are eight pages with the same image of over a quarter of the union flag and sixteen pages featuring the quote-unquote chapter headings which all begin with "our plan" followed by some fatuous phrase like "for a secure, dynamic and growing economy" and "to get more people into work and build a fairer welfare system".

The cover is giving me the itch as well.  Back in 2010, I was so irritated by the placement of the words on the manifesto I wrote a whole blog post about just that.  Here we are again.  Apart from using the colour scheme of the Republic of Montenegro pre-2004 for the lead lines, the structure of the cover feels off.  The traffic arrows should be further up the page with the title underneath and with the year on a new line and an ampersand wouldn't have gone a miss.  

Anyway, let's get to the "substance".

The BBC

BBC is used four times in the manifesto in two paragraphs.  This document is much harder to read than the LibDem manifesto (only using bullet points when it feels like it) so I'll just copy and paste the text as is here for ease:

The use of "support" is pretty ambiguous here.  Does that mean you're going to have the foreign office fund the BBC World Service again?  Off topic, but "expand the use of the English language worldwide" is pretty colonialist.  

The BBC already does that, some would say to a fault.  When they say "diversity of thought" what they really mean is "more people who agree with us".  The next sentence is a threat in that regard.  Notice they don't talk about the BBC in anything other than "messaging" terms - nothing about it as a part of the UK's cultural ecosystem.  

By the way, the very next paragraph says:

We're going to control what the BBC says and does through some malign force but the press can do what the fuck it likes.

Global Emissions

The phrase "net zero" is used ten times during the manifesto (which is ten more than the 2015 manifesto) but here's the headline.

The Earth is going to burn to a crisp in my lifetime.  

No notes here.  Baseline what they should be doing.  The moratorium on fracking is welcome even if it isn't an outright ban.

They're going to reduce carbon emissions by ... building more gas power stations.  'sake.

Libraries

Two library mentions.

How about increasing the funding to councils so that they can keep some of these things running themselves?  

Saying that they want to "protect national heritage - including statues, monuments and memorials" sounds good, but with the culture war as a backdrop is probably missing the phrase "of slave owners and our favourite Nazis".  The public realm is filled with sculpture which is in need of repair and upkeep but there's no direct mention of that.  But I'm off topic, largely because there's nothing specific about how they're going to "support" libraries here.

Film Industry

Ho boy.

Whilst it's nice that Liverpool and Glasgow have become the Vancouver and Toronto of the UK, it's still incredibly difficult for British films to be made and shown unless it's with the help of international backers or a dozen hedge funds.  

Gender Equality

Nothing new, just "look at what we've already done".  The singling out of an AIDS medicine in this section is weird and almost suggests they still think of it as a "gay plague".  Trans rights are about as you'd expect.  They also can't say directly that they hate trans people and think they're weird so we have these three quite lengthy paragraph about how they're otherwise going to demonise them instead without using the word "trans" once:

They say "an increasing number of children have started questioning their gender".  Nope - this has always been the case it's just that now medical innovation has made transitioning a safer possibility and society has changed so that they can talk about how they feel without being ostracized as much (which is something you're working to change).  The following paragraph conflates conversion therapy with transitioning and I just want to get away from this.

Democracy

The exact opposite of the LibDems and doing as much as possible to disenfranchise voters.  Under 16s are old enough to work full time, have an NI number and join the army as well as apply for a passport but they're not allowed to vote for their own rights to do these things or not.

Sundries

By "quarters" they must mean neighbourhoods like the "Georgian quarter" or "the knowledge quarter".  No idea why these three cities in particular.  Perhaps the development in our Chinatown might finally be completed.

Despite this, I will not be voting for the Conservative and Unionist Party.