Left Unity

          A.K.A The 14th of November Movement

  Left Unity was founded on the 30th November 2013 after an appeal by film director Ken Loach for a party to the left of Labour. The appeal received over 10,000 signatures and the party held its first national policy conference on the 29th of March 2014. A number of other left-wing groups, such as the Communist Party of Great Britain's Provisional Central Committee, are affiliated to it.

  Left Unity is the least economically liberal of the political parties. It advocates nationalisation of public utilities - including Royal Mail - the transport industry and the financial services sector. They plan to reverse the austerity spending cuts of the coalition and reduce working hours in order to attain full employment. The party is a firm believer in progressive taxation, advocates the introduction of a living wage and favours a cooperative approach to industry.

  Left Unity social policy is liberal, with a firm commitment to anti-discrimination laws, and opposition to what it sees as the bureaucracy and anti-democratic nature of the major institutions of the UK. There is significant opposition within the party to traditional features of the UK political system, such as the House of Lords and the establishment of the Church of England. 

  Left Unity fully supports the welfare state and wishes to reverse the changes to the social security system implemented by the Coalition.  They would abolish tuition fees, remove free schools, academies and NHS Trusts and provide more extensive subsidies for the arts. They would also include adult education and nurseries within the provision of free education.

  Left Unity's foreign policy is highly internationalist. They are anti-war but promote the participation of working people from all countries in ending oppression and capitalism across the world. They support self-determination for all nations, particularly the Palestinians and Kurds, and an international response to major world issues.

  Left Unity is a green political party and believes that the reformation of the current economic system is necessary to combat climate change. They favour an international approach to resolving the problem and are also concerned with animal welfare and ecological diversity.

  The party is governed by its national council, the National Secretary of which is Kate Hudson. Other notable Left Unity members include party Principal Speaker and journalist Salman Shaheen. The party did not exist at the time of the last General Election but has around 1,900 members.

WEBSITE: http://leftunity.org/

The British National Party

          A.K.A The BNP; The British Nationals

  The British National Party was founded in 1982 by John Tyndall in a merger between a number of far-right political organisations. Criticised by many as being racist and even fascist, membership of the BNP was restricted to 'indigenous British' people until 2010. 

  BNP economic policy is very protectionist, calling for British ownership of British industry and tariffs restricting foreign imports. It promotes autarky in terms of food production and is anti-globalist, calling for higher corporation tax for multinationals and spending cuts for foreign aid. It does not, however, espouse corporatism, a favoured policy of most nationalist parties.

  BNP social policy is highly conservative, indeed in many cases openly oppressive. Although no longer an officially white supremacist party, the BNP is still highly racist and opposes equal rights for non-white, foreign-born or non-Christian citizens. The party is strongly opposed to both abortion and homosexuality, calling the latter 'unnatural', and opposes both same-sex and interracial marriages. The party supports the institutions of the monarchy, the House of Lords, the nuclear family and traditional gender roles - i.e. women as housewives. The BNP sees Christianity as 'the benchmark for decent civilised society' and is opposed to Judaism, Sikhism, Hinduism and - most especially - Islam. Its anti-Semitism has grown less pronounced in recent years, and it now supports Israel's existence. BNP criminal justice policy is very harsh, advocating the return of the death penalty and the establishment of a penal colony on South Georgia. The party also wishes to withdraw from the ECHR and scrap the Human Rights Act. They support the criminalisation of drugs.

  The BNP wishes to restrict NHS use to British nationals only and to do the same to education. The party supports strict educational discipline, including the return of corporal punishment and Christian indoctrination in schools, and a centrally controlled National Curriculum. It also wishes to reform the social security system so as to prevent welfare dependency and restrict social housing to British citizens.

  BNP foreign policy is built around serving the UK's interests. They desire a federal union with the Republic of Ireland but to withdraw from the EU. The party instead advocates stronger ties with the Commonwealth in order to maintain the balance of trade payments. The BNP would cut all foreign aid. They want to reintroduce conscription, mandate the keeping of a gun and ammunition for all adult men and maintain the nuclear deterrent, though are non-interventionist in their military policy.

  The BNP do not believe climate change is occurring and oppose all moves towards renewable energy on the grounds of cost. They are, however, not in favour of fracking which they regard as potentially unsafe.

  The party leader is Nick Griffin. Other notable BNP members include ethnically Jewish 2010 election candidate Patricia Richardson. The party won 1.9% of the vote but none of the seats in the House of Commons at the last General Election and has around 4,900 members.

WEBSITE: http://www.bnp.org.uk/

The Green Party of England and Wales

          A.K.A The Green Party; The Greens

  Founded in 1973 as the PEOPLE Party, the first UK political party to have environmental policies, it became the Ecology Party in 1975, the Green Party in 1985 and - after the split with the pro-independence Scottish Greens in 1990 - the Green Party of England of Wales, though commentators outside of Scotland generally refer to it simply as the Green Party. Founded out of rising fears of climate change during the 1970s, it has grown in popularity as the effects of human impact on the Earth's ecology become more obvious.  

  The Greens are less neoliberal than the larger parties, proposing renationalisation of several companies, including Royal Mail and the the railways. They are committed to social justice and the prevention of poverty through progressive taxation and the implementation of a Citizen's Income - a regular, non-means-tested payment to every citizen regardless of employment or otherwise. They oppose public sector cuts in general.

  Green social policy is highly liberal. They strongly support same-sex marriage and gay rights in general and are intent on bringing an end to discrimination. They oppose extensive use of prisons and are in favour of legalising marijuana. The party is fully committed to the HRA.

  Greens support the welfare state and oppose social security cuts and the welfare cap. However, as mentioned above, they desire to replace jobseekers' allowance with a universal Citizens' Income, in line with the original principles of the 1940s welfarist movement. They favour localisation of health and education (along with all other services which can be practically localised). They are also in favour of a phased abolition of university tuition fees.

  Green foreign policy is highly pacifist - they oppose military interventionism, the UK's membership of NATO and the continuation of the trident nuclear defence system. They are also moderately eurosceptic, as they feel that the EU is too closely tied to corporate interests and support a referendum on the UK's membership, though they are not opposed to the EU's existence in principle. The Green Party believes in international cooperation in order to promote sustainability and diplomatic dispute resolution.

  The Green Party is, unsurprisingly, the most environmentally-focused of the UK's political parties and opposes the continued use of fossil fuels in favour of the introduction of completely renewable energy sources for the UK, though divisions exist as to whether to include nuclear energy in this. The party promotes animal welfare and natural diversity as being integral to human quality of life and in the interests of natural organisms own rights. They oppose both fracking and the HS2 high-speed rail line.

  The party leader is Natalie Bennett and the deputy leader is Will Duckworth. Other notable Greens include former leader and the party's sole MP Caroline Lucas, Green Party peer Baron Timothy Beaumont and leader of the semi-autonomous Wales Green Party Pippa Bartolotti. The party won 0.9% of the vote and 0.2% of the seats in the House of Commons at the last General Election and has around 16,000 members.

WEBSITE: http://www.greenparty.org.uk/

The United Kingdom Independence Party

          A.K.A UKIP

  UKIP was founded as cross-party pressure group the Anti-Federalist League in 1991 and become a political party in 1993. It has grown steadily more popular during the 2000s, rising to claim an average of 12% in the polls during recent months. It has numerous Councillors and 9 MEPs, but has never had an elected MP.

  UKIP is, economically, extremely liberal. The party advocates a flat rate of income tax (31%), cuts to corporation tax and the abolition of inheritance tax. They also call for £77 billion of further cuts to public expenditure, though they have been heavily criticised for what the Times has alleged is a £120 billion hole in their spending plans.

  UKIP call themselves libertarian but they are in reality socially highly conservative. The party is highly committed to traditional institutions, opposing same-sex marriage and wanting the return of oaths of allegiance to the Monarch.The party wants to scrap the HRA and withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights, thereby removing the authority of the European Court of Human Rights. They do, however, support the decriminalisation of drugs. 

  UKIP's welfare policy is mixed. It calls for a severe cut in the social security bill and a cut in health spending on bureaucracy, but wants to use the money saved to introduce free dental and optical care. They are also in favour of further localisation of the health service.

  UKIP foreign policy is isolationist. While generally pro-American, the party is anti-interventionist and is opposed to overseas aid spending. They are focused on their main goal - the party's original raison d'etre - of withdrawal of the UK from the European Union, which they feel is too expensive and has too much power over UK legislation. They are committed to NATO and, especially, the Commonwealth but are uncertain over the future of Trident. They also present themselves as anti-mass immigration, though they are in favour of managed immigration of skilled workers with EU states on a level playing field with the rest of the world.

  UKIP is highly climate change-sceptic and has advocated banning climate change film An Inconvenient Truth in schools and ending government subsidies of wind farms, which they consider an eyesore. They are pro-fracking but are opposed to HS2, mainly on economic grounds.

  The party leader is Nigel Farage, the deputy leader is Paul Nuttall and the executive chairman is Steve Crowther. Other notable UKIP members include Director of Communications Patrick O'Flynn, now-independent MEP Godfrey Bloom and failed Eastleigh by-election candidate Diane James.The party won 3.1% of the vote but none of the seats in the House of Commons at the last General Election and has around 35,000 members.

WEBSITE: http://www.ukip.org/

The Liberal Democrats

          A.K.A The Lib Dems

  The Liberal Democrats were created by a merger of the Liberal Party - itself founded in 1859 out of an alliance of Whigs, Peelite Tories and Radicals - and the 1981 breakaway Labour group the SDP in 1988. The Liberal Party was the main opposition to the Conservatives up until the 1920s, and introduced such radical reforms as the creation of the original welfare state. The SDP were a less left-wing version of Labour who had become concerned in the late 1970s about the alleged Trotskyite Communist infiltration of the party.  

  The Liberal Democrats are the junior partner in the current Coalition Government. The party won 23% of the vote and 8.8% of the seats in the House of Commons at the last General Election and has around 44,000 members.


Economics

• The Lib Dems' core economic policies follow the basic neoliberal principles of a free deregulated market, minimised state expenditure across most areas and private ownership of industry
• Lib Dem taxation policies are more progressive than the Conservatives and are on a par with New Labour; they support generally low direct taxation but first proposed the idea of a mansion tax on properties worth over £2 million and have been the main drivers behind the increase in the personal allowance threshold to £10,500
• The Lib Dems are committed to a swift reduction of the budget deficit

Social Policy and the Constitution

• Liberal Democrat social policy is more progressive than the other major parties; they have been long-time proponents of LGBT rights and are generally in favour of increased diversity
• The Lib Dems wish to replace the House of Lords with an elected second chamber and to reform the voting system for Westminster Parliamentary elections to a more proportional system - with their preference being STV - and to reduce the voting age to 16. There is traditionally support within the party for disestablishment of the Church of England
• The party is committted to the Human Rights Act, though some of their actions in coalition - including the introduction of secret courts - seem to contradict this view

Welfare, Health & Education

• The Lib Dems hold the view that the welfare state should be sufficient to provide a safety net for those who need it but should not be so extensive and to allow long-term dependence; the party grassroots are generally more supportive of social security than the leadership
• Lib Dem education policy is largely in line with the other major parties, including the existence of diverse types of school including academies and free schools, but they are in favour of significant reductions in university tuition fees - though they have received heavy criticism for their failure to keep their pledge to remove them entirely prior to the 2010 general election
• The party supports harsh cuts to the department of health - 50% - and is in favour of the decentralisation of the NHS through the introduction of more NHS Trusts

Crime and Justice Policy

• Party policy remains full criminalisation of most drugs, though some individual Lib Dems have called for a relaxation of drugs laws
• Lib Dems want a less punishment-focused, more rehabilitationary criminal justice system, though in coalition they have supported Conservative efforts in the other direction
• The Lib Dems, in coalition with the Conservatives, have introduced secret courts, in which persons can be tried for serious offences without being even allowed to speak or know the charges against them, as part of their commitment to tackle terrorism

Foreign Policy and Defence

• The Liberal Democrats are in favour of NATO membership but are less concerned with the 'special relationship' with the USA than other major parties
• The coalition has increased foreign aid spending to 0.7% of GDP
• The party is generally anti-interventionist, though there was support for action in Libya
• The Lib Dems do not wish a like-for-like replacement for the Trident nuclear missile system when it reaches the end of its usable life

Europe

• The Lib Dems are fully committed to membership of the EU and are in favour of further European integration, including a possible UK accession to the Eurozone at some point in the future
• The party is committed to an in/out referendum if there is further significant transfer of powers to Brussels, though this is in fact enshrined in law in any case
• The Lib Dems support TTIP, an EU policy which would allow US companies to sue the UK government and to buy out public services such as the NHS

The Environment

• The Lib Dems are committed to increasing focus on renewable resources and replacement of those trees cut down for timber
• They support fracking and the HS2 high-speed rail line

Important Party Figures:

• Nick Clegg MP: Deputy Prime Minister and Party Leader
• Vince Cable MP: Business Secretary
• Danny Alexander MP: Chief Secretary to the Treasury
• Ed Davey MP: Energy Secretary
• Tim Farron MP: President of the party
• Jeremy Browne MP: Right-wing party theorist
• Simon Hughes MP: Minister for Civil Liberties; Former Deputy Party Leader
• Malcom Bruce MP: EDeputy Party Leader
• Baroness Shirley Williams: Former Education Secretary; Co-Founder of the SDP
• Lord Paddy Ashdown: Party election strategist; Former Party Leader

WEBSITE: http://www.libdems.org.uk/