Today, it’s the Conservative Party’s turn to release its manifesto. Labour pushed out its own document ‘Britain can do better’ yesterday, so it’s Tories’ turn to try and better it. As with Labour’s manifesto, the big announcement has already been briefed out and has made the front pages of most newspapers: extending right to buy. To help guide you through the melée of stories and spin, here is a summary of today’s main election stories.
1. Thatcherism is back
Unless the Tories have another big surprise in store, the centre piece of their 2015 manifesto is a pledge to extend right-to-buy for 1.3 million families in housing association homes. The Tories hope that 150,000 families will take advantage of the pledge — and boom, thousands of new Conservative voters across Britain. Councils will be urged to sell their most expensive properties and the Conservatives insist that all sold-off properties will be replaced, addressing one of the key concerns about Margaret Thatcher’s original right to buy policy for council houses.
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