Labour are releasing thousands of prisoners early through their End of Custody Licence scheme. Join our campaign against this disastrous policy.

Labour are releasing prisoners early in a bid to relieve overcrowding – and since 2007, over 34,000 offenders have been let out early.

The End of Custody Licence scheme is designed to make amends for Labour’s failure to build enough prison places.

It has led to more than 6,500 violent criminals being released back onto the streets – and at least 665 crimes have allegedly been committed by offenders who should have still been in jail.

Labour have said they won’t even think about reviewing their early release policy until September 2009 - by which time, 70,000 prisoners could have been let out without serving their full sentence.

Help us stop this disastrous scheme by signing our petition today.

Nick Herbert, Shadow Secretary of State for Justice:
"Labour is giving criminals a break. They are releasing thousands of prisoners early and planning to water down sentences. We need punishment that fits the crime, enough prison places to hold all those sentenced by the courts, and a new focus on reforming offenders."

A Conservative Government will:

	Scrap the early release scheme and build emergency prison places
	Introduce honesty in sentencing so that convicted criminals serve a minimum sentence handed down to them by the judge
	Ensure sufficient prison capacity to hold all those sentenced by the courts – and reform prison regimes to break the cycle of re-offending
	Double the sentencing powers of magistrates to 12 months and repeal any new restrictions on their ability to hand down suspended sentences

Women lose or forgo £300,000 over their lifetime because of the gender pay gap. Join our campaign for Fair Play on Women's Pay.

If you thought the gender pay gap was a thing of the past, then think again.

Men STILL get paid 17.2% more than women, and the average woman will lose or forgo £300,000 over her lifetime because of the gender pay gap.

This is an issue that affects every woman, not just those doing part-time or lower-paid roles. Full-time women earn less than men in every occupation - and last year the gender pay gap among managers in Britain actually increased.

We want to change this – and that’s why Theresa May, the Shadow Minister for Women, has teamed up with TV presenter June Sarpong to launch the Fair Play on Women's Pay campaign.

This winter, Theresa will introduce an Equal Pay and Flexible Working Bill in Parliament – and with cross-party support, we can pass effective legislation to help narrow the pay gap.

But we need to do more than just pass a law. We must all join together to raise awareness of this vital issue - and with YOUR support, our campaign can make a real difference.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

	Sign our petition for Fair Play on Women’s Pay
	Join the Fair Play on Woman's Pay campaign on Facebook
	Email/Write to your MP to ask them to support our Equal Pay Bill

One of the biggest worries for people right now is unemployment. We need change to get Britain working.
Thanks to Gordon Brown's economic mismanagement, unemployment is rocketing in Britain.

Labour's Debt Crisis means we are facing a long recession - and Brown's attempts to deal with the downturn are simply not working:

	The bank recapitalisation has not got credit flowing again
	The VAT cut has failed to stimulate the economy
	The Government's business strategy has not stopped businesses from closing

It is vital we provide support and assistance for those affected by the economic downturn. The key priorities must be:

	Finding ways to ease the pressures on businesses
	Dealing more effectively with unemployment, with practical support and advice for those who lose their jobs
	Direct help for families, pensioners and other groups hit hard by the recession

We can't, as an opposition party, implement major policy changes that will help things immediately. But we can put forward proposals that we believe will help get Britain working again - in both the short- and long-term.

And we can also offer practical help and advice for those who have been hit by the economic downturn.
Our policies

Easing the pressure on businesses:

	A National Loan Guarantee Scheme with up to £50bn of guarantees for new lending to businesses of all sizes.
	A £10bn scheme to allow small and medium-sized enterprises with cash flow difficulties to defer their VAT bills, for up to six months. For a typical business with a VAT bill of £350,000, this could involve £90,000, the difference between survival and failure.
	Cutting corporation tax. We are committed to cutting the basic rate of corporation tax, reversing Labour's tax hike. This would be paid for by scrapping Labour's complex corporation tax reliefs
	Cutting payroll taxes (National Insurance) by one pence for six months for the smallest employers (those with fewer than five employees), to help them save money and so keep jobs.

Tackling unemployment:

	A £3 billion programme of incentives to employers who take on someone who has been unemployed for more than three months
	A major expansion of training with financial help for smaller firms
	A removal of restrictions on activities while on benefits

Labour’s plan to introduce ID cards will cost billions of pounds but will not make us safer and could expose the public to an even greater risk of identity fraud.

ID cards are a very bad IDea – and you can call on the Government to scrap them by signing our petition today.

ID cards will not make us safer:

	They do not prevent terrorist attacks – ID cards are compulsory in Spain, but that did not stop the Madrid bombings in 2004
	They will not prevent illegal immigration, as foreign visitors will not have to have an ID card unless they plan to stay for more than three months
	They won’t prevent human trafficking – only a dedicated Border Police Force can enforce proper checks on people entering and leaving the country

ID cards are a waste of money:

	Everybody will have to pay £93 to get one – this is the official estimated price for a combined ID card and passport package
	Implementing the scheme will cost up to £20 billion of taxpayers’ money, according to estimates from the London School of Economics

A recipe for disaster:

We’ve had data loss after data loss from this incompetent Government.

	The personal details of 25 million individuals, and the bank details of 15 million people, were lost by HM Revenue and Customs
	The DVLA lost the details of 3 million learner drivers
	The names, addresses and expected release dates of every prisoner in England and Wales were on an unencrypted memory stick that went missing

The introduction of ID cards will see almost 30 separate pieces of personal information about you - including your name, date of birth, previous addresses, photograph, signature, fingerprints and other biometric details – stored in one place.

The potential for another data loss disaster is huge – and that is why it’s vital that everyone who is opposed to ID cards joins our campaign today.

We will scrap the ID cards scheme, and use some of the savings to build more prison places, provide more drug rehabilitation for those in custody and create a dedicated Border Police Force.

Post Offices are the lifeblood of any community – and yet 4,000 have been shut under Labour and they are planning to close a further 2,500 by 2009.

We are vehemently opposed to these plans, as we believe Post Offices are vital institutions, as important to communities as the local school or pub.

We put forward a motion in Parliament calling for an end to closures, but despite the support of 20 Labour MPs, the Government managed to narrowly defeat our proposal.

But you can help us make Labour listen. Sign our petition today and become a part of our campaign to save Britain's Post Offices.

OUR PLANS TO STRENGTHEN BRITAIN'S POST OFFICES

Using Post Offices as Government GP service:

We will investigate a scheme whereby Post Offices operate as a ‘Government GP’ for people who have concerns about Government services, including tax returns and pension entitlements

Freeing up Sub-Postmasters:

We will rewrite Sub-Postmasters' contracts and allow them to provide a greater range of products and services

Bolstering the Post Office Card Account:

This scheme is hugely important to millions of families without access to bank accounts – and we will make changes so they can benefit from the lower utility bills offered to customers paying by direct debit

Encouraging 'Council Counters':

We will encourage local councils to see what services they could provide though Post Offices

How important is your relationship with your family doctor?

How important is it that your health is in the hands of someone you know and trust? That in times of anxiety you can turn to a familiar face for advice and support?

We think it’s very important.

That’s why we are campaigning against Labour’s plans to shut local family doctor surgeries and force GPs and patients into large, impersonal ‘polyclinics’ instead.

And it’s why we’re asking you to join our campaign today by signing our petition against Labour’s plans.

Up to 1,700 GP surgeries could be axed, and hundreds of thousands of people would have their relationship with their doctor destroyed.

Patients would be lucky to see the same GP twice at ‘polyclinics’ – what use is that to those suffering from long-term illnesses?

And with their local surgery shut down, people will have to travel three times further on average for vital care – how will that help the pensioners and new mothers whose mobility is limited?

For the sake of your health, please join our fight to save local GP surgeries by signing our petition today.

Mr. Brown’s short-sighted cuts and closures are damaging the NHS - we must stop them.

The NHS is an institution which binds our nation together. In cities, towns and villages up and down the country, the family doctor surgeries and local hospitals are part of the fabric of our community. And the doctors, nurses and support staff who work so hard to keep them going are known and trusted.

One of the saddest things about the Government’s health policy in recent years has been their obsession with making the NHS bigger and more distant. They are merging maternity units, concentrating accident and emergency departments in fewer centres and moving family doctors to big, impersonal ‘polyclinics’ where there’s little chance of seeing the same doctor twice. Labour’s plans are ripping the heart out of our health service.

	Gordon Brown’s own Health Minister, Lord Darzi, has said, ‘The days of the District General Hospital are over’
	Dozens of A&E departments and maternity units across the country are being cut
	Over 1,700 family doctor surgeries could be closed under Labour’s plans to impose ‘polyclinics’ – supersized GP practices – on local communities and the distance to your nearest GP could triple.

Join our campaign to stop Brown’s NHS cuts by signing our petition today.

One of the main reason for these cuts and closures is that under Labour too much money has been diverted from patient care to wasteful bureaucracy.

Mr. Brown has imposed 101 central targets on the NHS – and as a result, the Government demands 250,000 data returns from all NHS organisations every year. It’s no surprise that the number of NHS managers is now increasing twice as fast as the number of nurses.

HOW A CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT WILL TURN THE NHS AROUND

	We will call an immediate halt to cuts which Labour are making without evidence to support improvements in patient access and care, so that patients have access to high-quality services at their local hospital
	We will protect family doctor services by opposing Labour’s plans to impose impersonal “polyclinics” at the expense of local GP surgeries
	Most importantly, we will set the NHS free from ministerial meddling and allow NHS staff to concentrate on doing what they do best: providing top-quality care to patients

Help us save the NHS by signing our petition against Brown’s cuts today

Small shops are at the heart of our high streets and town centres. They offer diversity and choice and provide a really personal service to their community.

Yet in many communities these independent retailers are under threat. They face a rising burden of regulation and tax, a daily battle against crime and violence, and competition from the growth of out-of-town shopping centres. It is estimated that 2000 shops close every year.

SMALL BUSINESS RATE RELIEF

Rising business rates are hurting small shops - and yet many shops don’t claim the rate relief they're entitled to because they don’t know about it or because it's too complicated.

Rate relief could save shops up to £1,100 a year - so it's vital we help owners claim the full amount they're owed.

With the help of Leaseholders United, we are providing shops with an online tool to find out what relief - if any - they’re eligible for.

If you run a small business and want to see if you're entitled to rate relief, simply click here.

Find out more about Small Business Rate Relief

HELP US SAVE BRITAIN'S SMALL SHOPS

In the Summer, Conservative MPs published a report which set out the challenges facing small shops and ideas for the way ahead. It concluded that we must stand up for small retailers and recognise the vital role they play at the heart of our communities.

So we are campaigning to promote and save our small shops. In particular we are opposing Labour plans to make it easier for more out-of-town development, by scrapping the so-called ‘needs test’. If implemented, this will further undermine small, town centre shops.

You can help save your local shop. Become part our campaign to keep small shops at the heart of our communities.

Mark Prisk MP, the Shadow Minister for Small Businesses - “If you value your local shops then join our campaign to help them. You can make a difference.”

WAYS TO HELP:

	Sign our petition
	Read the report and send your comments and ideas to the Office of Mark Prisk at mooren@parliament.uk or write to him at Mark Prisk MP, House of Commons, London, SW1A OAA
	Write to the Government to say NO to scrapping the needs test. Address your letters to Hazel Blears, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, House of Commons, London, SW1A OAA

SMALL BUSINESS RATE RELIEF - THE FACTS

How does it work?

Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) came into effect on 1st April 2005. The scheme is funded by a supplement on the rate bills of larger business ratepayers.

Who is eligible?

Properties with a rateable value of less than £5,000 will get 50% rate relief on their liability. Above £5,000 relief is available, but by 1% for every £100, below a maximum rate of £10,000 rateable value.

The relief is only available for ratepayers who either:

	Have one property and are not in receipt of any other relief.
	Have one main property not in receipt of any other relief and other additional properties with values of less than £2,200, to a total value £15,000 outside London or £21,500 inside London.

The local billing authority will calculate the exact reduction. The rate is calculated to each chargeable day. The relief is not automatic and must be applied for.

Who is not eligible?

	Businesses with rateable values above the limits
	Empty properties
	Those receiving charitable relief

Is there a time limit to apply?

Ratepayers have until September 30th 2010 to apply for rate relief covering the years of 2007-08.

Regional Differences

	The zero relief for properties with a rateable value between £10,000 and £15,000 outside London and £21,500 inside London.
	In Wales the relief is given automatically and there are different RV thresholds.

Take up rates and awareness

The Local Government Association believes that some 870,000 firms are eligible for the rebate but only half have claimed. (1 June 2006)

An FSB survey found that 49% of eligible businesses were claiming SBRR. They also found huge regional variances in take up, with no identifiable pattern by region. (May, 2006)

In September this year, Leaseholders United ran a campaign to raise awareness of the availability of the relief.