Dignity in Retirement

Under Labour a minimum income guarantee for all pensioners £130 a week for single pensioners and £198 for couples. A million pensioners lifted out of poverty since 1997. Read on...

50 Labour Achievements

  1. A rising National Minimum Wage – the annual uprating benefits 1 million people a year
  2. The shortest waiting times since NHS records began
  3. Three million more operations carried out each year than in 1997; more than double the number of heart operations.
  4. Over 44,000 more doctors
  5. Over 89,000 more nurses
  6. Over three quarters of GP practices now offer extended opening hours for at least one evening or weekend session a week
  7. All prescriptions are now free for people being treated for cancer or the effects of cancer, and teenage girls are offered a vaccination against cervical cancer
  8. The NHS now guarantees that you will see a specialist within 2 weeks if your GP suspects you have cancer.  For all conditions, a guaranteed maximum wait time of 18 weeks from GP referral to the start of hospital treatment
  9. 22 million people are benefiting from real tax cuts to boost their income this year
  10. 12 million pensioners benefiting from increased Winter Fuel Payments
  11. 900,000  pensioners lifted out of poverty
  12. 500,000 children lifted out of relative poverty and measures already in train will lift around a further 500,000 children out of poverty
  13. Free TV licences for over-75s
  14. The New Deal has helped over 2 million people into work
  15. Over 3 million Child  Trust Funds have been started
  16. Nearly 3,000 Sure Start Children’s Centres opened, reaching 2 million children and their families
  17. Over 42,400 more teachers and 123,000 more teaching assistants than in 1997
  18. There have been approximately 3,700 rebuilt and significantly refurbished schools; including new and improved classrooms, laboratories and kitchens
  19. A free nursery place for every 3 and 4 year old
  20. Doubled the number of registered childcare places to more than 1.5 million, one for every four children under eight years old
  21. More young people attending university than ever before
  22. More than doubled the number of apprenticeships starts, with figures for 2008/9 showing 234,000 started an apprenticeship this year compared to 75,000 in 1997
  23. In 1997 over half of all schools had 30% of their pupils failing to get 5 good GCSEs including English and Maths. Now only 270 schools fail this benchmark and we are guaranteeing that no school should fail it after 2011
  24. Total school funding per pupil has more than doubled from £3,030 in 1997-98 to £6,350 in 2009-10 in real terms, an increase of 110%, supporting the delivery of higher standards
  25. The Northern Ireland peace process
  26. The UK is now smokefree, with no smoking in most enclosed public places
  27. The UK’s greenhouse gas emissions are now 21% below 1990 levels, beating our Kyoto target
  28. Over £20 billion invested in bringing social housing to decent standards
  29. Rough sleeping has dropped by two thirds and homelessness is at its lowest level since the early 1980s
  30. Free off-peak travel on buses anywhere in England for over-60s and disabled people
  31. Since 1997 overall crime is down 36 per cent; domestic burglary is down 54 per cent; vehicle related crime is down 57 per cent; and violent crime is down 41 per cent
  32. A new flexible points-based system to ensure only those economic migrants who have the skills our economy needs can come to work in the UK
  33. Police numbers up by 16,000 since 1997, alongside more than 16,000 Police Community Support Officers
  34. Every community now has its own dedicated neighbourhood police team, easily contactable by the people who live in that community and working with them to agree local priorities and deal with people’s concerns
  35. Equalised the age of consent and repealed Section 28
  36. Through the introduction of civil partnerships, Labour has for the first time given legal recognition to same-sex partners. Gay couples now have the same inheritance, pension and next-of-kin rights as married couples.
  37. More than doubled Britain’s overseas aid budget. UK aid helps lift an estimated 3 million people out of poverty every year
  38. Cancelled up to 100% of debt for the world’s poorest countries
  39. Britain now has more offshore wind capacity than any country in the world. Wind last year provided enough electricity to power 2 million homes
  40. Launched the £1.5 billion Housing Pledge to speed up the delivery of new affordable housing and embarked on the biggest program of council house building for twenty years
  41. Launched the Swimming Challenge Fund to support free swimming for over 60s and under 16s
  42. Banned fox hunting
  43. Led the campaign to win the 2012 Olympics for London. Today the programme remains on time and on budget with over 40% of the construction programme completed and all major venues under construction.
  44. Free admission to our national museums and galleries
  45. Devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, an elected Mayor and Assembly for London and directly-elected mayors for those cities that want them.
  46. Created a new right of pedestrian access to the English coast, so that every family has the opportunity to enjoy the length and breadth of our coastline.
  47. In the last 4 years Labour’s work overseas has helped over 7 million people in sub-Saharan Africa access clean water and sanitation
  48. Signed the EU Social Chapter introducing: four weeks’ paid holiday; a right to parental leave; extended maternity leave; a new right to request flexible working; and the same protection for part-time workers as full-time workers.
  49. We led efforts to agree a new international convention banning all cluster munitions.
  50. We introduced the first ever British Armed Forces and Veterans Day to honour the achievements of our armed forces – both past and present.