To what extent are the current ideas of the Labour Party and the Conservative Party similar and different?

There are many similarities and differences between the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. This is due to their manifestos and what the MP’s within the party believe in.

Firstly, the Conservative Party believes that individuals should own and control businesses and services and make profits from them, and that the government should not interfere with these things. If this creates a gap between rich and poor, then it's not down to the government to sort it out. It's all about survival of the fittest. This compares to the Labour party who believe that The government should work with private companies to provide good public services and that the government should be involved in helping to close the gap between rich and poor by providing opportunities for those in need. Also, the Labour party think that all public services such as schools and hospitals need to receive funding from the government in order to provide good-quality services that are available for everyone to use.

Furthermore, the Conservatives think that tax should be low, so that people can keep as much of what they earn as possible. As businesses and services are privately owned, it's thought that people will have more money to spend on these things, instead of the government taking peoples money and choosing for them. Therefore, the Conservatives believe that this will improve public services, because in order to get people to use them, they need to be good. On the other hand, the Labour Party say that there need to be different levels of tax depending on how much people earn. Therefore, the more people earn, the more people should pay otherwise there will be a group of very rich people and a group of very poor people. Furthermore, the tax is used to provide services for everybody, rich and poor.

Moreover, within the community, the Conservatives believe that traditional values should be encouraged to help build strong communities and families. Also, that strict discipline and respect will cut crime and criminals should be treated harshly. However, the views of the Labour party are different again because they believe that communities need to be strong by promoting tolerance of and respect for all and by all and that everyone should enjoy their individual rights but they must also understand that they have responsibilities to those around them.

In conclusion, the two main parties have many differences and believe in different aspects of politics. This shows the representation of the Labour party being left wing and therefore for holding beliefs about equality compared to the Conservative party being right wing and showing beliefs which support competition between businesses and having different classes within society.