The Conservative Party manifesto, point by point

Spending

• Cuts in welfare, government and tax evasion to clear the deficit by 2017-18
• Rise in the national minimum wage
• No income tax for anyone working 30 hours a week on minimum wage
• 40p higher rate tax threshold raised to £50,000 by 2020
• Inheritance tax threshold for married couples and civil partners raised to £1m
• Two million more jobs

Verdict: A clever pitch to the low-paid, but it does nothing for workers paying 12 per cent national insurance on incomes of £8,000.

Health

• Increase budget by £8bn above inflation by 2020
• Seven-days-a-week access to hospital care in England within five years
• Same-day GP appointments for older people

Verdict: The promised extra cash is designed to counter Labour charges that the quality of NHS care would deteriorate under the Tories.

Immigration

• Reducing annual net immigration to tens of thousands
• No tax credits or child benefits for immigrants until after they have lived in the UK for four years
• Tightening of student visa system

Verdict: Tough language, but the Tories are haunted by failure to cut numbers.

Education

• Spending per pupil in English schools to be protected
• "Coasting and failing" schools to be turned into academies
• Retesting of eleven years old at secondary school if they do not meet "tough new standards" for literacy and numeracy
• £9,000 university tuition fees to remain in place

Verdict: The schools spending commitment could result in large real-term cuts if inflation picks up.

Childcare

• Up to 30 hours a week of free childcare worth £5,000 for children aged three and four with parents working at least eight hours a week in 2017
• £350m a year cost met by reducing tax relief on pensions

Verdict: A clever and populist move which trumps Labour’s 25-hours-a-week free childcare pledge.

Welfare

• Benefit cap lowered on payments to one household to £23,000 to "reward work"
• Basic state pension to rise by at least 2.5 per cent per year
• Free bus passes, TV licenses and winter fuel repayments for pensioners will still be available
• Tougher "day one" work requirements for young people claiming out-of-work benefits
• Six month youth allowance to replace jobseeker's allowance for 18-21 year olds

Verdict: Tories well-placed to retain the grey vote, but little detail of £12bn of welfare cuts.

Housing

• Right to buy extended to 13 million families living in housing association properties
• Discounts worth up to £107,000 in London and £77,000 in the rest of England
• Homes sold replaced on one-for-one basis
• £4.5bn cost funded by forcing councils to sell most expensive homes

• £1bn fund for 400,000 new homes on brownfield land over five years.

  Verdict: Headline-grabbing move but experts warn social housing stock could be diminished.

Crime and security

• EU membership referendum in 2017
• Renewal of Trident

Verdict: EU referendum is a flagship policy, but the issue has barely stirred in campaigning.

Transport

• Commitment to £50bn High Speed 2 rail link
• £15bn on new roads
• Commuter fare rises limited to inflation until 2020

Verdict: Policies attractive to rail passengers and motorists, but not to anyone near the proposed HS2 route.

More: [The Labour manifesto, point by point]1