This Election Briefing Note compares Labour's proposed reforms to the system of higher education (HE) finance in England and the alternative proposals outlined by the Conservative Party in September 20042 and the Liberal Democrats in January and March 2005.

This Election Briefing Note aims to describe the key differences between the three main UK political parties on policies that might affect the ways in which individuals save and provide for the future, including the ways in which resources might be provided for retirement.

This Election Briefing Note shows how the tax and benefit reforms proposed by the three

In this Election Briefing Note, we assess what has happened to living standards under Labour, setting out how average incomes, income inequality and poverty have changed since 1996-97. We compare these changes with what happened under previous governments, and highlight where there have been differences between Labour's first and second terms.

This Election Briefing Note assesses the main parties' manifesto claims about living standards, poverty and taxation.

This note starts with a summary of tax reforms since 1997. This is followed by an assessment of the overall effect of these changes on the tax burden faced by businesses and on government revenues. The note concludes with a discussion of future trends in

We look at the effects of the reforms introduced since 1997 and at the proposals of the parties in this area.

In this note we look at policy relating to productivity since 1997 and at the parties' policies in this area.

This note looks at the changes in employment and Labour's policies since 1997 and review the proposals of the three main parties in this area.

This Briefing Note assesses the government's management of the public finances since 1997, judged against the rules it set itself to constrain public sector borrowing and debt, and against the performance of other industrial countries over the same period. It then discusses how the public finances might evolve given the tax and spending policies of the three main parties, as well as their proposals to reform the framework in which the public finances are managed.