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General Election 2019 PolicyWatch: Lib Dems to boost NHS with income tax rise and Tories to toughen stance on law and order

The Lib Dems plan to give the NHS a £35 billion boost by raising income tax by a penny, Labour has pledged to increase wildlife crime officer numbers and the Tories say they will toughen their stance on law and order by ensuring child murderers face life in prison without parole.

Campaigning is well under way for the general election and keeping up with the latest promises, policies and pledges from the parties can be difficult.

Liberal Democrats: £35bn boost for NHS by raising income tax

Liberal Democrats say they will give the NHS a £35 billion boost by raising income tax by a penny if they gain power.

The money, delivered over five years, would complement party plans for a £10 billion capital fund to upgrade equipment, ambulances, hospitals and other NHS buildings, the party's health spokeswoman Luciana Berger said.

The income tax increase would deliver £7 billion a year and be ring-fenced for use in the NHS and social care, the party said.

Ms Berger pledged to tackle staffing shortages in the NHS by retaining free movement of labour, reinstating nursing bursaries and setting up a national workforce strategy to match training places to future needs.

The party also said it would end the current shortfall of GPs by 2025.

Labour: Increase number of wildlife crime officers

Police numbers to help combat fox hunting, hare coursing and other wildlife crimes would be increased under a Labour government, the party has said.

The party wants an extra 82 officers tasked with prosecuting such crimes, at a cost of £4.5 million.

Officials said the officers would be drawn from within the party's existing commitment to boost police numbers, so no new expenditure would be required.

Labour said a National Police Chiefs' Council report suggested 88 police staff are currently dedicated to wildlife crime, although this total includes civilian managers and community support officers.

Conservatives: Child killers to face life behind bars

Child murderers will face life in prison without parole if the Conservatives are returned to power in the General Election, the party has said in a further toughening of its stance on law and order.

Justice Secretary Robert Buckland said a Tory government would legislate to ensure an adult convicted of the premeditated murder of a child is set a whole life order - meaning they will never be eligible for release - unless there are "exceptional" circumstances.

Under current rules, only those convicted of multiple child murders or have been found to have been sexually or sadistically motivated attract a whole life order, which the Tories said was "too restrictive".

The Tories' plans would mean that a whole life order would be the starting tariff in cases of child murder, although judges in individual cases would be able to set it aside if there were "exceptional mitigating circumstances".