The five political promises that investors cannot ignore

Comments ahead of the General Election

David Battersby, investment manager at Progeny Investment Management, picks apart the main parties' key election pledges - and their impact for investors.

The political parties have made a lot of bold promises. So what should investors make of the Conservatives' commitment to reduce corporation tax to 17% by 2020, Labour's pledge to increase the minimum wage to £10 per hour, or the Lib Dems' plan to add 1p in the pound on income tax to fund the NHS?  Most political promises are just noise, but here are five investors cannot afford to ignore. Conservatives: Scrap the "tax lock"  The Conservatives have dropped the pledge by David Cameron not to raise income tax, VAT or national insurance.  Higher tax could hit consumer spending an...