General election

David Cameron has announced today that his government will be the 'greenest government' ever. We welcome the sentiment but we are sceptical and said that ‘history will judge this government on its green credentials by its policies to cut the UK’s emissions dramatically and getting a fair international climate deal, not by turning off its lights at night.’

It's been announced today that Vince Cable will oversee business and banking in the new cabinet. This could signal good news for our clean up the banks campaign.

Purple protests are springing up across the country in support of demanding a fairer electoral system - and an emergency rally has been called tonight at 5pm outside the offices where the Lib Dems are corralled in deep talks.

Over the weekend, party leaders will focus on global poverty as the battle for hearts and minds heats up in the election race. But a ranking carried out by the World Development Movement reveals that none of the three main parties score well on their plans to tackle key international development issues.

The Conservatives fare particularly poorly (3 out of 10), Labour (5 out of 10) and the Liberal Democrats (6 out of a 10) receive a middling rating. The Greens (8 out of 10) come out on top on issues such as trade justice, international aid and IMF reform.

Guest post by May Abdalla

As Gordon Brown makes his visit to Her Majesty to call a UK election, there is a parallel campaign unfolding in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Ghana.

Guest post by Tim Gee

It is 12 months since 35,000 people took to the streets, days before the London G20 Summit, for the Put People First march, calling for decent work, an end to global poverty and a safe climate.

Ed Milliband, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, has called this election the first 'of a global age' - but will the REAL global issues of climate change, global poverty and unfair trade - be high up on the political agenda during the election period?

Pictured: Glasgow local group hold a hustings before the European elections in 2009

This report is a guide to the policies of UK political parties ahead of the UK general election to be held on 6 May 2010. It seeks to give a guide to the policies of Labour, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Greens, Scottish National Party (SNP) and Plaid Cymru in key areas relating to international justice: trade justice; more and better aid; making the economy work for poor people and repaying our climate debt.

Use the following questions to help you engage with your candidates on key global justice issues. These are based on WDM campaigns and you can use these questions whenever you are in contact with a candidate, whether you are writing a letter, at a meeting or at a hustings event.

Vote Global (pdf format) is a development manifesto that WDM and over 100 other development organisations have signed up to. It sets out the key political commitments that are necessary for the UK to play a leading role in tackling global poverty and injustice.

The manifesto covers five areas:

1. More and better aid and debt relief
2. Tackling climate change
3. Making the global economy work for the poor
4. Good governance and addressing corruption
5. Responding to conflict situations