Analysis: Labour's pledges

The BBC has carried out a major research project into the pledges that the Labour party made in its 1997 general election manifesto.

The following pages detail how many of the 229 pledges it has met and what criticisms have been made of how it met them.

The pledges do not necessarily include those made outside of the manifesto document, but do make reference to these issues.

Introducton and explanation
Economy Health Education Home affairs	Environment Welfare Constitution Foreign/Defence

Background to the research

The election manifesto is a party's contract with the electorate for the period of the next parliament.

The timing of general elections is not fixed in the UK. We have taken the five-year time limit imposed on governments as the point at which to judge whether or not a pledge has been met.

This research is an objective analysis of the Government's record, using the terms of its own "Contract with the People" as a benchmark.

The decisions on whether or not a pledge has been met do not include judgements as to the inherent value of any of the pledges or the quality of its delivery. But we have included important criticisms where applicable.

Therefore, the government has been measured against the letter rather than the spirit of its manifesto commitments. For this reason, the notes below each pledge should be taken into account.

For example, the government can be said to have fulfilled its pledge to introduce an integrated transport policy because the policy now exists. But it is essential to note that there has been widespread criticism of the government's handling of transport.

There are five categories:

Pledge met: The government has met the letter of its manifesto commitment

Pledge not met: The government has not met the letter of its commitment

Partly met: Some activity in this area has been noted

On course: The pledge is likely to be met in the coming months

Debatable: No objective measure can be made at this stage

The BBC's research identified 229 pledges in the manifesto. Some are omitted here for the sake of brevity. You can join the debate on the merits of the government's work by taking part in our talking point debate.