The £50bn »

Labour will tax rich to pay for huge spending on health and education Water firms join list of industries to be re-nationalised

JEREMY Corbyn has unveiled the £50billion election gamble he believes can propel him into Downing Street next month. The Labour leader yesterday set out radical plans to tax the UK’S biggest firms and earners to fund a massive investment in our schools, childcare, infrastructure and NHS. Speaking at his party’s official manifesto launch in Bradford, Mr Corbyn said: “This is a programme of hope. The Tory campaign, by contrast, is built on one word: fear. “We will change our country while managing within our means.” Mr Corbyn added private water firms to the industries he plans to re-nationalise if he wins on June 8. A draft of his manifesto leaked to the Mirror had revealed plans to do this with railways, Royal Mail and the energy industry. Labour said the scheme would largely pay for itself, as highly profitable companies such as the National Grid are returned to the public sector. Labour data last night claimed this would save households £220 a year on utilities, with water bills cut by £100. But the party admitted it would need an extra £48.6billion a year to balance the books. Mr Corbyn insisted small businesses would be largely protected, and nobody earning less than £80,000 a year would pay more tax. Instead, almost half the programme would be funded by reversing all Tory cuts to corporation tax since 2010, raising £19.4billion yearly from big firms. Bigger taxes on high earners would raise £6.4billion. The income tax rate for those earning more than £80,000 will rise from 40p to 45p in the pound. Those on more than £123,000 will pay a new 50p rate. A further £15.9billion would be raised through a clampdown on tax avoidance, a “Robin Hood” tax on financial transactions and a raid on corporate tax reliefs. While a new fatcat tax on firms paying yearly salaries of more than £330,000, including football clubs, would raise £1.3billion. Elsewhere, Tory cuts to inheritance tax for the rich would be reversed and private school fees hit with a 20% VAT charge, raising £1.6billion yearly. Mr Corbyn said: “I’m confident that once the people of this country get the chance to look at the promises, they will decide Britain has indeed been held back by the Conservative Government.” But last night the Tories released a hastily compiled dossier which they claimed revealed a £58billion black hole in the spending plans. Chancellor Philip Hammond said: “Jeremy Corbyn’s numbers simply don’t add up, and he can’t be trusted to run the economy.” The biggest-ticket item on Labour’s list is ending university tuition fees and restoring grants,