City may get first look at manifesto
Policies said to include nationalised rail and post
Labour is expected to launch its General Election manifesto next week, possibly in Bradford, after the party agreed the final text hours after a draft was leaked to the media.
Jeremy Corbyn announced in London that the document – said to call for nationalisation of railways and mail services – had been unanimously agreed.
LABOUR IS expected to launch its General Election manifesto next week after the party agreed the final text hours after a comprehensive draft was leaked to the media.
Jeremy Corbyn emerged from the meeting in London insisting the amended document had been unanimously agreed.
Bradford is among the locations being considered for the launch of the document.
Mr Corbyn predicted the policies would prove “very popular” and said they amounted to “an offer that will transform the lives of many people in our society and ensure that we have a government in Britain on June 8 that will work for the many, not the few, and give everyone in our society a decent opportunity and a decent chance, so nobody is ignored, nobody is forgotten and nobody is left behind”.
The version of the manifesto leaked to the media included commitments to bringing Royal Mail back into national ownership and extending the HS2 rail line from Yorkshire to Scotland.
It promised a “presumption of devolution” that would see powers returning from Brussels after Brexit handed to regions rather than Westminster and a commitment that areas would not have to agree to having metro-mayors as a condition of taking more control over their own affairs.
The draft also contained previous promises including a ban on fracking and maintaining the economic funding Yorkshire currently receives from Brussels after Britain leaves the EU.
But the document threatened to re-open the row over Labour’s position on Europe by suggesting that “‘no deal’ is the worst possible deal for Britain” and the party would “reject ‘no deal’”.
The wording suggests a Labour government could decide Britain should remain in Europe in the event no deal with Brussels could be reached.
Earlier this week, Mr Corbyn insisted the Brexit question “is settled” but was later reluctant to agree the UK would definitely be leaving.
The draft document split opinion among Labour candidates with one telling The Yorkshire Post policies such as renationalising the railways would prove popular with voters angry that the East Coast rail franchise, which had been profitable during a period of public ownership, was privatised under the Coalition.
But others feared the scale and costs of the proposals could play into Conservative hands. One said: “There are few things that will convince those we failed to convince last time.”
The draft left Labour facing questions over how it will pay for the commitments. It included previously announced plans to raise corporation tax and proposed an “excessive pay levy” on companies with “high numbers” of staff paid above a certain threshold.
In an email to Conservative supporters, Chancellor Philip Hammond said: “Labour’s leaked manifesto makes it clear: while Theresa May wants to take our country forwards, Jeremy Corbyn wants to drag us backwards.
“The stakes at this election just got higher.” Comment: Page 14.