British Labour Party’s radical election manifesto sets out plan for ₤11bn tax grab on oil revenue

The UK’s Labour Party set out its election manifesto on Thursday and promised a socialist dream of free housing, more health care and universal broadband.

It is one of the most radical plans to introduce state control of the country’s economy in almost four decades.

The party proposes a £11 billion (Dh52.14bn) tax grab on oil revenue, casting a shadow over the UK’s oil industry.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said a radical transformation was necessary for the state to be able to provide for those who were worst-off in British society.

“This is a manifesto of hope. A manifesto that will bring real change. A manifesto full of popular policies that the political establishment has blocked for a generation,” Mr Corbyn told a raucous crowd in Birmingham.

The UK’s general election will be held on December 12.

By taxing the country’s highest earners and increasing borrowing, Labour says it will invest in the UK’s National Health Service and make changes to affordable housing, including building 100,000 new council houses a year by 2024.

Under Mr Corbyn’s plan, corporation tax would rise in increments to 21 per cent next year, 24 per cent in 2021 and 26 per cent in 2022.

The manifesto showed Labour also planned to charge VAT on private school fees.

Mr Corbyn said the policies were fully costed and tax increases would not affect 95 per cent of taxpayers.

“They know we will go after the tax dodgers, the bad bosses and the big polluters so that everybody in our country gets a fair chance in life,” he said.

He said he wanted a “green industrial revolution” to tackle the global climate crisis.

The head of the British Chambers of Commerce, Adam Marshall, said companies would welcome plans to upgrade infrastructure, as well a more open approach to migration.

“But command and control isn’t the way,” Mr Marshall said. “Excessive intervention in business governance and sweeping tax rises would suppress innovation and smother growth.”

The Institute of Directors said the manifesto did not give enough incentives to drive investment.

“Many directors will have reservations that … plans for the economy could crowd out rather than crowd in private enterprise,” said Edwin Morgan, director of policy at the institute.

Mr Corbyn also pledged to nationalise critical industries such as water, railways, energy utilities and the postal service. He also wants UK-wide access to free, full-fibre broadband.

This is a manifesto of hope ... full of popular policies that the political establishment has blocked for a generation JEREMY CORBYN Labour leader