And here’s what his other policies will cost taxpayers

INCREASE MINIMUM WAGE TO £10 AN HOUR FOR ALL

POLICY: Raise the National Living Wage (NLW) to £10 an hour for all workers aged 16 or older.

RESULT: The NLW is currently £4.35 an hour for workers under 18 and £8.21 an hour for the over-25s. Young workers could therefore see their incomes double. LABOUR’S COSTINGS: No figures supplied. TRUE COST: In the private sector, employers would have to pay – with the risk that they would shed jobs to balance the books. In the public sector, taxpayers would fund the measure. The Living Wage Foundation estimates that there are 1.2million public sector workers earning less than £10.55 an hour in London and £9 an hour outside the capital. If these workers, working 40 hours per week, were given an extra £1 an hour,

it would cost taxpayers £2.5billion per year. RENATIONALISE ROYAL MAIL

POLICY: Reverse the privatisation of Royal Mail ‘at the earliest opportunity’.

RESULT: Labour says this would ‘benefit consumers, ensuring that their interests are put first’ while also increasing ‘ democratic accountability’. LABOUR’S COSTINGS: None in the 2017 manifesto. [Shadow Chancellor] John McDonnell argues that shares could be exchanged for government bonds rather than bought outright. TRUE COST: Royal Mail shares are now worth

two-thirds of sale value when the service was privatised in 2013. Buying back shares at current prices would cost £2.34billion, while converting the shares to bonds would add debt to the Government’s books. SCRAP TUITION FEES

POLICY: Scrap university tuition fees and restore maintenance grants to cover living costs for poor students.

RESULT: The industry body Universities UK warns the move could reduce the number of courses. Better-off students would disproportionately benefit as they are more likely to attend university.

LABOUR’S COSTINGS: £11.2billion per year, funded by increasing corporation tax to 26 per cent.

TRUE COST: Some experts believe that raising corporation tax will reduce the overall tax-take by forcing large British companies to relocate. RENATIONALISE WATER FIRMS

POLICY: ‘Replace our dysfunctional water system with a network of regional publiclyowned water companies’.

RESULT: Labour claim householders would save £220 a year as it reverses the 40 per cent real-terms rise in water bills since the industry was privatised in 1989. Yet the main reason bills have risen is not corporate greed but the £140billion invested by water companies in infrastructure.

LABOUR’S COSTING: £14billion, according to Mr McDonnell. Labour’s 2017 election manifesto, however, claimed the move would have no net cost because shares would be converted into bonds.

TRUE COST: £69billion, as calculated by watchdog Ofgem, if shareholders are compensated for the value of their assets – or up to £100billion if they are given the full market value. In addition, taxpayers would fund future investment.