Our radical plans are a manifesto of hope, says Corbyn
JEREMY CORBYN promised to radically expand public spending and state ownership if it wins the election as he unveiled Labour’s manifesto yesterday.
The leader said a Labour government would nationalise Britain’s railways, energy utilities and postal system, as well as cap rents, raise the minimum wage and abolish university tuition fees as part of what he called a ‘manifesto of hope’.
The ambitious plans are an attempt to shift the focus of the campaign from Britain’s stalled departure from the EU and on to the country’s social fabric, frayed after a decade of austerity measures under Conservative-led governments.
‘Yes, it is a radical manifesto,’ Mr Corbyn said during the launch at Birmingham City University. ‘But when you travel around this country and you talk to people, radical answers are what’s necessary.’
Mr Corbyn said the manifesto was ‘fully costed’ with ‘ no increases in VAT or income tax or National Insurance for anyone earning less than £80,000’, or as he put it, ‘95 per cent of taxpayers’.
He promised to build 150,000 new public housing units a year and to create hundreds of thousands of ‘green jobs’ to combat climate change by expanding renewable energy and cutting emissions.
The party also says it will partprivatise BT and bring free broadband to every home and business.
Meanwhile, the NHS would see a 4.3 per cent increase in its expenditure every year, with privatisation reversed. Free annual dental checkups would be reintroduced, mental health services would receive £1.6billion extra a year and free personal care for elderly people would be on offer. There would also be a five per cent pay rise for public sector workers from April.
The policies would be funded by raising taxes on the wealthy, including a higher corporation tax, a windfall tax on oil and gas companies and an income tax increase for those earning £80,000 or more.
And Mr Corbyn said he would negotiate a better deal on Brexit, with a referendum on whether to Leave or Remain within six months.
However, Paul Johnson, of the Institute for Fiscal Studies thinktank, said the idea the ‘colossal’ promises could be paid for without taxing most workers was ‘simply not credible’.