UK General election 2019: Labour launches ‘radical’ manifesto

Labour has launched its general election manifesto, promising to “transform” the UK and to renationalise rail, mail, water and energy.

Leader Jeremy Corbyn also vowed, “a green transformation” of the economy, aiming to get the UK “on track” for a net-zero carbon system by the 2030s.

The manifesto sets out plans for a windfall tax on oil firms and scrapping rises in the state pension age.

Mr Corbyn said his offer to voters was “radical” and would mean “real change”.

On Brexit, Labour says it wants to renegotiate a new Brexit deal, incorporating a close relationship with the EU, which would then be put to a “legally binding” referendum.

On Scottish independence, the party says it would not grant permission for a referendum on the issue “in the early years” of a Labour government.

Economist Dharshini David said Labour’s manifesto pledges would add £83bn to annual government spending by 2024.

The party said this would be paid for by tax increases on higher earners and reversing corporation tax cuts.

What is in the Labour manifesto?

– £75bn to build 150,000 new council and social homes a year, within five years
– Introducing a “real living wage” of at least £10 an hour
– Reviewing the retirement age for people in hard manual jobs
– Introducing a second homes tax
– Reversing inheritance tax cuts and imposing VAT on private school fees
– Giving EU nationals living in the UK the automatic right to stay
– Reinstating 3,000 bus routes that have been cut
– Free broadband for all, delivered by part-nationalising BT
– A £3bn plan to offer adults in England free access to retraining
– A pledge to reduce all primary school classes to fewer than 30 children
– An increase in the length of statutory maternity pay from nine months to a year
– Free personal at-home care in England for over-65s most in need of it
– A pledge to renew the Trident nuclear deterrent and spend at least 2% of GDP on defence
– Reducing the voting age to 16.

Speaking at Birmingham City University, Mr Corbyn insisted Labour’s policies were fully costed and “popular”.

But there has been internal controversy over the idea of a one-off tax on oil companies, with some trade union officials fearing it would damage Scotland’s North Sea Oil industry.

Mr Corbyn is promising to set up a £250bn Green Transformation Fund – to be paid for through borrowing – to fund 300,000 new “green apprenticeships” and loans for people to buy electric cars.

In September, Labour’s annual conference passed a motion urging the party to commit to making the UK carbon neutral by 2030 – matching the Green Party’s key general election pledge.

But in its manifesto, the Labour is instead promising to “achieve the substantial majority of our emissions reductions by 2030 in a way that is evidence-based”.

The watering-down follows complaints from trade unions and others in the Labour movement who feared the pledge would be impossible to meet.