Saturday, May 20, 2017

Mortimer, Caroline. “Leaked Labour manifesto: All the key Corbyn policies in the draft document” ‘Forty-three page report says the party would nationalise the railways and pump cash into the NHS’ (11 May 2017) Independent.




  Britain's Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn poses for a picture with his campaign bus in Manchester EPA

  Labour's election manifesto has been leaked five days ahead of schedule.
  Right-wing newspapers have dubbed the proposals as Jeremy Corbyn's bid to "take Britain back to the 1970s", but what is actually inside the 43-page docuemnt?

  Nationalisation
  One of the core pitches which was widely expected to make the list is the proposed renationalisation of the railways, bus firms, the Royal Mail and the energy industry.

  Read more

  Mr Corbyn and people on the radical left of the party have long called for the return of British Rail but the proposal has gained popularity among the general public in recent years as rail fares continue to go up while cancellations and delays continue.
  Southern Rail customers, who have suffered months of misery due to cancellations, delays and strike action, were recently told the boss of its parent company, Charles Horton, was awarded a £500,000 bonus in April despite the company losing close to £15m
  Labour would also nationalise the energy sector to combat price rises at a time when the cost of commodities is falling. The move will go further than the energy price freeze promised by Ed Miliband in 2015 which was then adopted by Theresa May.

  NHS
  Labour has said the NHS will be "properly funded" with an extra £6bn-a-year raised by a tax on the nation's highest earners, which will alleviate pressure on doctors and nurses working in UK hospitals.
  It has vowed to take millions off waiting lists and boost support for the equally under-pressure GP and ambulance services.
  The party has also vowed to scrap the Health and Social Care Act 2012 which allowed more privatisation into the NHS.
  It will also invest a further £8bn a year over the course of the Parliament to create a National Care Service which will embody the values of the NHS.

  Education
  The rise during the Coalition government was a reason for the collapse of Liberal Democrat support at the 2015 election, as they had pledged to oppose all tuition fee rises.
  The policy is expected to cost around £10bn and it is hoped will attract younger voters to the party.
  Mr Corbyn has also vowed to reverse £5bn of Tory school cuts. 

  Housing
  Mr Corbyn has proposed the creation of a new Department of Housing and forcing councils to build 100,000 new council houses a year. 
  He will also see that thousands of homes will be offered to rough sleepers and private landlords will not be able to raise rent above inflation.

  Work
  The party proposes reintroducing the Ministry of Labour – which was renamed the Department of Employment in the late 1960s – and promises to make the biggest changes to workers' rights in a generation.
It will also scrap Tory plans to increase the pension age to 66, and will retain the laws on workers' rights which have been passed down from EU directives.
  They will also repeal the Trade Union Act 2016 which severely hampered the unions' ability to call strikes.

  Brexit
  Labour says it will continue with Brexit but it rules out "making false promises on immigration numbers".

  Mr Corbyn will immediately secure the rights of the EU nationals who are already living here and scrap minimum income rules for the partners of non-EU migrants. 
  The manifesto said leaving the EU without a deal in place was the "worst possible" option and would damage the economy. It said Labour will formally reject the idea of no deal as "viable". 
It has also promised a "meaningful vote" on the deal in Parliament.

  Policing and Infrastructure
  As Diane Abbott struggled to announce last week, Labour will introduce 10,000 new police officers on the UK's streets. 
  The manifesto also promises to start a £250bn capital investment programme to upgrade British infrastructure.

  Taxation
  On the thorny issue of how the party plans to pay for the new spending, Labour has the rich firmly in its sights.
There will be new income taxes slapped on workers earning more than £80,000 a year – which the party says will bring in an extra £6bn a year which they will put directly into the NHS.
  They also promise to reverse the huge cuts to corporation tax introduced by the Conservatives – bringing in an extra £20bn a year.

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