Labour Party manifesto policies: Jeremy Corbyn vows 5% public sector pay-hike for millions of workers

Jeremy Corbyn today unveiled the most Left-wing election manifesto since 1983, including handing new powers to unions, pay rises for millions of public sector workers and nationalising rail and other industries.

The Labour leader promised a spending spree costing at least £400 billion which would be funded through at least £83 billion of new taxes, particularly on the wealthy and businesses, as well as a windfall levy on oil companies and huge hikes in borrowing.

Mr Corbyn was hoping his manifesto would be a game changer, with just three weeks to go to election day, as an exclusive poll for the Evening Standard by Ipsos MORI reveals the Conservatives a full 16 points ahead of Labour .

Voters currently divide: Conservatives, 44 per cent (up three points since last month), Labour, 28 per cent (up four), Liberal Democrat, 16 (down four), Brexit Party, three per cent (down four) and Green Party, three (unchanged), after allowing for seats where the Brexit Party is not standing.

In an exclusive interview with ES magazine, Mr Corbyn also spoke about possibly moving into 10 Downing Street as prime minister.

He revealed wife Laura Alvarez is “very interested in the idea”, but he is worried about how his cat, El Gato, would fare. Labour’s manifesto in 2017 was credited with boosting Mr Corbyn in the polls and today one of the most eye-catching announcements was a five per cent pay rise from next April for millions of public sector workers, alongside the “biggest extension of workers’ rights in history”.

However, doubts remained over whether Mr Corbyn’s plans were affordable, deliverable and whether they would instead damage the economy and choke off funding for public services. Given Labour’s reputation on the economy, shadow chancellor John McDonnell published a 44-page booklet setting out costings for what Mr Corbyn called the “most radical and ambitious plan to transform our country in decades”.

Launching the party’s manifesto in Birmingham, the Labour leader said: “The future is ours to make, together. Vote for this manifesto of hope. It’s time for real change.”

Labour said the initial pay increase would mean a newly qualified teacher would get a pay rise of £1,219; a newly qualified nurse, £1,211; police constable, £1,958; starting junior doctor, £1,384; mid-level firefighter, £1,557; army sergeant, £1,758. The average public sector worker would receive £1,643 more.

Inflation-busting pay increases would follow in coming years, it added.

The list of tax increases included: an income tax rise for people earning more than £80,000; corporation tax going up to 26 per cent (21 per cent for small profits rate); taxing capital gains at income tax rates; a financial transaction tax; clamping down on tax dodging; a review of corporate tax relief; reforming research and development funding; reversing cuts to inheritance tax and the bank levy; VAT on private schools; scrapping married persons allowance; and a second homes tax.

All these measures were estimated to raise £82.9 billion by 2023/24, though Mr Corbyn said there would be “no tax increases for 95 per cent of taxpayers”.The oil and gas levy could raise £11 billion, according to some estimates.

Potentially even more alarming for bosses were plans to hand a swathe of beefed-up powers to unions, to roll out collective sectoral bargaining across the economy, which would mean legal minimum standards on pay and hours to be enforced through a new Ministry of Employment Rights.

Trade unions were quick to celebrate the manifesto. Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: “This is a fantastic offer from Labour to the electorate.”

Other headline promises include a real living wage of at least £10 an hour for workers aged 16 or over, repeal of “anti-trade union” legislation, cutting the working week to 32 hours within a decade, four new bank holidays, and banning zero-hours contracts.

In further victories for the unions, private sector delivery of NHS services would be ended and councils would be allowed to “take public ownership of bus networks”. In a combative speech Mr Corbyn said he “welcomes the hatred” of billionaires and stressed the manifesto contained “popular policies that the political establishment has blocked for a generation”. Other pledges include:

• £26 billion more for the NHS.

• Building 100,000 council homes a year by the end of the Parliament and at least 50,000 additional “genuinely affordable” homes a year through housing associations.

• Renationalisation of the railways, and public ownership of water, energy and Royal Mail. It claimed renationalisation moves would be “fiscally neutral”, which raised eyebrows.

• Scrapping tuition fees for existing students but a lack of detail of how outstanding student debt would be addressed.

• Free fast fibre-optic broadband for all homes and businesses.

• A second referendum on Brexit, with the choice being between a newly negotiated deal and Remain.

• Within five years all two to four-year-olds would be entitled to 30 hours of free pre-school education a week.

• Capping rent increases and ending homelessness.

The thorny issue of unrestricted EU free movement is left unresolved in the manifesto. It would stay if Britain remains in the EU, but if Brexit takes place it would be “subject to negotiations”. Labour would aim to end sales of combustion engine vehicles by 2030, a decade earlier than government plans.

• Ipsos MORI interviewed 1,228 adults across GB by telephone, from November 15-19. Data are weighted. Details from www.ipsos-mori.com