Few policies, but a blizzard of ‘reviews’
...and manifesto still made room for 33 photos of its leader
LABOUR unveiled its manifesto for ‘change’ yesterday – but provided scant detail about how it would achieve its aims.
Sir Keir Starmer’s blueprint was criticised as a ‘plan for a plan’ which promises a ‘dizzying number of reviews and strategies’.
The Tories said that despite Labour stating ‘the time for reviews is over’, it announced 16 new reviews in its manifesto, bringing the total number of audits the party has called for in recent years to a staggering 103.
Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said: ‘This is a manifesto that promises a dizzying number of reviews and strategies to tackle some of the challenges facing the country.
‘That is better than a shopping list of half-baked policy announcements. But delivering genuine change will almost certainly also require putting actual
‘A dizzying number of reviews’
resources on the table.’ Meanwhile, charity Age UK said Labour’s social care pledges amounted to ‘a plan for a plan’ as it called for care workers to be paid more fairly. And Kate Dove, chairman of Momentum which was set up to campaign for Jeremy Corbyn, said its vows ‘fall short of what is needed to fix the Tories’ broken Britain’.
The 131-page document – which contained some 33 pictures of Sir Keir – contains pledges on the economy, the NHS, immigration, crime, education, Lords reform, the environment, housing and transport. On the economy, the party ruled out hiking income tax, national insurance and VAT and vowed to cap corporation tax at 25 per cent. But it did not rule out council tax revaluation, raids on capital gains tax or unfreezing fuel duty. It plans to raise £7billion from tax and has committed to charging VAT on private school fees and abolishing the non-dom tax status.
On health, it promises to cut waiting lists with an extra 40,000 NHS appointments a week.
An extra 8,500 mental health staff will be recruited, funding increased for scanners and plans introduced to recruit new dentists. The party will also create Great British Energy, a stateowned clean power firm, funded by a windfall tax on oil and gas companies. It will invest in upgrades to five million homes to cut bills, and in grants and loans to homeowners.
Labour has also pledged to build an extra 1.5million new homes and bring back the 2030 deadline for a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles. It has also vowed to fix a million potholes a year. Taking rail contracts back into public ownership is another pledge.
Sir Keir also set out plans to recruit 6,500 teachers and aims to guarantee that all 18- to 21year-olds have training, apprenticeships or help to find work.
The manifesto commits the party to boost defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP when economic circumstances allow. Labour will also back Ukraine against Russia and support recognising a Palestinian state.
Elsewhere, the party pledges to bring forward legislation to abolish hereditary peers and seek justice for victims of infected blood.