Labour manifesto 2017: Jeremy Corbyn's key policies

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has called his party's manifesto for the general election a "programme of hope".

Launching the proposals in Bradford, under the tagline: "For the many, not the few", he told voters: "Whatever your age or situation, people are under pressure, struggling to make ends meet. Our manifesto is for you."

Key policies include income tax rises for the richest five per cent of high earners, scrapping university tuition fees and the nationalising of water and energy companies, the rail network and Royal Mail.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

It had all been fully costed through extra tax revenue, including a crackdown on tax avoidance, said the party leader.

Labour's policy document has been called "the most radical manifesto we have seen for many years".

Here is what it promises:

Economy

Labour has proposed investing £250bn in the economy over the next decade.

Their National Transformation Fund - based on capital borrowing - will finance improvements in rail infrastructure, renewable energy supplies, the building of more than a million homes and an extensive renationalisation programme of the rail network, energy and water companies and Royal Mail. Tax hikes for the top five per cent of earners and corporations will bring in an extra £48.6bn.

Tax

The 45p income tax threshold will be lowered from £150,000 to £80,000 and a separate 50p band will be reintroduced for earnings in excess of £123,000. VAT and national insurance contributions will not be increased, but VAT will be introduced on private school fees. Tory cuts to inheritance tax will be reversed, taking the threshold from £500,000 back to £325,000. Labour has also pledged to crackdown on tax avoidance and close tax loopholes.

Business and employment

Corporation tax will increase from 21 to 26 per cent and executives will be subject to a "fat cat" levy for earnings exceeding £330,000. However, the lower rate for small businesses will be reinstated. Zero-hour contracts and unpaid internships will be banned and the minimum wage will rise to at least £10 per hour by 2020. Statutory bereavement leave will be launched and the public sector pay cap scrapped. There will also be four additional public holidays each year. In addition, Labour has vowed to "clamp down on bogus self-employment", shifting the burden of proof so every worker is considered an employee unless employers prove otherwise.

Families

Statutory maternity pay will increase to 12 months and paternity leave will double to four months, along with an increase in pay. There will be an extension of 30 hours of free childcare to all children aged two.

Housing

Labour has pledged to build more than a million new homes, creating 100,000 council and housing association homes every year. Locals will be given "first dibs" on homes built in their area. The party promises to ban letting agency fees and rent increases will be capped at inflation. An additional 4,000 homes will be made available for rough sleepers. Energy bills will be capped to stop household costs rising above £1,000 a year.

Healthcare

The NHS will receive more than £30bn (£6bn a year) in extra funding, funded by the income tax hike and by increasing tax on private medical insurance. Waiting lists will be reduced by a million people by guaranteeing treatment within 18 weeks and A&E treatment will be guaranteed within four hours. Hospital car park fees will be scrapped and mental health budgets ring-fenced. Social care will receive a further £8bn and carer's allowance will increase to the rate of jobseekers' allowance.

Education

University tuition fees will be abolished and maintenance grants reintroduced, with additional funding for further education, together with a doubling of apprenticeships by 2022 and free adult learning classes, including English language classes. All primary school pupils will receive free school meals and class sizes will be reduced to "less than 30" for five, six and seven-year-olds.

Brexit and Immigration

Labour has vowed to guarantee the existing rights of all EU nationals living in the UK, to prevent a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and to retain EU-derived laws on workers’ rights, consumer rights and environmental protections upon exiting the union. Saying it believes in the "reasonable management of migration", it adds that targets are "bogus" and it will not make "false promises".

Security and defence

An additional 10,000 police officers, 500 border guards, 3,000 prison officers and 3,000 firefighters will be recruited and Labour will reverse privatisation of the prison service and give all prisoners a personal rehabilitation plan. It will also support the renewal of Trident, while stating its intention to work with international partners to "create a nuclear-free world". Labour backs a diplomatic resolution to the war in Syria, a two-state solution to securing peace between Israel and Palestine, and a UN-backed investigation into the alleged breaches of international humanitarian law by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.

Benefits and pensions

Labour will reverse the cuts to disability benefits, reinstate housing benefit for under 21s, and scrap the "bedroom tax". Pensioners largely have their rights protected, with the triple-lock on pensions, winter fuel allowance and free bus passes all being retained. Tory plans to increase the state pension age beyond 66 from 2020 will be thrown out and pensions of UK citizens living overseas in the EU will be protected.

Government

Labour is opposed to a second Scottish independence referendum. It has pledged to create national investment banks for both Scotland and Wales, giving the countries £20bn and £10bn respectively to invest in local projects and stimulate their economies. On a local government level, authorities will receive an increase in next year's funding and current cuts will end in order "to support the provision of libraries, museums and galleries". The Freedom of Information Act will be extended to all firms running public services.

Extras

Labour will start rail electrification and expansion across the country, including extending the high speed rail link HS2 to Scotland, and the potential for public-run bus services beyond London. Super-fast broadband internet will be in every home by 2022 and free public wifi in city centres and on public transport. A Post Office-owned bank will be created in every community.