The Labour Party have released their manifesto for the upcoming July election.
This is a light summary of said manifesto, with the most important parts included.
Workers, Transport and The Economy
- Set up Great British Energy, a publically owned clean power company
- Clean power by 2030
- Closed loopholes on windfall tax
- Reduce energy bills
- £500m per year from 2026 for energy jobs
- End tax loopholes
- Strength HMRC’s powers
- Introduce legislation to protect workers, including banning zero hour contracts and fire and rehire policies
- A National Wealth Fund of £7.3bn to improve industry
- Cap Corporation Tax at 25%
- Investment in 5G
- Great British Railways, a nationalised system
- Strengthen the Post Office network
- Race Equality Act for equal pay for minorities
Labour want to spend more through £8.6bn of new taxes. They are usually considered the party of spending and high taxes, though they criticise the high tax burden under the Conservatives. Their primary goal here is nationalisation of energy and the railways.
Children and Young People
- 6,500 new teachers in key subjects
- Additional 3,000 nurseries
- Free breakfast clubs for every primary school
- Mental health professional in every school
- Establish a youth guarantee of access to training, apprenticeship and support for 18-21 y/o
Labour have put a lot of focus on children, perhaps as a ploy to encourage parents to vote for them. They seem to also have a focus on early years.
Immigration and Security
- A new Border Security Command to stop boat smugglers
- Reform the asylum system
- Hire additional caseworkers to end the asylum backlog
- Reform the points-based system
- End the Rwanda scheme
- Update the rules on counterterrorism
- Climate leadership
- Launch a Strategic Defence Review
- Restoring international development spending to 0.7% of GDP
The Tories are traditionally seen as the stricter party on immigration, and Labour more relaxed. Labour seem to want to show themselves as being capable of immigration restriction, something that that lost when Tony Blair came to power. They are also seen as less sound on defence.
NHS and Communities
- 40,000 more NHS appointments per week, including evenings and weekends
- Double the number of cancer scanners
- Create a Community Pharmacist Prescribing Service
- Provide more than 700,000 urgent dental appointments
- More neighbourhood patrols, new penalties for offenders and more youth hubs
- All young people found with a knife will be referred to a Youth Offending Team
- Youth workers in A&E and Pupil Referral Units
- New protections for victims of crime and antisocial behaviour
The Labour Party are traditionally seen as better on NHS and education. They are promising more community-based NHS services and to end the huge backlog, which has increased. Regarding crime, they are focusing on young people, with emphasis on preventative and rehabilitative measures.
Civil Service and Government
- Votes at 16
- Appoint a fixed term Covid Corruption Commissioner
- Remove the right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords
- Mandatory retirement age of 80 for members of the Lords
- Strengthen devolution
Labour’s flagship plan of votes at 16, something that some of the smaller parties have also suggested, has been controversial. The party also seeks to modernise the House of Lords.
Housing
- Planning reform to build 1.5m new homes
- Fast tracking approval for building on brownfield development
- Large increase in social house building
Housing, as I stated in the Conservative Manifesto piece, is a huge issue in the country. Labour is seeking to best the Tories by building more new homes. Like their rivals, they also wish to fast track approval for building on brownfield sites.
If you want to punish yourself like I do, you can read the full manifesto here.