Labour released their manifesto on 21st November, the party being one of the three major national contenders in the 2019 General Election and in this post I will be highlighting some of their major pledges and promises in the manifesto, so there will be other things that can be found in their manifesto that I will not have included in this blogpost.
Currently Labour has held a solid second place but appear to be struggling to close the gap against the Conservatives with their being on average a 10-12 point gap between the Conservatives and them, another problem for Labour, as well as the Liberal Democrats, was the BREXIT Party’s decision to pull out of all of the 2017 Conservative-held seats in the upcoming election, which will make it harder for Labour to pick up Conservative seats, as well as that the BREXIT Party pose a threat to Labour in a number of their own seats, from Labour leave voters who would vote BREXIT Party rather than going over to the Tories, splitting the vote and possibly allowing Conservatives to slip into a number of their seats.
Right now, polls have Labour anywhere from 25-33% with it averaging out at about 30%. They have made some steady movement upwards since the election was called, but unfortunately for Labour, the Conservatives have also made gains in polls, although much of it is likely vote stacking in current Conservatives seats from the BREXIT Party dropping out, but other polls, a number in Labour leave seats in the North and Midlands, show Conservatives threatening Labour. Currently Labour peak seems to be around 32% with little change over the week, supporters are hoping that the party’s manifesto may give them the boost they need, although recent polls are not looking convincing in getting the boost they had in 2017.
Labour did not opt for any pacts in the General Election.
BREXIT
On BREXIT, Labour want to negotiate a new BREXIT Deal and then put it to the public in a new referendum alongside a Remain option, so there would be the choice between Labour’s Deal or Remain, Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, has said he would remain neutral in the referendum, not campaigning for either side.
Labour has said they would obtain a sensible BREXIT deal within 3-months and would put it to a public vote within 6-months alongside an option to remain, and commit to implementing whatever the public votes for and that the referendum would be legally-binding. A no-deal BREXIT has been entirely ruled out by the party if it were to come to power.
Labour says that Boris Johnson’s BREXIT Deal would be scrapped and Labour would negotiate a new one which includes a protection for jobs, rights and the environment. They say their deal would avoid a hard-border in N. Ireland and would protect the Good Friday Agreement.
Furthermore, Labour’s deal would include a UK-wide customs union to protect the manufacturing industry and allow the UK to benefit from joint UK-EU trade deals. They would also ensure close alignment to the Single Market to ensure a strong economic relationship. The deal would also ensure continued participation in EU agencies and funding programmes such as for the environment, scientific research and culture as well as security commitments by keeping access to the European Arrest Warrant and shared databases.
Labour will also grant EU nationals the right to continue living and working in the UK.
Environmental
Similar to the Green Party, Labour have named their environmental approach a “Green New Deal” which is a title popular with environmental activists as well as more generally people on the left of the political divide, specifically when that wording is used and so it isn’t much of a surprise that Labour has chosen to also use this popular title.
First of all, Labour have said that they would bring together investment through a coordination of the Chancellor, Business Secretary and Bank of England Governor through a new Sustainable Investment Board that also cooperates with Trade Unions and Businesses and the Office for Budget Responsibility would also incorporate Climate and Environmental impacts into its forecasts and highlight the cost of inaction.
Labour will launch a £400bn National Transformation Fund and also reform rules of Treasury investment to guarantee that money spent goes along with Labour’s climate and environmental guidelines/goals. Of that, Labour would put £250bn into a Green Transformation Fund which the party would use to install renewable & low-carbon energy, transport, biodiversity and other environmental restoration. Labour would also work on the financial sector, including bank lending to promote investment that helps to tackle the climate emergency rather than fueling the problem.
Large companies that fail to follow criteria on tackling the climate crisis would face delisting from the London Stock Exchange.
Labour’s aim is for net-zero carbon in the UK by 2030, with an aim of 90% of electricity and 50% of heat from renewables and low-carbon sources by that time. Labour has a separate goal of net-zero carbon food production by 2040.
To reach the above goal the party aims to build 7,000 new offshore wind turbines, 2,000 new onshore wind turbines, installation of solar panels covering the area equivalent of 22,000 football pitches and creating new nuclear power for further energy security. The party would also trial and expand tidal energy.
In one of Labour’s more ambitious pledges, they say they plan to upgrade almost all of the UK’s 27 million homes to the highest energy-efficiency standards which Labour says would also save households on average £417 a year on bills by 2030 and also end fuel poverty. Labour says all new homes built would be to a zero-carbon standard. For heat decarbonization, Labour will aim to roll out technologies such as heat pumps, solar hot water and hydrogen, as well as investing in district heat networks using waste heat. Labour has also pledged to immediately and permanently ban fracking.
For workers whose jobs are affected by the green changes, Labour will support them with retraining and a new unionized job which would be on equivalent terms and conditions.
Furthermore, Labour has pledged a new Windfall Tax on companies, such as oil and gas, that knowingly damage the environment to help cover the costs.
The party also plans a Green Industrial Revolution starting by setting a target of 3% of GDP being spent on research and development by 2030, with a focus on newer technologies such as hydrogen and carbon capture and storage. They will also instruct the Climate Change Committee to assess emissions of imports and recommend policies to tackle them. They also want to strongly support the steel industry and automobile sector in the changes to come, establishing a Foundation Industries Sector Council to manage clean and long-term future for existing industries such as steel and glass. Further changes to steel industry include public procurement including taking action on industrial energy prices, exempting new capital on business rates.
Labour also plans to build three new steel recycling plants as well as upgrading existing sites. In Labour’s supported boost to innovation, specifically on new green technologies, they want to not only develop them for the UK, but also for exporting.
For the automobile industry, Labour would invest in three new gigafactories and four new metal reprocessing plants to help bring them into the electric revolution. When it comes to plastics, the party says it would invest in creating a new plastics remanufacturing industry which would create thousands of new jobs, ending plastic waste exports and polluting of the ocean with plastic, Labour would also back bottle-return schemes.
Labour will increase funding into cycling and walking in towns and cities where walking and cycling are promoted as the best choices and also safe, further on making roads safer, Labour has a focus on Vision Zero, with zero death and injuries. In towns and cities, Labour would invest in building and improving roads and cycle lanes. Labour plans to end the sale of combustion vehicles by 2030, investing in ultra-low emission vehicles, creating an electric vehicle charging infrastructure and electric community car clubs.
For airports, Labour will introduce tests on air quality, noise pollution, climate change obligations and public benefits before allowing expansions.
The party says it will introduce a new Clean Air Act, including a vehicle scrappage scheme and clean air zones, which would comply with the World Health Organizations limits for fine particles and nitrous oxides. £5.6bn will also be spent on flood defenses with areas most at-risk being prioritized. Labour will also set legally binding targets for restoration of species and habitats, including an ambitious tree planting programme, with a pledged to plant 2 billion trees by 2040, with 3 million of those planted within their first term. Labour has pledged to create 10 new National Parks, funded by an additional £75m to the current national parks budget.
Further with animal welfare, Labour will keep its commitment to prohibit fox hunting and would also end the culling of badgers and en the sale of fur. An animal welfare commissioner would be appointed for England and the sale of glue traps and snares would be banned. Labour would also fight internationally to end commercial whaling and would ban the importation of hunting trophies of threatened species.
Business & Infrastructure
Labour have said they would create a National Investment Bank that would be backed up by Regional Development Banks, providing £250bn of lending to things such as enterprise, infrastructure and innovation over the next 10-years and Labour would mandate them to lend in-line with the mission to decarbonize the economy but still ensuring that it creates productivity and good new jobs around the country.
Labour would also set up a Post Bank scheme in Post Offices that would provide smaller loans to fund things such as start-ups, small businesses, local co-operatives and community projects in towns and villages.
Labour also want to decentralize power in England, enabling easier decisions on localized matters such as infrastructure projects and would aim to balance out Investment across the country. Each English region would also have a Local Transformation Fund set up to allow localized decisions on infrastructure projects with devolved governments in Wales, Scotland and N. Ireland also getting Transformation funds. Labour would have Regional Development Banks in England governed by Boards made up of key local stakeholders and would encourage the same to happen in devolved regions. Labour aims for this change to allow local areas to rebuild economies on their own terms.
Tax changes that Labour would enact include reversing some of the cuts to Corporation Tax but keeping rates below 2010 levels. Those who earn more than £80,000 a year would be asked to pay a little more in income tax, while national insurance and income tax rates would be frozen for everyone else. Further, Labour would end the tax on income on wealth being lower than the tax on working income. Labour has also promised no increases in VAT. The party has also promised the biggest ever crackdown on tax avoidance and will also reform the system of tax reliefs.
Digital and Media
Labour has said it will provide free full-fibre broadband to everyone by 2030, this involves establishing British Broadband which will include two arms, British Digital Infrastructure and British Broadband Service, this also involves bringing parts of BT (British Telecoms) into public ownership, and said that the jobs in the parts it takes into ownership will be guaranteed. The British Digital Infrastructure arm will be charged with delivering the remaining 90-92% full-fibre network as well as acquiring needed rights to existing assets, while the British Broadband Service will work towards and coordinate the delivery of free broadband in portions as the full-fibre network is rolled out. Labour says it will begin the roll-out first to community’s worst affected by existing broadband networks.
Labour says to pay for the above it will raise taxes on multinationals, including tech giants. And furthermore on digital, Labour will impose legal duty of care to protect children online including imposing fines on companies that fail to tackle online abuse. The party would also empower the public with a Charter of Digital Rights.
Labour also wants to support arts and creative industries, opening up career opportunities and also address the gender imbalance in the digital creative industries. Part of this involves the introduction of the Arts Pupil Premium for primary schools. Labour will also invest in neglected towns and communities with a £1bn Cultural Capital Fund to transform libraries, museums and galleries.
Labour says it will protect free TV licenses for over-75s and will work to create a free and fair press, including making sure Ofcom can better safeguard a healthy plurality of media ownership and clearer rules on who is fit and proper to own or run TV and radio stations. They will also address the monopoly tech giants hold on advertising revenues. The party will also work with media-sector workers and trade unions to establish an inquiry into “fake news” undermining trust in democracy, media and public debate.
Public Services
Labour has said it would end the presumption on outsourcing for public services and change it into a presumption for insourcing. Labour also plans to take back all PFI Contracts over time, which it says is to stop the public getting ripped off.
Labour says that when services are procured from the private sector, these companies would be assessed, which includes provisions for collective bargaining, fair wage clauses, adherence to environmental standards, effective equality policies, full tax compliance and application of pay ratios. Labour says that they would enforce maximum pay ratios of 20:1 in the public sector.
Labour has pledged a £150bn Social Transformation Fund which will be used to replace, upgrade and expand schools, hospitals, care homes and council houses. Public buildings would also be modernized to reduce their carbon footprint.
Utilities
Labour plans to bring energy and water systems into public ownership with energy and water being treated as rights rather than commodities, surplus would be reinvested to reduce bills. Labour says this would give communities greater control with utilities being run by service-users and workers. The party says public ownership would make it easier to meet zero-emission goals with easier coordinated investment to upgrade the grid while working with unions to support energy workers through transition.
Plans include creating a UK National Energy Agency that owns and maintains the national grid and infrastructure while also over-seeing implementation of decarbonization. Under this there would be 14 Regional Energy Agencies created replacing district network operators and holding responsibilities for decarbonizing electricity and heat while reducing fuel poverty. The big six energy companies would also have their supply arms brought into public ownership. Further, whenever public money is invested into energy generation projects, the public sector would take a stake and return profits to the public.
Education
With Labour’s changes under its Green New Deal and Green Industrial Revolution, they plan to introduce retraining and new apprenticeship schemes to help people move over to new green industry jobs. Labour says the changes would create at least one-million new and well-paying jobs to be filled. Labour would improve The Apprenticeship Levy allowing it to be spent by businesses and employers on a wider range of accredited training. The government would also create a new Climate Apprenticeship programme, enabling employers to develop skills in clean technology. Under this programme employers would be expected to allocate 25% of funds in their Apprenticeship Levy accounts towards training Climate Apprentices. The funds can either be spent directly or allocated to a ringfenced Climate Apprenticeship Fund, topped up from any surplus of Inclusive Ownership Funds, the CAF fund would also be accessible to non-levy paying businesses.
Labour has a goal of largely improving Early Years education by reversing cuts to Sure Start Centres and also introduce Sure Start Plus, and the party has said there will be enough centres to provide a genuine universal service within all communities focusing on children under 2-years of age. Labour has promised radical reform to early years provision, with a two-terms vision of high-quality early years education for all children. In relation to this, Labour has said it will extend paid maternity leave to 12-months. Labour’s 5-years goal is to have all 2, 3 and 4-year olds entitled to free 30 hours of preschool education per week, with additional hours available at affordable, subsidized rates staggered with incomes. Further, Labour will support early years workers with free training to attain expected qualifications for the job.
Labour also aim to recruit 150,000 more early years workers, including Special Educational Needs Coordinators and introduce a national pay scale to drive up pay.
For schools, Labour aim to make them properly resourced by increasing long-term funding and invest to upgrade schools in disrepair. Labour will also ensure qualified teachers, schools being open for full 5-days a week, and keep class sizes to a max of 30 pupils in primary schools.
Labour plans to scrap Keystage 1 and 2 SATs and baseline assessments with assessments being refocused to support pupil progress. An Arts Pupil Premium will be introduced to fund arts education for primary school children. Labour will also review the curriculum to make sure it enriches students and includes topics on things such as black history and continues teaching about the Holocaust. Labour will also make sure the curriculum includes both the science of climate and environmental emergency and the skills needed to deal with it.
Labour plans to bring free schools and academies back under the control of the people, this includes Budget and day-to-day decisions being brought back under the control of schools which would be overseen by an accountable governing body with elected representatives, more educational responsibility and support for young people would be in the hands of local authorities, including managing admissions and power to open new schools. Schools will also be subject to a common rulebook set out in legislation.
Labour has pledged to abolish Ofsted and replace it with a new system. The party also wants to “poverty-proof” schools by introducing free school meals for all primary school pupils, encouraging breakfast clubs and tackling the cost of school uniforms.
The party also wants to close tax-loopholes enjoyed by private schools, so that money can be used to improve the life of all children and Labour will ask the Social Justice Commission to give advice on integrating private schools and creating a comprehensive education system.
For Further Education Labour will expand per-pupil funding on par with keystage 4 to expand provision and the Education Maintenace Allowance will also be brought back. Labour will give free lifelong entitlement to training up to Level 3 and six-years training at Levels 4-6 with maintenance grants for disadvantaged learners. Funding will be restored to English for Speakers of Other Languages courses and the Union Learning Fund will be restored and expanded, allowing workers the right to accure paid time off for education and training. Fragmentation and privatization of further and adult education will be reversed and brought into a single national system of regulation, being a system for education, as the NHS is for health.
For Higher Education tuition fees would be abolished and maintenance grants would be brought back. Research and Teaching Quality will be fundamentally rethought and introduce a new funding formula for higher education that includes all HE institutions having adequate funding for teaching and research, widening access to learning and reversing the decline of part-time learning.
Transport
Labour plans on improving the bus network by taking them into public ownership and allowing councils to more easily improve them, with Labour giving more resources and full legal powers to improve these services. Further under this, Labour would introduce free bus travel for all under-25s. Labour has plans on reinstating at least 3,000 routes that have been cut.
Labour also would take the railways back into public ownership with goals of making fares simpler and more affordable, rebuilding fragmented railways as a nationally integrated public service, cutting wastage of private profit as well as various other improvements for employees and the disabled.
The party says the public ownership of the railways would also enable them to be made greener in a more coordinated capacity, and would deliver rail electrification and expansion across the country. Labour will also focus on reopening branch lines, and the party would continue to invest in delivering Crossrail and HS2 while taking full account of environmental impacts.
Health & Social Care
Labour has said that it will increase expenditure across the health sector by an average of 4.3% a year, investment used to end patient charges, guarantee standards of healthcare, education for the health workforce as well as restoring public health grants. Labour will work towards stabilizing overstretched A&E departments, improving survival rates from strokes, heart disease and cancer by increasing early diagnosis as well as improved screening rates. A moratorium would be called on bed cuts. Free hospital parking would be introduced for patients, staff and visitors.
Labour plans to end and prevent all privatization within the NHS and also repeal the Health and Social Care Act and reinstate the responsibilities of the Secretary of State to provide a comprehensive and universal healthcare system. Labour will complete the confirmed hospital rebuilds and more investment put into primary care settings, modern AI, cyber technology and state-of-the-art medical equipment, which includes more MRI and CT scanners.
Labour says it will also introduce free annual NHS dental health check-ups. Labour will also have a goal of making the NHS net-zero carbon which includes an NHS Forest of one million trees, efficient heating and insulation systems and introducing greater reliance on renewable energy, such as solar panels and a transition of NHS vehicles to electric.
Labour says they will expand GP training places in a goal to provide 27 million appointments each year and ensure that community pharmacy is supported.
On social care Labour will reverse privatization and join-up and coordinate care through public bodies. Labour will invest on improving close-to-home health services and care at home. For mental health Labour will provide an additional £1.6 billion a year to ensure new mental health standards and access to treatments being on par with physical healthcare. Labour will also invest £2bn to modernize hospital facilities and end inappropriate out-of-area placements. The party has also said detaining people with learning disabilities and mental illnesses is outdated and that they would implement the full recommendations of the independent review of the Mental Health Act, giving people choice, autonomy and needed treatment. Provision of 24/7 crisis centres will be ensured.
Labour will also invest £845 million plan to double annual spending for improving mental health services for the young, including establishing a network of open-access mental health hubs and also recruit 3,500 qualified counsellors so that every child has guaranteed access to school counsellors. The party will also have a stronger focus on child healthcare by introducing a Future-Generations Well-being Act, setting targets in health policies, Labour will also invest £1bn in public health as well as recruiting 4,500 health visitors and school nurses. The party will mandate health visits and introduce a mental health assessment in a maternal health check six weeks after birth. There will be investment in child’s oral health.
There will be a focus on combating childhood obesity including extending the sugar tax to milk drinks, banning fast-food places near schools and enforcing stricter rules around the advertising of junk food and the levels of salt in food.
For the health and care service staff, Labour will guarantee real-terms pay rises every year. The party will also put Agenda for Change terms and conditions into law as well as safe staffing limits. Labour will invest, train and develop NHS staff throughout their careers. They would also introduce a training bursary for nurses, midwifes and allied health professionals and Labour would also remove obstacles to ethical international recruitment.
Labour will establish a generic drug company and if fair prices are rejected for patented drugs Labour will use the Patents Act provisions, compulsory licenses and research exemptions to secure access to generic versions. There would also be an aim to increase the number of pharmaceutical jobs in the UK.
Within trade deals, Labour has promised to exclude the NHS, such as the treatment of patients, staff employment and medicine pricing. Labour will progress clinically appropriate prescription for medical cannabis and all prescription charges in England will be abolished.
Labour’s social care plan will focus on independent living and has promised free personal care, beginning with investments to ensure older people have their personal care needs met with a plan on extending this provision to all working-age adults. Labour has promised that no one will face costs of more than £100,000 for the care they need in old age, which they will underscore with a lifetime cap on personal contributions to care costs. Labour will also end 15-minute care visits and provide care workers with paid travel time, access to training and an option to choose regular hours. Labour would also increase the Carer’s Allowance for unpaid full-time carers.
Police, Security, Justice
When it comes to crime, Labour plans to focus on crime prevention and early interventions, including rebuilding youth services and giving young people access to youth workers. Labour will invest in a system where schools, local authorities, health authorities and youth services work together to prevent young people taking a pathway towards crime.
Labour will invest in policing to prevent crime and make communities safer. More police officers, police community support officers and police staff will be recruited including 2,000 more frontline officers than what the Conservatives have promised. Labour will work with police and crime commissioners to allocate funding to help fight the rise in violent crime and cybercrime. Labour also wants to end institutional biases towards blacks, Asians and other minorities.
A Royal Commission will be established to develop a public health approach to substance misuse to focus on harm reduction rather than criminalization.
For security, Labour will make sure counter-terrorism forces work closer with police and security services. Labour will make sure security services abide by human rights. Labour will also review the Prevent and Protect programmes to make sure their effects on communities is fairer and effective. Labour will evaluate mobile phone trials with an aim of introducing an emergency alert system. If the UK votes to leave the EU under Labour, the party will focus on an agreement of a new UK-EU Security Treaty.
For prisons, Labour will restore prison officer levels to 2010 levels and end dangerous lone working. PFI prisons will be brought back in-house and under Labour there will be no new private prisons. The party will tackle the prison maintenance backlog and introduce a long-term estate strategy.
Labour want to replace short prison sentences of six-months or less for non-violent and non-sexual crimes with robust community sentences. Labour will also invest in alternatives to custody such as women’s centres, expansion of problem-solving courts and plugging the funding gap in female offender strategy. The party will also consider evidence of effective alternatives and rehabilitation of prolific offenders.
In the justice system Labour will restore all early legal aid advice for housing, social security and family and immigration cases. Labour plans to recruit hundreds of new community lawyers and build an expanded network of law centres. Labour says they will halt court closures and cuts to staff and will work-towards a more representative judiciary while upholding its independence. Labour will also work to improve justice in case of violence against women and girls by introducing a set of new standards for tackling domestic and sexual abuse and will appoint a Commissioner for Violence Against Women and Girls. An independent review will be launched into low prosecution over rape cases. Labour will also establish a National Refuge Fund to ensure the financial stability of rape crisis centres. A Domestic Abuse Bill will be reintroduced.
Fire & Rescue
Labour has promised to halt cuts and put more investment in fire and rescue services, they also plan to recruit 5,000 new firefighters. Labour has said it will learn lessons from public inquiries into Grenfell and other previous disasters which includes establishing a broad implementation taskforce. Labour has said it will not wait for final recommendations to make urgently needed changes. Labour will also provide resources for a Fire and Rescue College for training, research and planning. Separate governance arrangements will be reinstated for Fire & Rescue service and Police service.
Communities and Local Government
Labour has plans to revive high streets by stopping bank branch closures, banning ATM charges and giving local governments new powers to put empty shops to good use. The party will look into business rates and its impacts on high-street retailers and others and will look into an option of land-value tax on commercial landlords as an alternative. Crown Post Office closures will be stopped and the Royal Mail will be brought back under public ownership. Within Labour’s Post Bank scheme, Business Development Agency will also be based to provide free support and advice on how to launch, manage and grow a business.
Labour will ensure libraries are preserved and will upgrade them with access to Wi-Fi and computers.
Poverty & Inequality
Labour has pledged to make targeted bursaries available to woman, blacks, Asians, other minorities, care leavers, ex-armed forces personnel and people with disabilities to encourage them to do climate apprenticeships, bringing them into the new green future.
Labour has plans to introduce a Right to Food, which includes ensuring everyone has access to healthy, nutritious and sustainably produced food, with a target of halving food bank usage within a year and totally eliminating the need for them within 3-years. A National Food Commission would also be established and Labour would review the Allotments Act. Labour would have it so food security is a reason to intervene in the economy and they would also work with councils to minimize food waste. Further on Agriculture, Labour will re-establish an Agricultural Wages Board in England.
Work and Employment
Labour has said it will eradicate in-work poverty in its first term, tackling things such as low pay and high living costs and rising the floor provided by the social safety net. Labour will cap the total amount that can be paid in overdraft fees or interest on a loan. Labour will introduce a Real Living Wage of at least £10 per hour for workers 16-years and older, savings to public finances will be used to help small business cope.
Labour will also introduce Inclusive Ownership Funds to allow workers to have a stake in large companies they work for, sharing in the profits they help to create. Up to 10% of a company will be owned collectively by employees, dividend payments distributed equally among all, capped at £500 a year, with the rest going to the Climate Apprenticeship Fund. The cap will also rise to ensure that no more than 25% of dividends raised by Inclusive Ownership Funds are redistributed in this way. As well as that, Labour will also pilot Basic Universal Income to combat low pay.
For those who are self-employed Labour will introduce things such as collective income protection insurance schemes, annual income assessments for those on Universal Credit as well as better access to mortgages and pension schemes to increase financial security.
The party has also said it will make the biggest extensions to workers’ rights in history, including giving working people a voice at the Cabinet table by establishing a Ministry for Employment Rights. Labour will also roll out sectoral collective bargaining across the economy to bring workers and employers together to agree legal minimum standards on things such as pay and working hours that every employer in the sector must follow. Zero-Hours Contracts will also be banned.
The party will also task employers with devising plans to eradicate the gender paygap and other pay inequalities such as race and disability, handing out fines to those who do not cooperate. Unpaid internships will be banned.
Labour will introduce four new bank holidays to celebrate the four patron saints’ days.
For work/trade unions Labour will remove unnecessary restrictions on industrial action, enforcing trade unions’ right of entry to workplaces for their members and to recruit. Union-busting would be banned. Labour would also repeal anti-trade union legislation such as the Trade Union Act 2016.
Labour will work to reduce working hours to 32 per week across the economy with no loss of pay.
The party will also introduce a Workers’ Protection Agency to further working rights, enforcing workplace rights and extensive powers to inspect workplaces and bring prosecutions and civil proceedings on workers’ behalf. Labour will also require one-third of company boards to be reserved for elected worker-directors and giving them more control over executive pay.
Equalities
Labour has said it will implement a Department for Women and Equalities that will have a full-time Secretary of State who will be responsible for all of Labour’s policies and that laws are equality-impact assessed to delivery of a fairer society for women and all other under-represented groups. A National Women’s Commission will also be set as an independent advisory board.
Labour will ratify the Istanbul Convention on the prevention of domestic abuse and ratify the ILO Convention on Violence and Harassment at work. Labour has said it will make the state responsible in making legislation to deal with the gender paygap and Labour’s new Workers’ Protection Agency will work alongside the HMRC to ensure equal pay.
All employers with 250 or more employees will need to obtain government certification on gender equality or face further auditing and fines. By the end of 2020, Labour says they would lower this threshold down to employers with 50 or more employees. Labour will also increase paid maternity leave to 12 months and dismissal of pregnant women will be banned without the approval of an inspectorate. All large companies will also be required to have flexible working, including a menopause policy and consider changes to sickness and absence practices.
Misogyny and violence against women will become hate crimes and survivors of domestic abuse will get 10 days of paid leave.
Labour will commission an independent review into far-right extremism and how tackle it. Pay gap reporting will be extended to blacks, Asians and other minorities and pay discrimination will be tackled. Labour will amend the law so attacks on places of worship are aggravated offenses.
For disabled people, Labour said that its new Equalities department will work to make sure they are independent and equal in society, transforming workplaces for them by training employers and introducing mandatory pay-gap reporting on disabled people in companies with 250 or more employees.
With LGBT+ Labour says it will amend the Gender Recognition Act 2004 to introduce self-declaration for transgender people. They will also fully fund sexual health services and roll out PReP medication. An Ambassador for LGBT+ issues would also be appointed to the Foreign Office.
Migration
On Migration Labour has said they will equalize migrant rights with UK-born rights and will scrap the 2014 Immigration Act with Labour saying they will not tolerate a two-tier system. The party says it will end indefinite detention, review alternatives to detention centres and Yarl’s Wood and Brook House would be closed, which the party says would provide £20m to support survivors of modern slavery, people trafficking and domestic violence. They will also restore the Overseas Domestic Workers’ Visa.
Labour says that if the country votes to remain a part of the EU then Freedom of Movement would be maintained, otherwise they would renegotiate it while seeking to protect the rights that it provides. Labour says it will end the deportation of family members of people who are entitled to be in the UK.
On refugees Labour has said it will work to restore rescue missions in the Mediterranean, alongside French authorities and establish safe and legal routes for asylum seekers. The party says that once refugees arrive in the UK they will be given the right to work, access public services and be given humane treatment by the government at all levels.
Social Security
Labour has said that on day one it would replace the Department for Work and Pensions with the Department for Social Security and would focus more on supporting people rather than seeming like punishment and policing. Labour says that it will have a particular focus on children developing a cross-governmental national strategy for them involving health, security, well-being and poverty.
Labour has said it will scrap Universal Credit benefit saying that it has failed people who are on it and would replace it with a new system that treats people with dignity and respect with an ultimate aim of ending poverty and guaranteeing a minimum living standard. The party says that it would first of all implement an emergency package of reforms in the short-term to mitigate some of UCs worst features while Labour develops a total replacement in the long-term.
Labour will end 5-week waiting by introducing interim payment based on half an estimated monthly entitlement. The party has also said it will end the sanction regime put in place by the Tories and ensure that employment and support is positive and not punitive.
Labour also aims to bring 300,000 children out of poverty by scrapping the benefit cap and two-child limit. Labour has also said it would pay for childcare upfront. Fortnightly payments would also be introduced and the housing element would be paid directly to landlords, which the party says will make it easier to manage living costs.
To reduce the risk of rent arrears and homelessness, Labour has promised to scrap the Bedroom Tax and increase Local Housing Allowance.
For the disabled Labour has said it will end the dehumanizing Work Capability and PIP Assessments and will make sure all assessments are done in-house. Labour would increase Employment and Support Allowance to £30 a week for those in the work-related activity group. The basic rate for children on disabilities support would be risen to the level of Child-Tax-Credits. The party will also ensure that those severely disabled without a carer will receive extra support.
Carer’s Allowance will be increased to the level of Jobseekers Allowance.
Labour also want to further help the disabled in work or help those who are disabled who want to get into work by restoring specialist employment advisors, introducing a Reasonable Adjustments Passport scheme to allow people to move between jobs more easily and would review support for the disabled at work, including the Access to Work scheme.
On pensions, Labour plans to recognize the injustice of changing the pension age for women effected (waspi women) without fair notification, supporting the effecting women and designing a system of recompense for their losses and insecurity. To prevent it happening again Labour would legislate to prevent accured rights to the state pension from being changed. Labour will also abandon plans to raise the State Pension Age, leaving it at 66. Labour will maintain triple-lock and guarantee Winter Fuel Payments, free tv licenses and free bus passes as universal benefits.
Labour will also stop people being auto-enrolled to rip-off pension schemes and will seek to widen access to those with low-income or self-employed. An independent Pensions’ Commission would also be established, based on the Low Pay Commission, it would recommend target levels for workplace pensions. Labour will also create a single, comprehensive and publicly run pensions dashboard that would be fully transparent and include information on costs and charges.
Housing
To prevent another Grenfell-style tragedy, Labour has promised a £1bn Fire Safety Fund, which will fit sprinklers and other fire safety measures in all high-rise council and housing association tower blocks and would enforce the replacement of dangerous Grenfell-style cladding on all high-rise homes and buildings. Mandatory building standards would also be introduced, overlooked and inspected by fully trained Fire and Rescue Service fire safety officers.
Labour says it will work to end the housing crisis, bringing the cost of housing down and rising standards, so everyone has a decent and affordable home. A new Department for Housing would be created and Homes England would be made a more accountable national housing agency and putting councils in the driving seat. An English Sovereign Land Trust would also be established, giving powers to buy land more cheaply for low-cost housing.
Public Land would be used to build housing instead of selling it off to the highest bidder. Developers would also face new “use it or lose it” taxes on stalled housing developments. Land Registry would be kept in public hands. As previously also stated, Labour has an ambitious plan to upgrade millions of homes to a net-zero carbon standard.
Labour says it will deliver a new social housebuilding programme of more than a million homes over a decade, with council housing a strong focus. Labour says it will also end the right-to-buy, alongside the forced conversion of social rented homes to “affordable rent”. Labour will give councils the powers and funding to buy-back homes from private landlords.
Labour will help first-time buyers by building more low-cost homes that are reserved for first-time buyers in every area, and it would include Labour’s new discount homes with prices linked to local incomes. Help to Buy would be reformed to focus on first-time buyers who are on ordinary incomes. Labour would also introduce a levy on overseas companies buying housing and giving local people ‘first dibs’ on new homes built in their area. New powers will be given to councils to be able to tax properties that have been empty for over a year. Labour says it will also end the scandal of leasehold.
For those under private landlords, Labour would take urgent action to protect tenants through rent controls, open-ended tenancies, and new binding minimum standards. Labour would also cap rent with inflation and give cities powers to cap rent even further. Labour would also fund new renters’ unions to allow renters to organize and defend their rights.
Labour has made a promise to end rough sleeping in 5-years-time, which includes a national plan driven by a prime minister-led taskforce. Hostels will be expanded and upgraded for people to turn their lives around, 8,000 additional homes would be available for people with a history of rough sleeping. Alongside that to further prevent homelessness Labour will raise Local Housing Allowance in-line with the 30th percentile of local rents and an additional £1bn a year being earmarked to go towards councils’ homelessness services. A new national levy would also be applied to second homes used as holiday homes, so those with more, pay towards helping those with less.
Constitutional Issues
Labour has said they will immediately end the hereditary principle in the House of Lords and work towards abolishing it and turning it into a fully electable Senate of the Nations and Regions. But in these big changes Labour will focus on including the public in decision making by a UK-wide Constitutional Convention led by a citizens’ assembly.
Labour also has a focus on strengthening local government including decentralization of decision-making and a commitment to One Yorkshire and will also make directly-elected mayors more accountable local councilors and representatives. Regional Government Offices would also be re-established in England to support regional investments and enable the shift of power away from Westminster.
Labour plans to repeal the Fixed-Terms Parliament Act 2011 due to it stifling democracy and propping-up weak governments. They say they will also maintain 650 constituencies in UK General Elections. Labour says they will reduce the voting age to 16 and will also introduce a system of automatic voter registration and will also abandon voter ID plans.
Labour has not committed to allowing Scotland another independence referendum, although, they also did not fully rule it out. But the party does believe it would leave Scotland worse off.
Foreign Affairs
Labour have said that human rights and environmentalism will be at the heart of their foreign policy. They will also put more into foreign aid, with a focus on international climate aid to fight climate change globally, with a focus on poorer countries effected by climate change due to richer countries.
Labour says it will introduce a War Powers Act to prevent the Prime Minister to bypass the parliament to commit to conventional military action and will implement the recommendation of the Chilcot Inquiry.
Will establish a judge-led inquiry into our country’s alleged complicity in rendition and torture and the operation of secret courts.
Give the right for people of the Chagos Islands and their descendants to return.
Labour has said it will immediately end arm exports to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen and also to Israel for arms used in violation of the human rights of Palestinian civilians.
Labour supports a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine without military intervention, but settled on the basis of justice and international law. Labour says they would immediately recognize the state of Palestine.
Costing
Labour has set out how it will pay for its new pledges and promises in its manifesto, which can be read in a separate costings document. The basics though are…
Increased Income Tax for those earning above £80k a year and another increase for those earning above £125k a year. Gradual reversal of cuts on Corporation Tax, reaching 21% for small profits and 26% for the main rate. Taxing on wealth such as taxing capital gains at income tax rates and Tax Dividends at income tax rates. Extending stamp duty reserve duty, tackling tax avoidance and evasion, changing of tax reliefs and expenditures. Reverse cuts to Inheritance Tax and Bank Levy, imposing VAT on private school fees, scrapping Married Persons Allowance and introduction of second homes tax.
Labour has estimated that it has fully costed its manifesto.
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