Labour is considering giving voters a universal basic income worth thousands of pounds a year if the party wins the next general election.

John McDonnell, the party’s shadow Chancellor, said he had commissioned a review into the policy in a bid to overhaul the welfare state.

However the plans were attacked by the Conservatives who said they would cost hundreds of billions of pounds and be funded through tax rises.

The concept involves ditching the traditional means-tested benefits and replacing them with an unconditional flat rate payment to all citizens, has been trialled in various parts of the world, including Finland and Canada.

A year long scheme involving 2,000 participants was launched in Finland in 2017 with each individual receiving a €560 (£490) monthly basic payment, equivalent to £5,880 a year.

Mr McDonnell told The Independent that he had recently discussed the idea with former Labour leader Ed Miliband, who was “really keen” on getting a pilot of the scheme in the next manifesto.

He said: “It’s one of those things I think we can get into the next manifesto and see, it’s worth a try. There have been pilots elsewhere. I’m trying to wait for the feedback.”

The cash would allow individuals to retrain or secure their finances in the face of the threat of job losses due to increasing use by companies of robots and artificial intelligence.