Jeremy Corbyn has told a business conference that companies must expect to pay slightly more tax if Labour is in power, arguing that using the money to invest in education would hugely benefit Britain in the long term.



The Labour leader outlined a post-Brexit vision for the UK as an economy competing on skills and productivity, not “a sort of low-tax haven on the shores of Europe”.

Making a speech to a British Chambers of Commerce conference on education in London, Corbyn condemned what he called a “lost decade” of low growth, sluggish living standards and low investment.

Outlining his plans for people to be able to take university or other courses without paying a fee, Corbyn said: “There are no short cuts. If we are to create a high-skill, high-wage and high-productivity economy we’re going to have to invest more to upgrade our economy for the 21st century.

“And that will mean businesses paying a bit more tax to invest in education while still maintaining low tax rates by historical and international comparisons.”

Asked if he could understand the worry that some businesses might relocate to France if, as mooted, Emmanuel Macron, the president, lowers corporation tax, Corbyn said the UK should resist following suit.

He said: “I think we should be prepared to raise to what would still be a lower level than the average of the G7 as a way of investing in our future.

“I don’t see a future for this country of being a sort of low-tax haven on the shores of Europe. I see the future of this country as one that has a close partnership with the European Union, a tariff-free trade access to Europe and a similarity in taxation levels.”

Lower taxes might bring short-term gains, but would see public services suffer, he argued.

“I think have to have some degree of certainty and confidence for the future. We cannot go [on] with these levels of regional disparity, we cannot go on with the underfunding of so many of our public services and we cannot go on loading every generation with debts of £50,000 or £60,000, which at some point will be so serious there will be a shortage of people to go to university because they simply can’t countenance the idea of that level of debt. The result is we all lose.”

Corbyn said the solution was Labour’s plan for a national education service, calling this “a key institution for fairness and prosperity for the 21st century”.

He said: “We believe that education is a public good, that businesses, large and small, prosper when education, skills and training are given laser-like attention by a committed government.”

Part of this should be a widening of the school curriculum, giving teachers more say and the chance for a more arts-based approach. Corbyn added: “We need to encourage the creativity that’s there in every child, not suppress it.”



Technological change made the need to invest in education all the greater, he said. “We need to ensure that everyone – workers, government and businesses – share in the benefits that new technology can bring.

“As in every other technological revolution, disappearing jobs will be replaced by new, as yet unforeseen, forms of work. But there will be churn, as these new forms of work will often require a different set of skills to those they replace.

“That means we will need to invest in a step change in skills and training to upgrade the skills of the existing workforce and make sure everyone is able to retrain at any point in life to meet the changing needs of the economy.”