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Labour today confirmed plans to scrap tuition fees "no ifs no buts" and offer every adult six years' free education - with paid time off to study.

A £3bn-a-year “cradle to grave” National Education Service would enshrine a legal right to take time off to focus on skills.

University tuition fees would also be scrapped - renewing an £11bn-a-year promise in the 2017 Labour manifesto.

In a speech in Blackpool, Jeremy Corbyn claimed the package would let voters "pursue their dreams" and demanded the Tories "apologise" for cuts since 2010.

"I see education as an escalator running alongside you throughout life that you can get on and off whenever you want," he said.

(Image: Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)

Tories claimed Labour was "making promises that it simply won't be able to fulfil". But Federation of Small Businesses national chairman Mike Cherry said the plans "show some good promise" while the National Education Union praised the cash after "years of devastating funding cuts".

Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner said adult education "changed my life" after she left school pregnant at 16.

Claiming Labour would "knock the socks off the 1945 Labour government", she said: "Poverty is not just about being penniless, it is about being powerless".

She added: "The Conservatives say that we cannot afford these measures. They are wrong. We cannot afford not to do it.

"We cannot afford not to invest in the most valuable asset we have – the people of this country."

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(Image: PA)

Ms Rayner said university vice-chancellors "are paid too much and are unaccountable for that pay, and I'll crack down on that".

The lifelong learning policy applies to England and courses between Level 4 (higher national certificate or similar) and Level 6 (undergraduate degree or similar).

Labour said the plans would cost £2.6bn in education entitlement and a further £573m in maintenance grants in 2023/24 - funded by more tax on high earners.

Meanwhile Mr Corbyn declared Labour will "put VAT on private school fees" ahead of a meeting to finalise the manifesto.

The comments appeared to hint he plans to drop a more radical policy, backed by members, to scrap private schools altogether.