I want to quickly start this blog with a bit of a plug. I was invited to record a podcast with a few mates about the general election. You can check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH6kA4zIp7g&t=33s

Okay on with the manifesto.

On Tuesday 16th May 2017 the Labour Party unveiled its Manifesto for the snap UK General Election in Bradford. This was a significant setting. Bradford was the birth place of the Independent Labour Party back in 1893 with Keir Hardie as its leader. Bradford University, where the launch took place, awarded its first chancellorship to Harold Wilson who was the Labour Prime Minister at the time in 1966. Bradford is historically a Labour stronghold however voted 54.2% to 45.8% in favour of leaving the EU at last years referendum. It is one of the many places up and down the country that Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party have to convince that staying Labour will still provide them with what they want out of Brexit.

The Labour Manifesto which, for the most part was leaked last week, includes many popular policies. Despite this many questions still remain over funding. Fears still remain of a Labour Party that increased the countries spending on public services by an average of 4.4% a year in real terms before the 2008 financial crash. While many people love what Labour are suggesting, they do not understand how Labour can pay for it without creating more debt or turning away more businesses. The planned increase in corporation tax also scares people. The UK economy is in a period of uncertainty. We constantly hear stories of businesses looking to move out of the UK because of Brexit so by increasing their corporation tax this is likely to encourage more CEOs to look elsewhere to set up shop. While Labour insist that their manifesto is fully costed and that the tax would still be lowest out of all the G7 countries it would not compare to a country like the Republic Ireland which enjoys a trading corporation tax of 12.5%.

The Labour Manifesto promises an extra tax take of 48.6bn to help fund many of its projects that would end the Conservative austerity. These include increased funding of the NHS, building 1 million new houses, and various transport expansions in the South East and extending the HS2 plans into Scotland to name a few. The economic plans of Labour will always be scrutinised due to links to the past Labour government but if the people want to see the government start re-investing then this in the manifesto for them. The only question is will people trust that the figures work? Will they be put off by the threat of lower wages? As companies invest less due to higher taxes leading to lower profits and less to actually tax, plus less money to pay the work force. This of course is not an exact science as a number of different factors come into play. Labour may be able to claim that they will be able to tax the rich that can afford it and re-invest in the less well off but the knock on effects can always be very worrying.

Away from the economy, many of Labour’s social plans have been widely tested to positive reactions. Labour hopes to make sure the rights of workers are not infringed with policies such as abolishing employment tribunal fees, guaranteeing trade unions a right to access workplaces and raising the minimum wage to at least £10 per hour by the year 2020. It is not just workers that Labour is looking to help with other policies such as the abolition of higher education tuition fees, guaranteeing state pension triple lock and an end to the rape clauses meaning mothers who have third child due to rape will be exempt from the restriction of child tax credits to the first two children in a family as long as they can prove it. It is these sorts of policies that are real winners for the Labour Party and why their slogan ‘For the Many, Not the Few’ rings so true.

The Labour Party does not end there with its policies aimed at helping the many. In regards to the environment and energy the political party promises to ensure that 60% of the UK’s energy comes from zero-carbon or renewable sources by 2030. This is a policy that is hard to argue against unless you’re a current sitting US President with blinkers on about the real issues of Climate Change. Furthermore Labour promises to ban fracking, an extremely controversial drilling technique, as well as prioritising the UK’s continued access to Euratom, the EUs nuclear research programme, in Brexit negotiations which, would be a big loss after the spilt is complete. Interestingly there is no mention of Heathrow Airport in the manifesto despite stating that additional airport capacity is needed. Could this signal Labour backing plans for an extra runway or will they look for other options in the South East.

Labour outlines its plans to reverse the current direction of the UK’s Brexit negotiations by promising to rip up the Conservative’s White Paper and promise to secure the rights of EU nationals living in the UK. Labour will seek to stay apart of many EU organisations which, they say benefit the UK. This include Euratom as mentioned earlier and the European Medicines Agency. This so called ‘soft Brexit’ strategy would allow the UK to leave the EU in a strong place but with many of its connections to the EU still in place. Will the electorate be impressed with this. Especially the Labour voters that were lost to UKIP over the EU referendum debate. Will they come back to Labour with this offer or will they move onto the Conservatives ‘hard Brexit’ style like the polls are suggesting? It is also unclear how the EU will react to this although it can’t be much worse than the leaked conversations we have seen in the news about Theresa May’s meetings so far. Will the EU look to the UK to pay even more to keep some access? If so this could but a huge dent into the spending plans that Labour has already outlined.

It is also very clear from the manifesto that Labour is attempting to shed its leaders image of being weak on security and defence. Labour attacks the Conservatives record on supporting the armed forces noting that the reduction in the size of our army makes it the smallest since the Napoleonic Era. Labour guarantees to keep military spending on par with at least the NATO benchmark of 2% GDP. The manifesto however, does not clarify whether this spending also includes schemes such as the Homes Fit for Heroes scheme to insulate the homes of disabled veterans for free. Those worried about defence under a Corbyn administration can however be reassured by what they see in this manifesto. The intriguing Labour debate over Trident renewal is decided for the time being as the manifesto states that Labour will be in support of keeping the nuclear deterrent. Despite this promises it would be of no surprise in a Corbyn government did not look for cheaper alternatives to replace/scrap the system if they became available during his term.

Overall this Labour Manifesto has many winning policies and the party members can be proud of it. However, the main issue as always for Labour will be communication. Will they be able to convince the electorate to trust their figures and ideas by June 8th? They risk turning off businesses, working class hard brexiteers, despite a hoard of workers rights incentives and those who are still in the pro-austerity camp. Labour now has three weeks to officially sell this manifesto to the public and hope they are attracted by the message of hope, the message of taxing the rich and reinvestment for the rest of the country in services such as the NHS, education and the rail industry. When Jeremy Corbyn took to the stage in Bradford yesterday, like many Labour figures before him, he said that ‘opinion is changing and it’s moving towards Labour’ if that is case then this movement needs to happen quickly and the party needs to translate the large crowds seen around the rest of West Yorkshire this week into votes on June 8th if they have any chance of putting this manifesto into work.

Thanks for reading it would be great if you could share this on Facebook, twitter or whatever social media you’re connected too. If you have any questions then please contact me either by email toughenuss@gmail.com or on twitter @PolitcsHeckler

References

Labour Manifesto: http://www.labour.org.uk/page/-/Images/manifesto-2017/Labour%20Manifesto%202017.pdf

Funding Questions hang over Labour’s Bradford Manifesto Launch: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/politics/general-election/funding-questions-hang-over-labour-s-bradford-manifesto-launch-1-8546328

EU Referendum Results: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/eu_referendum/results

IFS – Public Spending Under Labour: https://www.ifs.org.uk/bns/bn92.pdf

Labour Manifesto Breakdown: https://www.ft.com/video/ee138b84-cf1d-4c46-b4fd-088f5f6df4e3?playlist-name=latest&playlist-offset=1

The Effect of Labour’s Corporation Tax: https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/the-effect-of-labours-corporation-tax

Labour Manifesto at-a-glance: Summary of key points: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-39933116