The Labour Party has released its manifesto for how it will rebuild Britain if elected into power on 12 December 2019. And if the public response is anything to go by, Boris Johnson and the Tories have a problem. Because Labour just reminded voters what it feels like when a party has a plan for the entire country.
Labour’s manifesto focuses on policies that will benefit the many, not the few.
Ending crony privatisation
The crony privatisation of our utilities has seen the cost of living sky rocket. Worse, in most cases the taxpayer is still footing the bill, while private companies reap the profits. Privatised water alone costs £2.3bn a year more than necessary. In energy, private companies have quadrupled their profits since 1996. Meanwhile, household bills for electricity and gas have soared by a third and a half (in real terms) respectively.
Ever-increasing energy, water and rail bills from private companies are out of control. But no more. Because Labour will renationalise these natural monopolies, together with mail and broadband.
Labour leader @jeremycorbyn pledges to nationalise rail, mail, water, energy and broadband if he wins a majority in this election https://t.co/BjffXNquzm pic.twitter.com/nA60Zvka6P
— ITV News (@itvnews) November 21, 2019
But rather than a nostalgic move to recreate the past, these plans are distinctly 21st century. The manifesto reads:
We will put people and planet before profit by bringing our energy and water systems into democratic public ownership. In public hands, energy and water will be treated as rights rather than commodities, with any surplus reinvested or used to reduce bills. Communities themselves will decide, because utilities won’t be run from Whitehall but by service-users and workers.
And reaction to the proposals has been a welcome one.
https://twitter.com/NickFlaks/status/1195405813646548992?s=20
https://twitter.com/BenJolly9/status/1197478834670579712?s=20
A truly transformative policy. The internet should be a public utility like our roads, rail and energy. Hyper fast broadband for all, free at the point of need will help to unlock this country's potential. #broadbandhttps://t.co/XWMWKoFXFD
— Dr Martin Edobor (@martinedobor) November 14, 2019
Rebuilding public services
Public services have been asset-stripped by nearly a decade of Tory austerity. If Labour wins on 12 December, they will be rebuilding those services. A National Education Service will scrap tuition fees, reintroduce maintenance grants, and promote lifelong learning.
A National Education Service, still my favourite policy from the stack of wonderful proposals in the #LabourManifesto – transforming lives for the better through skills and knowledge.
Love it.
— Helen the Zen 🏴 💙 🍉 (@helenmallam) November 21, 2019
Labour will value technical education as highly as academic learning and will bring back maintenence grants. And yes, let's be clear, we will scrap university tuition fees!
I'm revelling in this #LabourManifesto launch speech.
Jeremy is on fire 🔥#ManifestoOfHope
— Chelley Ryan #WeAreCollective #VoteCorbyn (@chelleryn99) November 21, 2019
If elected on 12 December, Labour has promised to scrap NHS privatisation and return to a publicly-funded, publicly-run health service. Shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth has pledged a fully-costed £26bn yearly cash injection to the NHS, along with a 10-point plan to reverse the impacts of austerity. The plans will return the NHS to the public.
As a lifelong advocate of patient safety, it is my responsibility to warn you that society cannot risk another 5 years of the Tories in charge of destroying our NHS. It's time to put our trust in the party that created the NHS. #LabourManifesto
— Prof Kailash Chand OBE FRCGP (@KailashChandOBE) November 21, 2019
https://twitter.com/ScouseGirlMedia/status/1197479483432943616?s=20
https://twitter.com/Sarah_Woolley/status/1197483853880934402?s=20
A place to live, and a place to work
Labour’s manifesto looks to bring an end to the decade of falling wages and evaporating job security. Labour will use a windfall tax on Britain’s biggest polluters to create a million climate jobs. A Corbyn government would implement a Real Living Wage for all working people, and scrap the zero-hours contracts currently trapping almost 900,000 people. The party would also deliver a pay increase for all public-sector staff, who’ve seen their pay stagnate since 2010.
Reversal of long pay freezes – all public sector workers will get a 5% pay increase in April 2020 – equiv (on average) to more than £1,200 for newly qualified nurses & teachers; £1,800 for firefighters; £1,400 for junior doctors.
— The Poisonous Euros Atmosphere Fan (@DawnHFoster) November 21, 2019
The manifesto reads:
We will create a million climate jobs in every region and nation of the UK – good, skilled jobs that will bring prosperity back to parts of our country neglected for too long.
We will bring in a Real Living Wage of at least £10 per hour for all workers – with equal rights at work from day one on the job. We will end insecurity and exploitation by ending zero-hours contracts and strengthening trade union rights.
And there are a string of measure to tackle the housing crisis as part of a £75bn “housing revolution”. The manifesto reads:
Labour will deliver a new social housebuilding programme of more than a million homes over a decade, with council housing at its heart.
This is really important and so desperately needed…
Labour pledges to spend £75bn over 5 years on a "housing revolution" with the biggest council house building programme to end the crisis and transform the lives of millions of people.#GE2019 #VoteLabour 🌹 pic.twitter.com/JUsBEz95Ka
— Ben Claimant 💚 Join a Union (@BenClaimant) November 20, 2019
https://twitter.com/JennaNDavis_/status/1197476329547063298?s=20
Labour will make tackling child poverty a priority.
👶Provide 30 hours free childcare a week to all 2-4 year olds,
🥪 Free school meals to all primary school children
💰Introduce a real living wage of at least £10 per hour for workers aged 16 and over. https://t.co/d3gETIYM1J— Jennifer Forbes (@Jen4TruroAndFal) November 20, 2019
It’s time
The excitement surrounding the manifesto launch is a much-needed reminder. This is how we should feel about the future: excited, prepared and determined. The terror and anxiety that’s come with every budget day for this past decade is not normal. It’s time to rebuild, repair, and renew a country torn apart by ideological austerity. It’s past time.
Featured image via Wikimedia Commons
