SIR Keir Starmer today unveiled £8.5bn of tax rises and a crackdown on unhealthy food as he launched Labour’s pro-growth election manifesto.
The coveted Prime Minister unveiled his 125-page blueprint for Britain’s future at Manchester’s Co-op Live indoor arena.
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Sir Keir Starmer officially launched the Labor Party manifesto in Manchester todayCredit: Reuters
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The Labor leader posed for photos with his leadership team ahead of the launchCredit: PA
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The 125-page document contained promises to reduce NHS waiting lists and rising energy costsCredit: PA
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The protester held a banner reading “Young people deserve better” before disrupting Sir Keir’s and being escorted out of the building Credit: Getty
After being briefly interrupted by a protester, Sir Keir said: “We gave up being a protest party five years ago.
“We want to be the party of the government.
“I am proud to launch our manifesto in this place, in this city. A manifesto to create wealth and a plan to change Britain.”
He added: “We are still a great nation. We can still achieve great things.
“What we lack is a government that can meet the ambitions that working people have for their families and communities, with a credible long-term plan.”
Reflecting on Jeremy Corbyn’s disastrous leadership, Sir Keir said: “The key purpose of my Labor leadership has been to drag my party out of the cul-de-sac of gesture politics and back into the service of working people.
“I changed the party. Now I want a chance to bring that change to the country.”
Sparking accusations of “vote rigging”, Sir Keir promised to give 16 and 17-year-olds the right to vote in all elections.
At the launch of the Labor Manifesto, Sir Keir Starmer…
And the Labor boss has outlined his plans for an £8bn tax raid to boost Britain’s public services.
He said the government could not play “fast and loose” with the public finances after working people paid the price in light of the Tory mini-budget.
Sir Keir has promised to raise taxes by charging VAT on private school fees, scrapping non-domestic tax status and closing windfall tax “loopholes” for oil and gas companies.
The levies will fund 6,500 new teachers and free up another 40,000 evening and weekend NHS appointments.
It will also pay for more than 3,000 new nurseries, 8,500 mental health workers, 13,000 extra neighborhood police officers and PCSOs and create free breakfast clubs in schools across the country.
The Labor leader has promised to impose “no new taxes on working people”, including VAT, National Insurance and Income Tax.
But he refused to rule out an increase in capital gains and inheritance taxes.
Sir Keir said: “If we grew the economy at the rate of the last Labor government, we would have tens of billions of pounds invested in our public services every year.
“So if you take nothing else away from today, let it be this: this changed Labor Party has a plan for growth.
KEIR’S VISION: Starmer’s plan for Britain
Written by Ryan Sabey, Deputy Political Editor
Sir Keir Starmer has rejected claims he should be introduced as Captain Cautious on election day.
The Labor leader told supporters that if they wanted to witness the pantomime they should head to Clacton – where Nigel Farage is standing.
But the launch of the manifesto in Manchester was – to be honest – the epitome of caution.
Sir Keir stood on stage and dismissed Westminster’s obsession with ‘surprise’ rabbits being pulled out of hats at exhibition events.
He said: “I am running as a candidate for prime minister, not to create a circus.”
But with that caution, does this mean Labour’s hands are tied when it comes to public finances?
Sir Keir made a solemn promise not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT, and to keep borrowing within fiscal rules.
The tax-raising measures will result from the abolition of VAT and business rate exemptions for private schools and the suppression of tax status outside the home country.
Other eye-catching policies include the reintroduction of a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars until 2030 and a ban on energy drinks for under-16s.
Labor should be seen as a party that will not rough-steer the UK economy.
Sir Keir Starmer won’t be breaking his shackles anytime soon.
“We are for work and for workers, a party of wealth creation.”
Sir Keir outlined a plan to kick-start growth by creating 650,000 jobs in future industries and scrapping planning rules to build railways, roads and 1.5 million homes as part of an infrastructure strategy.
He also promised to devolve power from Westminster and reform the labor market with better support for employment, healthcare and childcare.
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On immigration, Labor said it would develop domestic skills.
Sir Keir has pledged to scrap the Tory government’s Rwanda deportation plan and instead use the £75 million earmarked for it over the next year to set up a new border security command.
The manifesto promises: “Labour will stop the chaos and attack criminal gangs.”
The squad will include ghosts, border guards and police officers. And they will target criminal gangs that transport people across the Channel in small boats.
The manifesto said: “Labour will establish a new returns and enforcement unit, with an extra 1,000 staff, to speed up removals to safe countries for people who have no right to stay here.”
The party also intends to increase defense spending to 2.5 percent of GDP, but has not yet set a date for this.
Labor has also announced that it will switch Britain to clean electricity by 2030 – five years earlier than the Conservatives.
The manifesto promises: “To make Britain a clean energy superpower that will cut bills, create jobs and provide security with cheaper, carbon-free electricity by 2030, accelerating to net zero.”
A government led by Sir Keir would create a publicly owned company, Great British Energy, to invest in new renewable energy projects.
The Labor leader will also bring back the 2030 ban on buying new petrol and diesel cars, which Rishi Sunak extended to 2035.
But Labour’s Net Zero plans have already sparked a backlash from the GMB union which says the plans are “unsustainable”.
Responding to the launch of Labour’s manifesto, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: “This is Labour’s tax trap manifesto which only contains tax increases, not tax cuts.
“Under Labour’s published plans, taxes will rise to levels never seen before in this country.
“But that’s just the tax increase they’re telling you about – that doesn’t include the £2,094 tax increase they’ll need to meet their £38.5bn of unfunded spending commitments.”
He added: “The most important thing is not what is in the Labor manifesto, but what they have left out of it.
“They refuse to rule out taxing your business, your home, your pension, your car, your business and they think they can get away with it without anyone holding them accountable.
“Don’t be fooled, from cradle to grave you will pay more taxes according to work.”
Jonathan Gullis, deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, said: “Keir Starmer is trying to rig the voting system to give him a blank check to do what Labor always does – raise their taxes.
“Under 18s can’t drink, sit on a jury or get married. Yet Labor is only too happy to collect their votes.
“It is clearly a cynical attempt to fill their ballot boxes and open the door to the slippery slope of the franchise, with foreign nationals next in line.”
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