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Labour's manifesto is a manifesto for hope.
To cheers from loyal supporters, Jeremy Corbyn has unveiled
Labour's manifesto, hoping to win over enough of the less
committed members of the British electorate to deprive his
Conservative rival Boris Johnson of a parliamentary majority
in the December 12 election.
The centrepiece is billed as a transformation,
promising a Green New Deal, more social housing,
and major new funding for the public services.
We will make those at the top pay their fair share of tax
to help fund the world class public services for you.
The proposals for higher taxes at nearly £83bn are much larger
than the £48.6bn of extra annual tax and spending
in the party's 2017 general election manifesto.
Is this package eye-catching or eye-watering?
Well, it depends which side you fall of Labour's chosen
dividing line between what Mr Corbyn called the wealthy
and the powerful, who he said should be ignored,
and the rest of a volatile and discontented electorate.
Surveys show an extraordinarily high level of the public
is still undecided on which party to back at this election.
And Labour is betting that many may be hankering for change
after nearly a decade of underfunding in the public
services and a standard of living that has failed
to improve for many.
But the Institute for Fiscal Studies
has branded the plans colossal and, crucially, not credible.
Paul Johnson, of the IFS, called the package 'the biggest set
of spending increases, and the biggest set of tax increases,
and the biggest set of borrowing increases we've seen
in peacetime history.'
Meanwhile, businesses will blanch
at a hike in corporation tax alongside increases
in income and wealth taxes, plus a list of nationalisations,
and a windfall tax on the oil industry
that may go down badly in Scotland,
plus a fudge on protecting freedom of movement
for EU citizens after Brexit.
We will secure a sensible deal that protects manufacturing
and the Good Friday Agreement, and then
put it to a public vote alongside the option
of remaining in the EU.
On this, the greatest decision facing the country for decades
- Brexit - Labour maintains its commitment to holding
a referendum on its own negotiated exit deal,
without making its position clear if that happens.
But the pollsters say, helpfully for Labour,
that the NHS has now overtaken Brexit as the most pressing
issue for voters.
It has already offered a way for Mr Corbyn
to turn the conversation onto future trade
deals between a Tory government and the bogeyman Donald Trump.
'Not for sale', for sale cheered his audience.
Attacks on privilege in the form of private schools
were, as anticipated, slightly toned down.
And again, Labour promised free university tuition for all,
plus free broadband, and a lot of other free stuff that could
prove tempting unless - and here's that word again -
voters see this list as not credible.
Rather than, as Mr Corbyn would prefer, as radical.
I am so proud to be launching our manifesto tonight.
A day before, the Lib Dems had launched their manifesto.
And although their moment in the election spotlight was
overshadowed by royal scandals, the party were keen
to emphasise that remaining in the EU will deliver a £50bn
boost to the government's spending powers.
These figures were plausible, said the Institute
for Fiscal Studies, but only if the Brexit issue was completely
and finally settled.
And that is a promise that no party in this election
can credibly make.