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Jeremy Corbyn finally revealed the Labour Party’s manifesto this morning which he promised would “knock your socks off”. While it may not quite have removed our footwear, there were enough eye-grabbing promises to fill Santa’s stocking many times over.
It was no exaggeration when Corbyn said in his speech at Birmingham City University today, that “this party, this movement, this manifesto, is different.” The changes unveiled today, if they were implemented, would signal a radical transformation of the state of Britain, its economic model, and the role of its state. He called it “a manifesto for hope”.
So what was the main theme? A billboard behind the speaker’s rostrum stated “It’s Time for Real Change”, with the words “Real Change” underlined. The manifesto, posted onto the seats of the audience present, has the words “It’s Time for Real Change” on the front cover.
An introduction by John McDonnell protégé Rebecca Long-Bailey set out a vision for “a green industrial revolution” to reinvigorate a UK which stands “at the brink of unstoppable change.” If this last line sounded rather like New Labour, then Long-Bailey went from Tony Blair to Joseph Stalin in under twenty seconds, promising that “we won’t leave our fate up to market forces” but that her party would instead “bring the might of the state” to bear upon contemporary social and economic problems. Echoing the manifesto, Long-Bailey promised that “this is what real change looks like.”
Got it yet?
Corbyn’s speech itself picked up where Long-Bailey had left off, and opened with an attack upon “the bankers, billionaires, and the establishment”. He said that “Labour’s manifesto is a manifesto for hope”, one including “popular policies that the political establishment has blocked for generations.” This is why, Corbyn argued, that “the billionaires attack us” and “why the billionaire-owned media makes things up about us.”
The speech then took a fascinating turn – in facing up against the (always conveniently vague) “establishment”, Corbyn then quoted the 32nd President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt. He said that “They are unanimous in their hate for me – and I welcome their hatred.” The line is from a speech which Roosevelt made at the time of the Great Depression, in 1936, and in which he addressed the powerful interests that opposed his New Deal. This was a fiscal stimulus programme of unprecedented size for its time, one designed to lift the US economy out of a state of stagnation and dramatic levels of unemployment after the Wall Street Crash of 1929.
Corbyn using Roosevelt is both ironic and interesting. It is ironic because Roosevelt is an icon of American liberalism. It is interesting because it provides an insight into how Corbyn sees himself. He thinks of his role as that of an inspired radical sent at a propitious moment. He believes that he can bring about a transformation that no one else has seen coming, but which is necessary. This is clear in several remarks in the speech, such as: “Margaret Thatcher’s government wiped out huge swathes of British industry, this Labour government will rebuild it.”
The message is that 2019 is a turning point, much like 1979 – and Corbyn and co. will try to reinvent Britain in a socialist mould.
This is the rhetoric, but what about the policies? Laura Kuenssberg’s assessment in the Q&A after Corbyn spoke seems about right: she said to Corbyn that “this manifesto has put rocket boosters on what you promised in 2017”.
The manifesto promised that a Corbyn government would significantly reduce carbon emissions by 2030. To help achieve this, £14 billion alone would be spent “on the electrification of vehicles”. This would be a part of a wider £250 billion Green Transformation Fund to generate 1m green jobs. There would be devolved budgets also, to allow bodies such as the Welsh Assembly to continue investing in projects such as the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon. This, Corbyn believes, would help to tackle a “climate emergency”.
Labour’s spending spree would continue elsewhere, with a National Investment Bank to provide money for the regeneration of communities and industry across the country. This would include £75 billion pounds of investment to build 150,000 new council and social homes a year, within five years (!). A further £100bn would be added to the budget for Scotland, in order “to secure the future of industry”.
These large-scale investment policies would be combined with a host of smaller, but equally eye-grabbing proposals to show that “Labour is on your side”. For students, Corbyn proposes to scrap tuition fees. For those with disabilities, he says he will update the Equality Act and abolish universal credit. For new parents, he calls for 30 hours of free child care for all 2-4 year olds. For the low paid and low skilled, he advocates a “real living wage” of at least £10 an hour combined with a £3bn plan to offer adults in England access to free skills training.
Of course, Labour plans to offset this spending with increased taxation. So Corbyn pledged to reverse inheritance tax cuts and impose VAT on private school fees. Measures to tackle the “climate emergency” would be paid for by a punitive one-off levy on “big polluters” and oil companies. Labour would also introduce a tax on second homes.
The Marxism being pushed by Corbyn’s manifesto is not only economic – it is also cultural. On page 13, it announces that a review would be launched in order to assess the impact of Britain’s colonial legacy around the world. No doubt this would have been popular with Birmingham City University’s very own Kehinde Andrews, the Professor of Black Studies who has repeatedly called for reparations to redress the legacy of slavery.
This only scratches the surface of what Corbyn and the Labour party propose to do to transform Britain in their image. The BBC have provided a good summary of the key parts of the Labour manifesto.
On Brexit, the Labour leader said that Boris Johnson had “hijacked Brexit” in order to introduce “Thatcherism on steroids.” In the Q&A afterwards, the Labour leader once more equivocated on his stance on the matter. He said that there are people who voted Remain in the south of England, and those who voted to leave in the north who are “in exactly the same conditions”.
The danger that remains for Labour is this: that Corbyn’s promise to negotiate a “credible” deal will be seen as a rather incredible one to Leave voters, as Sir John Curtice said at a Reaction event yesterday.
We will have to see whether Labour’s eye-grabbing manifesto inspires the type of surge enjoyed by Labour in the 2017 campaign. A week after Corbyn launched the Labour manifesto in 2017, Labour’s poll rating jumped by 5 points, from 31% to 36%. The next week will tell us whether history will repeat itself or not.
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Iain Martin and the team make sense of the news, providing commentary and analysis on the stories that matter in politics, geopolitics, economics and culture.