Election Selection: I

A brief look at Labour's manifesto

With the election race coming to an end in just under two weeks, the five British parties have been busy taking part in live debates on the BBC and ITV, with a head-to-head between Sir Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak kicking it off (not in style). They have also released their detailed manifestos, which, ultimately, could decide who the public are going to vote for and completely change the polls (according to one poll, Reform have now overtaken the Tories by one point). I will explore a few main points of each manifesto below and will publish them separately; here is Labour’s.

Spending Plans 

Labour is aiming to improve living standards for working people by encouraging more investment to fund for training, skills, buildings and technology by setting out a plan of £8bn of revenue raising measures. This will change ‘non-dom’ tax status for wealthy people, clamp down on tax avoidance, apply 20% VAT on private schools and introduce a windfall tax on big energy. The money gained from this will be used for green investment, more NHS operations, mental health staff, expert teachers (they are aiming for 6,500) and smaller measures including more breakfast clubs for school students. The total spend on this will be around £5bn and a further £4bn on their prosperity plans, including GB Energy. They also claim that the tax burden is likely to return to post-war records. 

The party also wants to invest £24bn on green initiatives. Their £1.7bn a year for the Great British Energy company is intended to accelerate the roll-out of renewables and nuclear power. The aim is to create 650,000 jobs by 2030 and secure supplies of clean energy.

Housing

Labour plans to build 1.5 million new homes in five years, which means they will have to build 300,000 a year. This is brave as the country has struggled to build houses over the years: over the last 12 months, only 150,000 homes were started and over the last decade an average of 152,000 homes have been completed. The price and planning rules are going to be a problem for them too and they have failed to include how much this is going to cost, which is likely to be a huge sum. 

Education

Labour is determined to raise school standards for every child, and ensure they are prepared for the future and will end the VAT exemption and business rates relief for private schools to invest in our state schools. They want to recruit 6,500 new expert teachers into subject areas, support areas that face recruitment challenges and tackle retention issues. They will update the Early Career Framework, maintaining its grounding in evidence, and ensure any new teacher entering the classroom has, or is working towards, Qualified Teacher Status. 

The party is also adamant on promoting phonics to promote reading and writing and promoting numeracy, improving the quality of maths teaching and developing early communication skills, by funding evidence-based early-language interventions in schools and introducing consequences when development is delayed. They will also fund free breakfast clubs for students whose lives are being scarred by rising poverty and will bring down the prices of branded items of uniform and PE kit that schools can require. 

Labour will provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, so every young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. This will complement their plan for Young Futures Hubs, which will make sure every community has an open-access hub for children and young people with drop-in mental health support.

Health Care

Labour is planning to provide the country with an extra 40,000 operations, cancer scans and appointments—an estimated two million a year— with the return of the family doctor, by introducing more weekend service, employing more staff, funding more money and turning to the public sector, which all could reduce waiting lists. 

The manifesto also sets out plans to change the crisis-ridden care system in England, by working towards a National Care Service; the principle will be ‘home first’ carers to help people live independently. There will be plans for a fair agreement between staff, unions, care providers and government to improve pay, conditions and training care for workers—although, again, there is no indication of how this will be funded. 

Immigration 

Labour has said the level of net migration must be “properly controlled and managed” and committed to reduce it as part of plans set out on immigration by reforming the points-based immigration system so that it is fair, with appropriate restrictions on visas. However, they have not commented on a target or figures.