LABOUR ELECTION MANIFESTO PROMISES REFERENDUM ON EU MEMBERSHIP WITHIN SIX MONTHS

By Shirin Aguiar • Published: 21 Nov 2019 • 14:34

It's Time for Real Change: Labour party manifesto 2019

JEREMY Corbyn’s Labour government would hold a “legally binding” referendum on EU membership within six months of coming to power.

Delivering Labour’s manifesto in Birmingham on Thursday November 21, Mr Corbyn said his party “will rip up the deeply flawed deal negotiated by Boris Johnson” and negotiate a new one within three months, while promising to safeguard Britain’s trading.

The manifesto, called ‘It’s Time for Real Change,’ has been billed as the most left-wing election manifesto in a generation. Labour called it a radical manifesto.

Labour is promising a “green industrial revolution” to deliver a million jobs. It’s “green new deal” aims to substantially reduce greenhouse gas reductions by 2030.

It plans a new windfall tax on oil and gas companies aimed at raising more than £11bn, with the money used to help retrain 37,000 workers in the industry to “make the transition to a clean economy.”

Labour also plans to nationalise water companies, the railways, Royal Mail, National Grid, private finance initiative schemes and Outreach, BT’s broadband arm.

The manifesto said a Labour government would not grant permission for a referendum on Scottish independence “in the early years” of being in power.

Labour manifesto promises:

Free personal at-home care in England for over-65s who need it most
Reviewing the retirement age for people in hard manual jobs
Bringing in a second homes tax
Free broadband for all, delivered by part-nationalising BT
A pledge to renew the Trident nuclear deterrent and spend at least 2% of GDP on defence
A pledge to reduce all primary school classes to fewer than 30 children
£75bn for 150,000 new council and social homes a year, within five years
Introduce a “real living wage” of at least £10-an-hour, end zero hours contracts and strengthen trade union rights
Reversing inheritance tax cuts and imposing VAT on private school fees
Granting EU nationals living in UK the automatic right to stay
A £3bn plan to offer adults in England free access to retraining
An increase in the length of statutory maternity pay from nine months to a year