The Labour party has released a radical manifesto (what is called in the US a party platform) for the December 12th election and this article discusses its main features.
The Labour leader has launched the most radical and potentially transformative manifesto published by a mainstream party in decades in what is potentially a make-or-break moment for his party in the election campaign. The plans in the 105-page document (pdf) would fundamentally reset the relationship between the state, citizens and business, adding about £80bn to the amount government spends every year by the end of the next parliament, taking tax levels to their highest sustained numbers since the end of the second world war, unleashing a blizzard of investment and providing citizens with a plethora of attractive services, like free full-fibre broadband, free university tuition, free adult learning, free personal care, free prescriptions and free dental check-ups.
You can read the full manifesto here and a more detailed analysis of it here.
Here are the highlights from a speech given by Jeremy Corbyn when the manifesto was released.
I hope a Brit comments soon. As a Kraut, I say this looks like the usual bullshite from ‘social democratic’ friends of the folks that matter, e.g. the billionaires.
We’ll give you WiFi, instead of union rights 🙂
Are British party manifestos any more meaningful than the US party platforms?
wereatheist @2: Where did you get that idea from? From the manifesto;
Whether you believe it is another matter…
Interesting move. A sop, not entirely without good intentions, and from the traditional Labor song book, that might preempt a try by Johnson to lean into Brexit with their own sop for the little people. If history serves such offers tend to evaporate when the conservatives have got what they want and the choice is between substantially easing the burden on the lower classes or providing a minuscule gesture of favor to their very wealthy constituency.
Labor doing this might give them a leg up and thwart Johnson’s rush to Brexit. Labor might then call for a second Brexit vote, push hard under the table to stay. If that succeeds they harmonize with the EU and the ongoing press to eliminate offshore secret accounts and tax havens, Bahamas and Cayman Islands primarily for England, continues. It goes full circle if the hidden money gets taxed and the income is used to cover the costs of the increased benefits.
lorn, it’s ‘Labour, as it’s a proper name you shouldn’t remove the ‘u’ any more than I should put an ‘e’ in ‘lorne’
I’m cool with you adding an ‘e’. As long as I can follow. I’m just not that sensitive.
That said, thanks for the input. I’ll try to remember. Labour is a proper noun, got it. I may be too old to remember but I’m not too old to learn.
The point is communication, as in the transfer of ideas. Typos, misspelled words, poor grammar, don’t bother me much. With the exception of confusion over ‘less’ and ‘fewer’. It is a pet peeve of mine and grates on my nerves like fingernails on a chalkboard for most people. (Ironically the whole fingernails-chalkboard thing has never bothered me. A friend broke several nails and unnerved herself with the sound trying to get to me. ) But even there, I tend to just grit my teeth and let it slide.
I think that Labour (caught it that time) versus Tory fight is really a simple fight over class and the will of the billionaires, and millionaires who cater to them, versus the needs of the other 90%. Corbyn is, IMHO, claiming neutrality on Brexit to make the choice, at least for now, less about Brexit and more about class/wealth. Once seated he will call for another Brexit vote and, now that the powers and motivations are known, and the main reasons for have been shown to be false, the Brits may go the other way.
I believe in free markets and capitalism but both have their limitations. Particularly if they are not regulated in such a way as to force direct competition and accountability for ‘externalities’.