London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Jan 30, 2026

Labour unveils 'radical' plan to remake Britain

Labour unveils 'radical' plan to remake Britain

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn unveiled his party’s election manifesto on Thursday, setting out radical plans to transform Britain with public sector pay rises, higher taxes on companies and a sweeping nationalisation of infrastructure.

Voters face a stark choice at the country’s Dec. 12 election: opposition leader Corbyn’s socialist vision, including widespread nationalisation and free public services, or Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s drive to deliver Brexit within months and build a “dynamic market economy”.

Speaking in Birmingham, Corbyn set out his crowd-pleasing plans, offering something for almost everyone in Britain - from help to parents with young children to free university education and more money for elderly care.

In a speech punctuated by applause and standing ovations from supporters, he promised to stand up for ordinary people against the “bankers, billionaires and the establishment” who were fighting to keep a system “rigged in their favour”.

“Labour’s manifesto is a manifesto for hope, that is what this document is - a manifesto that will bring real change,” Corbyn said, describing his approach as the most “radical and ambitious plan” in decades.

Lagging in the polls, Corbyn hopes his message of change will drown out criticism of his Brexit stance, which even some in his party say lacks the clarity of Johnson’s vow to “get Brexit done”.

Instead, the Labour leader says he will get Brexit “sorted” in six months, with a new exit deal put to a second referendum as a way to bring the country together.

Hoping to avoid comparisons with Labour’s 1983 socialist-inspired manifesto described later by a then Labour lawmaker as “the longest suicide note in history”, Corbyn rejected suggestions he was harping back to the 1970s.

He was instead offering “a green industrial revolution”, an ambitious plan that, he said, could be paid for in part by taxing the richest in Britain.

The manifesto showed an extra 82.9 billion pounds of spending, matched by 82.9 billion pounds of revenue-raising measures.

“It’s impossible to understate just how extraordinary this manifesto is in terms of the sheer scale of money being spent and raised through taxation,” said Paul Johnson, Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies independent think-tank.

He said Labour plans to raise the revenue required from taxes on high earners and corporations were “simply not credible”.


SPEND, SPEND, SPEND

Both parties have promised to end economic austerity and spend more money on public services before the election, which will determine how, when and even whether Britain leaves the European Union.

Brandon Lewis, a Conservative minister, said Labour would go on “a reckless spending spree which would take a sledgehammer to the British economy”.

Most pollsters put the Conservatives in front, but few are prepared to predict a victor.

Labour could be in a position to form a minority government if Johnson’s Conservatives fall short of outright majority and rivals are prepared to support Corbyn as prime minister.

But to implement its manifesto in full the party would need an even bigger turnaround in the election race to claim a majority of its own. One polling expert described the chances of this as “close to zero” on current evidence.

Held after three years of negotiations to leave the EU, the December election will show how far Brexit has torn traditional political allegiances apart and test an electorate increasingly tired of voting.

Labour has put at the forefront of its campaign its attack on “vested interests”, taking aim at Johnson, who was educated at England’s elite Eton public school, has considerable personal wealth and whose party has rich backers.

Among the proposals, Labour said it would bring in a windfall tax on oil companies, de-list companies that do not contribute to tackling climate change and increase public sector pay by 5%.

The manifesto also promised to reverse privatisations begun by former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, by nationalising rail, mail, water, and BT’s broadband network to provide free internet for all.

Those pledges have been mocked by the Conservatives, with Johnson calling plans to nationalise broadband as a “crazed Communist scheme”.

While business groups welcomed investment in infrastructure, they warned many of Labour’s policies risked damaging business and the economy.

“Command and control isn’t the way,” British Chambers of Commerce Director-General Adam Marshall said.


But Corbyn is defiant.

“If the bankers, billionaires and the establishment thought we represented politics as usual, that we could be bought off, that nothing was really going to change - they wouldn’t attack us so ferociously,” he said. “But they know we mean what we say.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
China Lifts Sanctions on British MPs and Peers After Starmer Xi Talks in Beijing
Trump Nominates Kevin Warsh as Fed Chair to Reorient U.S. Monetary Policy Toward Pro-Growth Interest Rates
AstraZeneca Announces £11bn China Investment After Scaling Back UK Expansion Plans
Starmer and Xi Forge Warming UK-China Ties in Beijing Amid Strategic Reset
Tech Market Shifts and AI Investment Surge Drive Global Innovation and Layoffs
Markets Jolt as AI Spending, US Policy Shifts, and Global Security Moves Drive New Volatility
U.S. Signals Potential Decertification of Canadian Aircraft as Bilateral Tensions Escalate
Former South Korean First Lady Kim Keon Hee Sentenced to 20 Months for Bribery
Tesla Ends Model S and X Production and Sends $2 Billion to xAI as 2025 Revenue Declines
China Executes 11 Members of the Ming Clan in Cross-Border Scam Case Linked to Myanmar’s Lawkai
Trump Administration Officials Held Talks With Group Advocating Alberta’s Independence
Starmer Signals UK Push for a More ‘Sophisticated’ Relationship With China in Talks With Xi
Shopping Chatbots Move From Advice to Checkout as Walmart Pushes Faster Than Amazon
Starmer Seeks Economic Gains From China Visit While Navigating US Diplomatic Sensitivities
Starmer Says China Visit Will Deliver Economic Benefits as He Prepares to Meet Xi Jinping
UK Prime Minister Starmer Arrives in China to Bolster Trade and Warn Firms of Strategic Opportunities
The AI Hiring Doom Loop — Algorithmic Recruiting Filters Out Top Talent and Rewards Average or Fake Candidates
Amazon to Cut 16,000 Corporate Jobs After Earlier 14,000 Reduction, Citing Streamlining and AI Investment
Federal Reserve Holds Interest Rate at 3.75% as Powell Faces DOJ Criminal Investigation During 2026 Decision
Putin’s Four-Year Ukraine Invasion Cost: Russia’s Mass Casualty Attrition and the Donbas Security-Guarantee Tradeoff
Wall Street Bets on Strong US Growth and Currency Moves as Dollar Slips After Trump Comments
UK Prime Minister Traveled to China Using Temporary Phones and Laptops to Limit Espionage Risks
Google’s $68 Million Voice Assistant Settlement Exposes Incentives That Reward Over-Collection
Kim Kardashian Admits Faking Paparazzi Visit to Britney Spears for Fame in Early 2000s
UPS to Cut 30,000 More Jobs by 2026 Amid Shift to High-Margin Deliveries
France Plans to Replace Teams and Zoom Across Government With Homegrown Visio by 2027
Trump Removes Minneapolis Deportation Operation Commander After Fatal Shooting of Protester
Iran’s Elite Wealth Abroad and Sanctions Leakage: How Offshore Luxury Sustains Regime Resilience
U.S. Central Command Announces Regional Air Exercise as Iran Unveils Drone Carrier Footage
Four Arrested in Andhra Pradesh Over Alleged HIV-Contaminated Injection Attack on Doctor
Hot Drinks, Hidden Particles: How Disposable Cups Quietly Increase Microplastic Exposure
UK Banks Pledge £11 Billion Lending Package to Help Firms Expand Overseas
Suella Braverman Defects to Reform UK, Accusing Conservatives of Betrayal on Core Policies
Melania Trump Documentary Sees Limited Box Office Traction in UK Cinemas
Meta and EssilorLuxottica Ray-Ban Smart Glasses and the Non-Consensual Public Recording Economy
WhatsApp Develops New Meta AI Features to Enhance User Control
Germany Considers Gold Reserves Amidst Rising Tensions with the U.S.
Michael Schumacher Shows Significant Improvement in Health Status
Greenland’s NATO Stress Test: Coercion, Credibility, and the New Arctic Bargaining Game
Diego Garcia and the Chagos Dispute: When Decolonization Collides With Alliance Power
Trump Claims “Total” U.S. Access to Greenland as NATO Weighs Arctic Basing Rights and Deterrence
Air France and KLM Suspend Multiple Middle East Routes as Regional Tensions Disrupt Aviation
U.S. winter storm triggers 13,000-plus flight cancellations and 160,000 power outages
Poland delays euro adoption as Domański cites $1tn economy and zloty advantage
White House: Trump warns Canada of 100% tariff if Carney finalizes China trade deal
PLA opens CMC probe of Zhang Youxia, Liu Zhenli over Xi authority and discipline violations
ICE and DHS immigration raids in Minneapolis: the use-of-force accountability crisis in mass deportation enforcement
UK’s Starmer and Trump Agree on Urgent Need to Bolster Arctic Security
Starmer Breaks Diplomatic Restraint With Firm Rebuke of Trump, Seizing Chance to Advocate for Europe
UK Finance Minister Reeves to Join Starmer on China Visit to Bolster Trade and Economic Ties
×