U.K. Labour Party Vows to Raise $62 Billion by Taxing Rich – Bloomberg

U.K. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn pledged to raise48.6 billion pounds ($62 billion) in taxes on businesses and the wealthy to pour more money into health, education and infrastructure.

The main opposition partys 128-page manifesto for the June 8 election promises 37 billion pounds of funding for the National Health Service, the abolition of university tuition fees and the establishment of a National Investment Bank to lend 250 billion pounds over the next decade.

Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

There will be an increase in income taxes on those earning more than 80,000 pounds a year, and another one on earnings over 123,000 pounds; a hike by a third on corporation tax and a new levy on companies paying staff more than 330,000 pounds a year.

For the last seven years our people have lived through a Britain run for the rich, the elite and the vested interest, Corbyn told a rally in Bradford, northern England, on Tuesday. Labours program will reverse our national priorities to put the interests of the many first.

On June 8, voters will be electing a new government almost a year after a slim majority of the country chose to pull Britain out of the European Union. Prime Minister Theresa May called the snap vote, citing the need to strengthen her hand for Brexit talks, and polls show her Conservatives handing Labour its worst defeat since at least 1983.

Still, Labour has enjoyed an uptick in support since a leaked draft of the manifesto last week, with voters rallying behind calls for higher income taxes on the top salaries and a promise to ban contracts that allow employers to hire staff with no guarantee of work.

If Corbyn succeeds in edging above 30 percent of the vote, he could make the case that he has matched or bettered the performance of his predecessor, Ed Miliband, and stay on as leader, something he has vowed to do regardless of the election result.

A slew of nationalizations in the rail, water and energy industries capped Labours pitch with Corbyn offering aradical and responsible plan to contrast with Mays oft-repeated selling point of strong and stable leadership. The biggest cheers for Corbyns speech at Bradford University came when he announced hed abolish university tuition fees and take control of the railways.

The Conservatives have been holding Britain back. Low investment, low wages, low growth, Corbyn said. Labour will move Britain forward with ambitious plans to unlock the countrys potential.

The party said it accepts last years referendum result for Britain to withdraw from the EU but it would scrap Mays negotiating position, prioritizing continued access to the single market and customs union.

Labour would immediately guarantee the rights of some 3 million EU citizens living in Britain, rather than making that contingent on a reciprocal guarantee for Britons abroad. It also ended its vacillation over immigration, accepting that the free movement of EU nationals to Britain would end after Brexit.

The party also promised increased regulation of taxi companies, including national standards to guarantee safety and accessibility. It said these would be updated to keep pace with technological change and ensuring a level playing field between operators, a reference to Uber Technologies Inc.

More than 24,000 words long, the document mentions taxation 38 times. Here are the key takeaways from Labours program for the next five years:

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U.K. Labour Party Vows to Raise $62 Billion by Taxing Rich - Bloomberg