Labour is launching its general election manifesto, which includes plans for a windfall tax on oil firms.
Leader Jeremy Corbyn said it was “a manifesto of hope” and promised “a green transformation” of the economy.
But a party conference pledge to make the UK zero carbon by 2030 has been watered down.
The manifesto sets out plans to bring rail, mail, water and energy into public ownership, as well as for more housing and free public transport.
Other policies include:
- Scrapping the planned rise in the pension age beyond 66 and reviewing the retirement age of those in hard manual jobs
- Introducing a financial transaction tax, an excessive pay levy and a second homes tax
- Scrapping higher education tuition fees
- Reversing inheritance tax cuts and imposing VAT on private school fees
- Giving EU nationals living in UK the automatic right to stay
Speaking in Birmingham, Mr Corbyn insisted Labour’s policies were fully costed and “popular” – but there has been internal controversy over the idea of a one-off tax on the oil industry.
Some trade union officials fear it would damage Scotland’s North Sea Oil industry.
Mr Corbyn is promising to set up a £250bn Green Transformation Fund – to be paid for through borrowing – to fund 300,000 new “green apprenticeships” and loans for people to buy electric cars.
In September, Labour’s annual conference passed a motion urging the party to commit to make the UK carbon neutral by 2030 – matching the Green Party’s key general election pledge.
But the wording of the pledge was watered down, following complaints from trade unions and others in the Labour movement who feared it was impossible to meet.
Labour calls its manifesto the “most radical and ambitious plan to transform our country in decades”.
It includes a pledge for more cash for the NHS if the party wins the 12 December general election, paid for by taxing higher earners and borrowing.
Labour’s Brexit plan, including another referendum, is set out.
Mr Corbyn also promised the biggest affordable house building in decades – including 100,000 new council houses a year by 2024.
Local authorities would also be given more powers over schools in their area.
Among the other policies confirmed at the launch are:
- A “real living wage” of at least £10 an hour – including for younger workers
- The creation of one million “green jobs” to tackle climate change
- Free broadband for all delivered by part-nationalising BT
The Labour leader said it was a “manifesto of hope”, adding: “Over the next three weeks, the most powerful people in Britain and their supporters are going to tell you that everything in this manifesto is impossible.
“That it’s too much for you. Because they don’t want real change. Why would they? The system is working just fine for them. It’s rigged in their favour.
“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. Why bother?
“But they know we mean what we say. They know we will deliver our plans, which is why they want to stop us being elected.”
The party is hoping its manifesto will help it get back into power for the first time since 2010, but the opinion polls so far suggest it is heading for defeat on 12 December.
Labour is locked in a battle with the Conservatives – who are also promising to borrow money to spend on public services – in seats across the Midlands and the north of England.
