Promises for the many – paid for by the few
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- Published: Thursday, 18 May 2017 07:37
- Written by News Editor
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The Labour Party manifesto: For the many, not the few has been launched by leader Jeremy Corbyn. Amid an array of promises for the NHS, there is a promise to make ‘a concerted effort to address poor childhood oral health in England’. There are also proposals to start the 45% tax band at £80,000 and a 50% tax band at £123,000.
The tax proposals have been criticised by the Institute for Fiscal Studies who have queried Labour’s claim that their tax changes would raise as much as £6.4 billion. There would not be enough to fund the NHS, scrapping of tuition fees and more cash for schools and childcare. The renationalisation of the Royal Mail, Railways, the National Grid and Water Companies (which was added at the launch).
There are also proposals to ‘clamp down on bogus self-employment’ which could affect the 85% of GDPs who are associates, by making a legal assumption that they are employed ‘unless the employer can prove otherwise’ and involving trades unions ‘in enforcement.’
On the NHS labour will ‘scrap the NHS pay cap’ and put pay decisions back into the hands of ‘the independent pay review bodies’. They will commit to over £30 billion in extra funding for the NHS, paid for by increasing income tax ‘for the highest 5% of earners’, increasing tax on private medical insurance and halving the fees paid to management consultants.
They will increase funding to GP services and halt pharmacy cuts (but no mention of dental services). Labour ‘will invest in children’s health and introduce a new Index of Child Health, to include dental health. They will publish a new childhood obesity strategy, with proposals on advertising and food labelling as well as implementing the sugar tax. Labour will make ‘a concerted effort to address poor childhood oral health in England.’
Labour will ‘reverse privatisation of our NHS and return our health service into expert public control’. They will ‘reinstate the powers of the Secretary of State for Health to have overall responsibility for the NHS.’
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