Labour draft manifesto pledges to strengthen workers' rights; nationalise rail, mail
Document leaked a week before official publication
A draft of Labour's General Election manifesto was leaked on Thursday, revealing pledges to renationalise the railways and strengthen workers' rights.
The document, seen by several media outlets, is due to be signed off by Labour's executive committee on Thursday ahead of official publication next week.
It also includes plans to renationalise Royal Mail, parts of the energy industry and scrap university tuition fees.
Most of the pledges will come as no surprise, and many have been reported before. Some will have support among voters who feel that corporate powers need to be curbed to protect consumers and workers need a fairer deal in a climate of low wage growth and zero hours contracts.
The draft pledges to repeal the 2016 Trade Union Act, brought in by David Cameron’s administration, which created a threshold for workers voting in strike ballots for action to be legal.
A 20 point plan on employment rights also promised to scrap the public sector pay cap, reintroduce national pay bargaining and ban zero-hours employment contracts.
It includes introducing sectoral collective bargaining, where industries can negotiate agreement as a whole, and a guarantee of access to trade union rights in the workplace.
Labour also wants to move the "burden of proof" in the so-called "gig economy" so that the law assumes a worker is an employee unless the employer can prove otherwise.
On health, the NHS would receive an extra £6bn via a 5% tax rise on the highest earners, according to the draft.
There would also be at least one publicly-owned supplier in every region of the country, with the government controlling the transmission and distribution grids. A price cap of £1,000 a year would be placed on gas and electricity bills.
On Brexit, Labour would accept the EU referendum result and "build a close new relationship with the EU" prioritising jobs and and workers' rights. It would also try to agree a transitional arrangements to avoid the economy going over the “cliff edge”.
The rights of EU nationals living in the UK would be guaranteed while a Labour government would seek reciprocal rights" for UK citizens in the EU.
Labour would also keep EU laws on workers' rights, equality, consumer rights and environmental protections, the draft stated.