Corbyn launches Labour election manifesto

(21 Nov 2019) Britain’s main opposition Labour Party launched its detailed platform for Britain’s December 12 election on Thursday as it tried to close an opinion-poll gap with the governing Conservatives. The left-of-center party is pledging higher public spending and a greater role for the state in housing, transport and the provision of utilities. The party is also vowing to tackle climate change and invest in green industries. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told supporters his party would get Brexit sorted in six months with a better deal than the one secured by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, then hold a new referendum with a choice between leaving the EU on those terms or remaining. Corbyn also accused Johnson of including the UK's National Health Service in trade negotiations with the United States and pledged to never sell it out. Labour, which has been in opposition since 2010, has shifted sharply to the left under Corbyn after the centrist “New Labour” years of former prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The party says Thursday’s election manifesto will include pledges to build 150,000 new homes a year for social rent and to create hundreds of thousands of "green jobs" to combat climate change by expanding renewable energy and cutting carbon emissions. The Conservatives accuse Labour of reckless spending and outmoded socialist ideas. But, in a major change of policy after years of public spending cuts, the Conservatives are also promising more money for infrastructure, health care and public services if they win the election. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...