Following the release of Labour's manifesto this morning Matthew Lesh, Head of Research at the Adam Smith Institute dives into the manifesto and finds the costs go beyond the costings, and the divisive language used at the launch gives lie to the claim that Corbyn will bring the country together:

“Jeremy Corbyn’s little red book is the most backwards-looking, self-destructive manifesto in Labour’s history. Tens of billions of pounds in higher taxes will scare away entrepreneurs and red tape that will strangle business of all sizes. Everyone will be poorer. Labour is on nobody’s side.

“A higher income tax rate on the rich will scare away job-creating entrepreneurs, higher corporate taxes will discourage businesses from locating and starting in the UK, taxing capital gains and dividends will discourage investment in our economy. Ending tuition fees will mean the poor subsidising the university education of the rich and successful. Rent controls will close our great cities to new occupants with decade-long waiting lists, and discourage house building. Mass social housing will see people stuck in their local area paying rent to landlord Corbyn for their whole lives while crowding out private building that’s just starting to pick up. Scrapping Universal Credit, without any plans for an alternative, will cost billions and encourage welfare dependency. Nationalising everything from the postal service to broadband will cost hundreds of billions, destroy the value of your pension, and lower the quality provided.

“Labour’s industrial relations plans could take us back to the days of double-digit unemployment. The ‘four day work week’ means forcing people to work less and earn less income. Introducing sectorial collective bargaining will leave everyone at the mercy of unions, leaving workers with less choice and fewer job opportunities. Banning ‘zero-hour contracts’ will leave millions of workers with less flexibility at work and threatens Britain's jobs miracle of the past decade."

For further comment or to arrange an interview please contact matt@adamsmith.org, ring 07904099599 or 02072224995.