JEREMY Corbyn has set out Labour’s “programme of hope” to reshape Britain, hiking taxes by almost £50 billion and raising borrowing by £25 billion a year to pay for better public services and create a fairer and more prosperous society.

 

Unveiling his party’s prospectus for government surrounded by loyal supporters at Bradford University, the Labour leader said he was putting forward a "manifesto for all generations"; clear red water from the Conservatives, which presents the starkest choice for voters from the two main UK parties in a generation.

 

Without offering a specific figure, the 124-page document said: “The Scottish Parliament will receive a huge funding increase from our policies and massive numbers of Scots will benefit from our plans in areas reserved to Westminster.”

 

Any increased public spending south of the border raised from taxes in England that gives a consequent boost to spending in Scotland through the Barnett Formula now has to be balanced through the intergovernmental fiscal framework; any rise in spending through the formula would see a comparable cut in Scotland’s annual block grant.

 

Kezia Dugdale, present at the launch, hailed the manifesto as a “radical programme for the country” and signalled that when she published Scottish Labour’s manifesto next week she would propose similar tax hikes for the better off in Scotland.

 

The Scottish Labour leader noted how Mr Corbyn had outlined substantial additional investment in public spending but that the fiscal framework had to be “factored in and what we do with Scottish taxes”.

 

But she noted: “What you will see undoubtedly is additional money in Scotland for public services and that’s very much to be welcomed.”

 

The manifesto also makes clear Labour’s opposition to Scottish independence and the SNP’s proposed second referendum on Scotland’s future.

 

“It is unwanted and unnecessary and we will campaign tirelessly to ensure Scotland remains part of the UK. Independence would lead to turbo-charged austerity for Scottish families.”

 

Among welfare changes, Labour says it would reform and redesign Universal Credit, ending six-week delays in payments as well as the controversial “rape clause”.

 

The Labour leader indicated he would end the freeze on welfare and the benefits cap would also be reviewed.

 

"Yes, increasing benefits is important and clearly we are not going to freeze benefits, that is very clear. We are also looking at the perverse effects of the benefit cap on people and their housing accommodation, particularly in London and the centre of our big cities," he said.

 

On Brexit, the manifesto talks of a “presumption of devolution,” where devolved powers transferred from the EU would go straight to Scotland.

 

With the campaign slogan - for the many, not the few – plastered around the launch venue and on the front cover of the manifesto itself, Mr Corbyn said his offer to the nation was "radical and responsible".

 

"We're providing hope and genuine opportunity for everybody. I say to our children, whatever the postcode you're born in, we will make sure you have the same chance as every other child."

 

The party's prospectus for power proposes extra spending of £48.6bn to pay for priorities like raising the minimum wage to £10 an hour, scrapping tuition fees in England and pumping £6 billion a year into schools and £7 billion into health and social care south of the border.

 

Railways, energy, the Royal Mail, and water companies in England would be nationalised while a new National Transformation Fund would borrow £250 billion over 10 years to pay for infrastructure improvements.

 

These would include the extension of the HS2 high-speed line to Scotland and a Crossrail for north England linking major cities.

 

While guaranteeing no hikes in VAT, personal national insurance contributions or income tax for the 95 per cent of taxpayers, the party would target the top five per cent of earners by lowering the threshold for the 45p rate of income tax from £150,000 to £80,000 and introducing a new 50p rate for earnings above £123,000. This would raise £6.4bn a year.

 

Also, companies with employees earning over £330,000 would face an "excessive pay levy" forecast to raise £1.3bn a year.

 

In the biggest tax hike, Labour would raise £19.4bn by increasing corporation tax from 19 per cent to 26 per cent by 2020/21.

 

Mr Corbyn insisted Labour's plans were fully costed, telling activists: "We can embark on this ambitious programme without jeopardising our national finances."

 

He added he was confident the public would support his programme for power, adding: “They will decide it's now time for Labour."

 

The independent Institute for Fiscal Studies think-tank noted that Labour's programme would take the tax burden to its highest level for around 70 years.

 

Although the multibillion-pound nationalisation of key industries would not officially increase the deficit, because UK Government accounts would show an equivalent increase in state assets, Stephen Martin, the Institute of Directors Director General, warned: "The costs would be staggering, the benefits unclear, and the related tax rises would make the UK a less competitive economy."

 

David Gauke, the Treasury Chief Secretary, dismissed the Labour manifesto as "nonsensical", claiming much of it was comprised of "non-funded spending proposals."

 

Angus Robertson, the SNP’s deputy leader, claimed the document was full of "headline-chasing policy announcements"; claiming many of the pledges were already being delivered in Scotland by the Nationalist Government.