The opposition Labour Party yesterday pledged to mobilise financial resources on a scale not seen since the post-World War II reconstruction, promising a shorter working week and higher public spending with an eye on an early election.
Labour is hoping to use the Brexit chaos engulfing Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government to win control of Britain’s $2.8tn economy at a national election expected to be called later this year.
Presenting himself as finance minister in waiting at Labour’s annual conference in Brighton, veteran left-winger John McDonnell set out how he would reshape the pro-business, free-market orthodoxy that has guided the country for decades.
“We’re mobilising financial resources on a scale not seen since the post-war reconstruction to achieve the twin goals of a sustainable future and a better today,” he said.
The 68-year-old, once considered to be at one extreme of Britain’s political spectrum after a lifetime spent campaigning to tear up the capitalist system, is now seen by investors as a possible custodian of the world’s fifth-largest economy.
The Labour Party’s plans for widespread nationalisation, higher public spending, higher taxes and forcing large corporations to give workers shares, have provoked deep concern among investors and business lobby groups.
But with Johnson fighting a battle to keep his divided party together over Brexit and huge uncertainty over how and when Britain will leave the European Union — if it ever does — the result of a national election is hard to predict.
McDonnell’s most eye-catching policy announcement was a pledge to reduce the average working week to 32 hours within a decade from its current level of about 37 hours, as measured by the Office for National Statistics.
“It will be a shorter working week with no loss of pay,” McDonnell said to loud cheers from party members gathered in the seaside resort.
Labour said this could be achieved by boosting the power of collective bargaining, raising holiday entitlements and ending a British opt out from European directives on how many hours people can work per week.
McDonnell repeated Labour’s promise to hold a second referendum on leaving the European Union, warning that Johnson’s government was fuelling uncertainty and undermining democracy with its Brexit policy.
He also pledged to pump billions into the country’s social care system, primarily to provide the elderly with free assistance for basic tasks such as cooking meals and bathing.