Just how radical is Labour’s manifesto? | Letters
by Letters from Economics | The Guardian on (#4VN0P)
Labour's proposals are not so dramatic by international standards, writes Joe McCarthy, while Rodney Smith remembers a time when many more services were nationalised. Plus letters from Kimon Roussopoulos, Matthew Taylor, John Weeks, Asaf Mir and Alain Head
Your editorial (22 November) is right that "Labour's 2019 general election manifesto ... is its most radical in more than 35 years". But Labour's new policy initiatives are not quite so dramatic by international standards. Even if all of Jeremy Corbyn's promises are implemented, the role of the state in the UK will still be smaller than in European countries like Sweden, Norway and France.
Britain's social fabric has been worn thin to breaking point by almost a decade of savage austerity. For instance, millions now depend on food banks to make ends meet, including many in full-time work.
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