Focus on: business and the economy

Labour will have two fiscal rules: a balanced budget, with day-to-day costs met by revenues, and a requirement that debt should be falling as a share of the economy within five years. The Bank of England’s inflation target will continue to be set at 2%.

There will be no increase in income tax rates, National Insurance contributions, value added tax or corporation tax. The business rates system will be replaced, to level the playing field between high-street businesses and online retailers. Performance-related pay in the private equity industry will be taxed as income, rather than as capital gains.

A new Industrial Strategy Council, with representation from business, trade unions and the regions, will advise on economic policy and develop a National Industrial Strategy. There will be a new statutory requirement for local growth plans. A new National Wealth Fund will channel public investment in business. The British Business Bank will be reformed, to make it easier for small and medium-sized enterprises to access capital.

Labour will establish a National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority, which will develop a ten-year infrastructure strategy, aligned with the industrial strategy and regional development priorities. This will oversee the design, scope and delivery of projects. The planning regime and policy will be updated, so that major projects can be delivered more quickly and cheaply.

Road maintenance will be improved, and the phase-out date for sales of new cars with internal combustion engines will be restored to 2030. The railways will be returned to public ownership under a new body, Great British Railways. There will be new powers for local authorities to create integrated local transport systems.

The national industrial strategy will support the growth of the AI sector, and there will be binding regulation for companies developing the most powerful AI models. Labour will set ten-year budgets for key research and development institutions, and a new Regulatory Innovation Office will update regulation and speed up approvals.

Targeted trade agreements, aligning with the industrial strategy, will be negotiated, and a new trade strategy will include the highest standards for food production. Labour supports implementation of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s global minimum rate of corporate taxation. A new strategic partnership and free trade agreement will be sought with India. Co-operation with partners across the Gulf will be deepened. A new approach will be taken to Africa. Labour will work to tackle corruption and money laundering, including in the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands.

Development spending will be restored to 0.7% of gross national income as soon as fiscal circumstances allow. Development work will be closely aligned with the UK’s foreign policy aims, co-ordinated to tackle global poverty, instability and the climate and nature crisis.

Labour considers the special relationship with the US to be crucial for the UK’s security and prosperity. Britain’s relationship with the EU will be reset, but there will be no return to the single market, the customs union or freedom of movement. Labour will negotiate a veterinary agreement and provide assistance to touring artists and service exporters. The UK will remain a member of the European Convention on Human Rights. Labour is fully committed to the trilateral Aukus partnership with Australia and the US. The sovereignty and right to self-determination of the British overseas territories, including the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar, will be defended. In the Middle East, Labour is committed to a renewed peace process resulting in a two-state solution, with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state.