Keir's 'tax trap' plan for Britain: Starmer unveils Labour's £8.5BILLION of tax rises - hitting oil and gas industry and VAT on private school fees - but Tories warn he's plotting even BIGGER secret raids on council tax, pensions and fuel

• e-mail

Keir Starmer unveiled Labour's manifesto with £8.5billion of tax rises today - as the Tories warned he is plotting even bigger raids.

Sir Keir hailed the key document at a glitzy event in Manchester, insisting it showed his party had moved on from 'dead end gesture politics' under Jeremy Corbyn and was ready for government.

With polls putting the party on track for a landslide, the content was billed as 'safety first' - including an NHS overhaul, 'nanny state' moves on junk food and a Net Zero drive. 

But details show that Labour is proposing to raise £8.5billion in extra revenue, from policies such as VAT on private school fees, ending 'Non Dom' status, increasing stamp duty for foreign buyers and a bigger windfall tax on the oil and gas industry.

The Tories said Labour's own plans implied the burden rising to 37.4 per cent of GDP - the highest in history. 

However, they also warned of a 'tax trap', pointing out that although the document does not rule out council tax revaluation, raids on capital gains tax or unfreezing fuel duty. 

The increases being openly mooted contrast to the £17billion of tax cuts proposed by Mr Sunak in the Conservative manifesto earlier in the week.  

After seeing the start of his speech disrupted by a climate protester, Sir Keir said it was now 'time to change Britain'.

He insisted the UK was 'still a great nation', but it had lacked a 'government that can match the ambition working people have'.

Sir Keir sought to make a virtue of his boring image, as he swiped at Nigel Farage's brand of politics. 'If you want politics as pantomime, I hear Clacton is nice this time of year.' 

Asked why there were no policies that had not been announced previously, he said: 'I'm running as a candidate to be Prime Minister, not a candidate to run the circus.' 

The Labour leader was riding high after being seen as coming out on top in a crucial TV showdown with Rishi Sunak last night.

In contrast to the Tory offering on Tuesday - which had no photos at all - Labour's manifesto features 33 images of the leader. 

Keir Starmer is facing fresh warnings of a Labour tax raid today after he launched the election manifesto 

Sir Keir hailed the key document at a glitzy event in Manchester

Sir Keir insisted the UK was 'still a great nation', but it had lacked a 'government that can match the ambition working people have'

A woman interrupted Sir Keir as he began laying out the plans, forcing him to stop speaking as she shouted about climate issues

Sir Keir was embraced by Labour figures including Sadiq Khan after his speech today 

Sir Keir was introduced by his deputy Angela Rayner - with whom he has had a tense relationship at times 

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves was in the audience for the key election moment

Sir Keir was introduced by his deputy Angela Rayner and Iceland's CEO Richard Walker - who until recently was trying to stand to become a Tory MP. 

Sir Keir said: 'Wealth creation is our number one priority. Growth is our core business – the end and the means of national renewal.'The mandate we seek at this election is for economic growth. This changed Labour Party has a plan for growth. We are pro-business and pro-worker, the party of wealth creation.'

Labour has already ruled out raising rates of income tax, national insurance or VAT.

The increases it is openly committed to are charging VAT on private school fees, abolishing the non-dom tax status and closing 'loopholes' in the windfall tax on oil and gas firms.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the blueprint 'doesn't include the £2,094 of tax rises they'll need to fill their £38.5billion unfunded spending commitments'.

'What's most important is not what's in Labour's manifesto, but it's what they have kept out of it,' he said.

'They are refusing to rule out taxing your job, your home, your pension, your car, your business and they think they can get away with it without anyone holding them to account. 

'Be under no illusion, from cradle to grave you will pay more taxes under Labour.'

The party's first steps also include a pledge to cut NHS waiting lists with 40,000 new appointments a week, setting up a Border Security Command, establishing GB Energy, cracking down on antisocial behaviour and hiring 6,500 teachers. 

The manifesto commits to reforming planning rules and building 1.5million new homes.

There are measures to overhaul workers' rights and a pledge to devolve decision-making away from Westminster.

On foreign policy, Labour has said it will back Ukraine against Russia and support recognising a Palestinian state as part of a Middle East peace process.

The party has also promised that it will aim to spend 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence, without saying when that would happen.

In his foreword to the document, Sir Keir said: 'We must turn the page decisively on the Conservative ideas that have caused the chaos.

'The world has become increasingly volatile, with a major war in Europe for the first time in a generation and ever greater threats to the living standards of working people.

'This 'age of insecurity' requires the government to step up, not stand aside.'

Sir Keir said Labour's task 'will not be easy'.

'Not only because there is no quick fix to the mess the Conservatives have made. But also, because their failures have sapped our collective confidence that Britain can still achieve great things.'

Sir Keir rejected that defeatism, saying: 'We are still a great nation. We can still achieve great things. What we lack as a government that can match the ambition working people have for their family and community, with a credible long-term plan.'

The Labour leader, who took over from Jeremy Corbyn following the 2019 electoral mauling the party suffered, said: 'The defining purpose of my Labour leadership has been to drag my party away from the dead end of gesture politics and return it once more to the service of working people.

Sir Keir posed for pictures with copies of the party's election manifesto this morning

'I have changed my party. Now I want the chance to bring that change to the country.'

In his launch speech, Sir Keir said Labour had produced a 'manifesto for wealth creation, a plan to change Britain', adding: 'Today we can lay a new foundation of stability and on that foundation we can start to rebuild Britain.'

Sir Keir was roasted during the Sky News programme in Grimsby last night over claims he will hike taxes, and whether he can be 'trusted' after previously backing Jeremy Corbyn. He was also berated for his 'robotic' manner.

However, YouGov research found viewers through he outperformed the PM by 64 per cent to 36 per cent - after Mr Sunak suffered an even more brutal 45-minute mauling. 

The premier was repeatedly battered over leaving D-Day commemorations early, and endured mocking laughter as he tried to defend the Tories' record on issues such as immigration.