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A8 WORLD NEWS
Friday 22 November 2019
UK Labour party vows radical changes if it wins Dec. 12 vote

By JILL LAWLESS ies, an economic think
Associated Press tank, called the scale of
LONDON (AP) — Britain's Labour's financial promises
main opposition Labour "colossal" and said the idea
Party promised Thursday it could be paid for without
to radically expand public raising taxes on most work-
spending and state own- ers was "simply not cred-
ership if it wins the Dec. 12 ible."
election, trying to close a Business groups reacted
persistent opinion-poll gap more cautiously to Labour's
with the governing Conser- plans.
vatives. British Chambers of Com-
The party said a Labour merce chief Adam Mar-
government would na- shall said businesses would
tionalize Britain's railways, "welcome proposals to re-
energy utilities and postal form skills funding, upgrade
system, cap rents, hike the our failing infrastructure
minimum wage and abol- and review business rates."
ish university tuition fees. "But command and con-
Labour leader Jeremy Cor- trol isn't the way," he said.
byn called the platform a "Excessive intervention in
"manifesto of hope." Critics President of the European Council Donald Tusk leaves after his speech at the European Peoples business governance and
called it a pipe dream. Party (EPP) congress in Zagreb, Croatia, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019. sweeping tax rises would
Prime Minister Boris Johnson Associated Press suppress innovation and
pushed for Britain to hold parture from the European been jettisoned by both The costly new policies smother growth."
the December election, Union and onto the coun- Conservative and Labour would funded by raising Edwin Morgan, director
which is taking place more try's fraying social fabric, governments since the taxes on the wealthy, in- of policy at the Institute of
than two years early, in stressed after a decade of 1980s. cluding a higher corpora- Directors, warned that "La-
hopes of winning a majority austerity measures under "Yes, it is a radical mani- tion tax, a windfall tax on bour's measures on busi-
and breaking Britain's politi- Conservative-led govern- festo," Corbyn said. "But oil and gas companies and ness risk being too much
cal impasse over Brexit. All ments. when you travel around an income tax increase for stick and not enough car-
650 seats in the House of The platform unveiled this country and you talk those earning more than rot."
Commons are up for grabs. Thursday at a rally in Bir- to people, radical answers 80,000 pounds ($104,000) a Corbyn, who spent de-
Labour's ambitious mani- mingham, central England, are what's necessary." year. "None of this has any cades on Labour's left-
festo is an attempt to shift revives policies of nation- Labour promised to build economic credibility what- wing fringe before winning
the focus of the campaign alization and central gov- 150,000 new public housing ever," said Johnson, who the party leadership in
from Britain's stalled de- ernment control that have units a year and to create labeled Labour's policies 2015 thanks to a surge in
hundreds of thousands of "ruinous." grassroots support, said his
"green jobs" to combat cli- The Conservatives, howev- policies would be popular
mate change by expand- er, also are promising more with the public. He com-
ing renewable energy and money for infrastructure, pared himself to U.S. Presi-
cutting carbon emissions. health care and public dent Franklin D. Roosevelt,
The party also says it will services if they win, a ma- whose "New Deal" helped
part-privatize telecoms jor change of policy after tackle the Great Depres-
provider BT and bring free years of backing public sion, saying that Roosevelt
broadband internet ac- spending cuts. "had to take on the rich
cess to every home and Paul Johnson, who heads and powerful in America to
business in Britain. the Institute for Fiscal Stud- do it."q

Key European group mulls status of

Hungary's ruling party

By DUSAN STOJANOVIC an Council president, was "This is not the first time when
Associated Press elected the new president I expressed my opinion
ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — of the pan-European party about illiberal democracy
The new president of the Wednesday at a two-day and this is, if I understand,
European People's Party on congress in Zagreb, Croa- the new main idea of Vik-
Thursday denounced Hun- tia. tor Orban," Tusk said. "I think
garian Prime Minister Viktor The center-right EPP is the we have to be very deter-
Orban's "illiberal" policies dominant group at the Eu- mined in fighting against
and said the status of Or- ropean Parliament, an um- this kind of idea."
ban's populist party within brella party for many na- During his opening state-
the influential group will be tional parties. Fidesz's mem- ment at the EPP congress on
decided early next year. bership was temporarily Wednesday, Tusk launched
Donald Tusk said a decision suspended in March before a scathing attack against
on whether Orban's Fidesz the EU elections in May due "political populists, manipu-
party will be allowed to stay to alleged violations of the lators and autocrats" within
in the group will be made rule of law. Orban is widely the group's ranks.
in January after EPP finishes seen as an autocrat who However, not everyone in
an internal investigation. has rolled back democra- the EPP agrees with Tusk's
Tusk, the outgoing Europe- cy in his country. position.q