General election: Corbyn promises 10 new national parks in green manifesto
The Labour leader also promises more flood defences, one million green jobs, a halt to the badger cull and end to the sale of fur.
Thursday 28 November 2019 20:57, UK
Jeremy Corbyn has promised a Labour government would plant two billion trees and create 10 national parks.
Launching the party's "radical and innovative" green manifesto in Southampton, the Labour leader said his party would plant two billion trees by 2040, starting with three million in its first term.
Labour said it would commit to spending £3.7bn on capital investment for the planting programme and habitat restoration.
Fruit orchards would be among the mixed species to create biodiversity and cut down on the number of miles fruit has to be transported, he said.
Mr Corbyn did not answer questions about how that many trees could physically be planted, but said there was enough land to do so.
He also promised that in Labour's first term the party would create 10 new national parks on top of the 15 existing ones, so most people "would be within 30 minutes" of a large green space.
The Malvern Hills, Chiltern Hills, Lincolnshire Wolds, the north and south Pennines, coastal Suffolk and Dorset, the Cotswolds and Wessex would be included, he added.
New parks would be funded by an additional £75m to the existing national parks budget, Mr Corbyn said.
Labour estimates the programme would create 20,000 of the one million green jobs it has pledged as part of a "green industrial revolution".
"Massive public investment in renewable energy and green technology is needed," he said.
Labour also promised:
- The rest of the one million green jobs would include reforesting, making new electric vehicles and making wind turbines
- Flood defence investment, especially in northwest Yorkshire and the East Midlands
- Upstream river and flood plain management
- A halt to the badger cull
- An end to the sale of fur
- To stop the use of snares
- To never allow fox hunting
- A new Clean Air Act for cleaner transport and clean air zones around schools.
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Mr Corbyn used his green manifesto launch to again accuse the Conservative Party of being in advanced talks with the US to "sell the " as part of a trade deal, after first launching the accusations on Wednesday.
Health secretary Matt Hancock told Sky News on Thursday a government would "walk away" from trade talks with the US if Washington insisted on including access to the NHS in discussions.
He said the NHS is "not on the table" in a post-Brexit free trade agreement.
His comments came as leading economic think-tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said both the Conservatives and Labour have failed to put forward a "properly credible prospectus" for their spending plans.
The IFS said it was "highly likely" a Tory government would end up spending more than planned, while it cast doubt on Labour's promise to "ramp up" investment levels by £55bn a year.
As the IFS gave its damning verdict, a new poll by MRP - which successfully predicted the 2017 hung parliament - said the Conservatives will win an overall majority of 68.
The poll, for The Times, said the Conservatives will win 359 seats while Labour will win 211 - a loss of 51 MPs.
Following the poll's release there was talk across the Labour Party of a need to change campaign tactics to focus on its heartland areas in the North of England and the Midlands, where communities voted to leave the EU in 2016.
However, shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner said he has had "no discussions" about a switch from fighting off Tory gain in constituencies such as Great Grimsby and Bolsover.
Also today, the DUP launched its manifesto, which included raising the powersonal tax allowance in line with inflation, abolishing the BBC licence fee and considering an energy interconnector with Iceland for its geo-thermal energy.
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