Labour has pledgedto put 10,000 additional police on to the streets of England and Wales in a policy designed to challenge the Conservatives in their own political territory of law and order.
Jeremy Corbyn will promise on Tuesday to fund the extra “bobbies on the beat” by reversing Tory cuts to capital gains tax (CGT) if he wins next month’s general election.
Conservative plans to go ahead with the cut to the higher rate of CGT from 28% to 20% and basic rate from 18% to 10% announced in last year’s budget would cost public services more than £2.7bn over five years, a Labour spokesman said.
The Tories have dismissed the policing proposal as “nonsensical” and claim Labour has already committed the same savings to fund other pledges.
The shadow home secretary, Diane Abbott, rejected that charge as “completely misleading”.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, she said: “We are saying specifically what we will use the £2.7bn we’ll save from reversing the capital gains tax [cut]. We are going to use it specifically on funding the 10,000 extra policemen.”
Asked how Labour would pay for increases in arts funding and welfare and boosting the number of teachers, which the party has also suggested it would fund through reversing the cut to CGT, Abbot said: “We were explaining the types of tax cuts for the rich we could reverse. We will come to how we fund those things in due course. You will find it all out when we announce our manifesto.”
She added:”The Police Federation say that austerity is causing real issues and forces are struggling to cope. We see in the Metropolitan police that gun crime is up by 42%, knife crime is up by 24%. So we think community policing is part of the answer to dealing with the rise in certain categories of violent crime.”
Under Labour’s plan, funding would be provided for the 43 forces in England and Wales to recruit 10,000 additional officers in community policing roles – the equivalent of one officer for every electoral ward.
At a campaign event in Southampton on Tuesday, Corbyn will attack cuts to policing under the Tories, with a 20,000 fall in officer numbers since the Conservatives came to power in 2010.
“Cutting police numbers especially when there is more crime to deal with is unacceptable,” he will say. “The safety of our communities is vital to us all.
“Community policing means uniformed officers being visible, local and accessible. They engage with the public, have a detailed local knowledge and build a network of relationships.”
At the same event, Abbott will say Theresa May failed to protect communities as home secretary and has continued to fail them as prime minister.
The Conservatives criticised Labour’s plans, saying it had already promised to spend the CGT savings on schools, welfare and the arts. Brandon Lewis, the policing minister, said: “This is just another nonsensical Jeremy Corbyn idea, which he can’t pay for because his sums don’t add up and he’s already spent the money for it three other ways.
“Jeremy Corbyn promises all sorts of things, but we all know he can’t deliver. He and his supporters want to take away the powers the police need to keep us safe.”
Labour’s policy announcements follow previous pledges to reintroduce sector-by-sector pay deals and impose a maximum ratio of 20:1 between the best and worst-paid employees in public sector bodies and in companies bidding for public contracts.
On Monday, the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, criticised May’s leadership as “wrong and feeble”, turning her campaign slogan “strong and stable” on its head.
Speaking to journalists after addressing demonstrators in London’s Trafalgar Square on international workers’ day, he said: “We’re finding that just as she refused to debate with Jeremy, this concept of a ‘strong and stable’ leader, she’s demonstrating that actually, she’s not strong, she’s wrong. As for stable, pretty feeble.”
The staunch Corbyn ally laughed off questions about the former Labour leader Tony Blair’s return to politics, but he welcomed the contributions of Labour 20 years ago.
Listing Labour policies he supported under Blair including the introduction of the national minimum wage, McDonnell said: “You build upon the foundations of that era. I was elected in ‘97 and we did some fantastic things.
“What we’re advocating now is building on what Labour did in power in that period and then moving it on to address the issues we’re now facing.”
Outside Corbyn’s tight circle of shadow cabinet members, Labour party stalwarts continue to shy away from offering unconditional support to their leader.
The former chancellor Alistair Darling refused to provide a rousing endorsement while supporting the party’s sole Scottish MP, Ian Murray. Asked directly if he backed Corbyn, he told the Guardian: “He is the leader, and he’s the leader right up until the general election. You know where I stand on that.
“My view is that we are fighting in a general election campaign, you know, leaders come and go, it’s important we get the best possible result for the country and that means having a sensible, sizeable opposition who can actually make a difference.”
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Nick Clegg will on Tuesday address the supposed “Brexit squeeze” and its impact on consumers at a meeting in central London.
The former Lib Dem leader and deputy prime minister will criticise May’s pursuit of a hard Brexit and Corbyn’s inept opposition.
“My argument today is simple: our country cannot thrive without a strong economy,” he will say. “We can’t have a strong economy and a hard Brexit.
“Theresa May alone is responsible for pursuing this course. It is already hurting the very people who need most help in society. So the question in this election is this: who will hold Theresa May accountable for the economic harm she will inflict on Britain?”