Why should I vote Labour? Where Corbyn stands on the NHS, Brexit, immigration and other key issues

What are Labour's key policies and do they add up?

If Jeremy Corbyn becomes Prime Minister next week, he has promised to nationalise rail and energy companies and abolish tuition fees (Getty Images)

The personality politics of Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May aside, these are policies the Labour Party has promised to pursue in office.

The party would tell you that if you want to tuition fees abolished, train companies privatised and to at least keep open the possibility of staying in the single market, then you should vote Labour, rather than the Conservatives.

Here are the other policy positions and promises they are making:

Brexit

Labour is committed to leaving the European Union but would have different negotiating priorities to the Conservatives. It has said it would have a “strong emphasis” on staying in the single market and the customs union.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and leading figures in Brussels have been unambiguous that membership of the single market is impossible without free movement.

Immigration

The party would drop “bogus immigration targets” but move to a managed system of migration favoured by many leave voters. It has said this “may include employer sponsorship, work permits, visa regulations or a tailored mix of all these”.

The economy

Labour’s manifesto commits to balance government spending with the amount raised by taxation, which can mean little more than significant tax increases. The greatest burden will fall on higher earners but they cannot meet demand on their own.

It has also promised to bring rail companies back in to public ownership and cap fares. The party would also renationalise Royal Mail.

It also promises a “transition” to publicly owned energy.

Tax

No one earning under £80,000 would pay any more in national insurance or income tax.

It would raise corporation tax, from the current low of 19p to 26p. This higher rate would still be a competitive internationally, but the government is currently fighting hard to attract business in the wake of Brexit and they say a low corporation tax rate is crucial.

Labour would also lower the top, 45p income tax threshold to £80,000. In theory, this could raise £7bn, but only if higher earnings did not decide to move abroad.

NHS

Labour has promised more money for GP services, free hospital parking for patients, staff and visitors, and to take a million people off NHS waiting lists by guaranteeing treatment within eighteen weeks.

These promises will be expensive to keep, and there is no certainty that the party’ s commitment to raising taxes on higher earners, increasing capital gains tax and reversing cuts to corporation tax will be enough to meet the need.

Education

The party has pledged to abolish university tuition fees and reintroduce maintenance grants and give free school meals to all schoolchildren.

Housing

Labour’s manifesto commits to building 1m new homes, and would introduce controls on rent rises for private renters.

It would also scrap the so-called bedroom tax.

The Environment

Labour would ban fracking, but, crucially, also supports new nuclear projects.

It would also introduce a new Clean Air Act to deal with illegal air quality

Defence

Its manifesto says it is committed to the NATO target of 2 per cent spending on defence. It is also committed to the renewal of Trident, even though Jeremy Corbyn has spent a lifetime campaigning against it.