People Before Profit General Election Manifesto at a glance

The party is running three candidates in the election in Northern Ireland.

(left to right) Gerry Carroll, Westminster parliamentary candidate for West Belfast, and Fiona Ferguson, Westminster parliamentary candidate for Belfast North, with Richard Boyd Barrett TD holding copies of the People Before profit General Election manifesto launch at The Mac Belfast. Picture date: Monday July 1, 2024. (PA Wire)

People Before Profit (PBP) vows to challenge inequality in a manifesto that pledges a socialist alternative to a Tory agenda.

Here, the PA news agency examines some of the policies in the party’s 13-page Manifesto for Radical Change.

Redistribution of wealth:

The party is proposing hiking corporation tax to 45% on business profits exceeding £125,000. Corporation tax in the UK is currently 25%.

It is also campaigning for the introduction of a specific wealth tax on millionaires.

PBP wants the billions of pounds spent on Trident nuclear submarines to be redirected into public services.

Workers’ rights:

The party wants to see a £15 minimum wage introduced.

It calls for a ban on zero-hour contracts and an end to the controversial “fire and rehire” practice used by some employers to let workers go and then rehire them on reduced terms and conditions.

PBP also wants a programme of nationalisation across key industries.

Health and social care:

The party wants to end privatisation within the local health service, including the use of agency-hired staff.

It also wants NHS dentistry accessible to all citizens in Northern Ireland.

Housing:

People Before Profit is seeking to establish a National Construction Agency to address housing shortages.

It also wants penalties for landlords who rent out housing deemed to be substandard.

PBP proposes that rents should be capped at 20% of a tenant’s income and that tenants should have a legal right to a minimum lease of five years.

The party wants a ban on no-fault evictions.

Other proposals:

PBP wants to lower the voting age to 16.

Give asylum seekers the right to work and vote.

Offer universal free school meals.

End academic selection.

Ban new applications for fossil fuel drilling.

PBP also pledges to be a “powerful voice for Palestine solidarity” and vows to “stand against Israel’s genocide in Gaza”.

It also restates its commitment to the end of partition on the island of Ireland and the creation of a 32-county socialist state.