LABOUR has promised a new deal for workers as the party's election manifesto has been launched. 

The party has pledged to create a partnership between business and trade unions with it's New Deal for Working People, including moves to ban "exploitative" zero hours contracts. 

The manifesto says Labour will consult with businesses, workers and civic society on how to put the party’s plans into practice before legislation is passed.

Legislation will be introduced within 100 days of a Labour government, a promise eagerly awaited by trade unions which have been pressing the party to make urgent changes to the world of work.

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They said the changes will improve the lives of working people across the entire UK.

The document says: "This will include banning exploitative zero-hours contracts, ending fire and rehire; and introducing basic rights from day one to parental leave, sick pay, and protection from unfair dismissal.

"We will strengthen the collective voice of workers, including through their trade unions, and create a Single Enforcement Body to ensure employment rights are upheld."

Speaking at the launch of the manifesto in Manchester, Keir Starmer said voters had the chance to “turn the page decisively” on 14 years of “Conservative chaos” as he set out Labour’s plan for government.

The manifesto did not contain any surprise announcements beyond what Starmer has already set out but is aimed at reassuring voters that Labour can be trusted to grow the economy and "begin the work of national renewal". 

It confirmed Labour's pledge not to raise income tax, VAT or national insurance and to cap corporation tax at its current 25% rate.

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In his foreword to the document, Starmer said: “We must turn the page decisively on the Conservative ideas that have caused the chaos.

“The world has become increasingly volatile, with a major war in Europe for the first time in a generation and ever greater threats to the living standards of working people.

“This ‘age of insecurity’ requires the government to step up, not stand aside.”

The manifesto spells out Labour's plans to raise £7billion in taxes, with £5.2billion to come from closing loopholes for non-domiciled people and cracking down on tax avoidance schemes.

It says £1.5 billion would come from imposing VAT and business rates on private schools, with the rest from closing a carried interest loophole and increasing stamp duty on purchases of residential property by non-UK residents by 1%.

The party pledged to reinstate the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars, claiming this would provide "certainty to manufacturers". 

The move would reverse the decision of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in September last year to delay the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans in the UK from 2030 to 2035.

Labour has also pledged to scrap the "wasteful" Rwanda Scheme and use the savings to set up the Border Security Command, which would improve counter-terror powers and crack down on people smugglers.

Alongside this, a new returns enforcement unit, with 1000 additional staff, will be established to fast-track the removal of asylum seekers, who do not have the right to be in the UK, to safe countries.

Starmer admitted that challenges faced by Britain would not “disappear overnight” under a Labour government.

Highlighting issues including problems getting on the property ladder and tooth decay among children, he said: “We don’t have a magic wand.

“But what we do have, what this manifesto represents, is a credible long-term plan.

“A plan built on a stable foundation with clear first steps.”