Corbyn Promises to Create 1 Million `Good' U.K. Jobs in 5 Years

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn pledged to create more than 1 million “good quality” jobs across Britain if his party wins next week's election, leveraging off investment in infrastructure, research and development and environmental technologies.

“When Labour talks about job creation, we mean decent jobs, jobs which pay a real living wage, which people can get by on, and which give people a sense of pride and purpose,” Corbyn said in a statement emailed by his party. “Labour will invest to drive growth across the whole of Britain, creating wealth which is shared across our country, rather than concentrated in the hands of the few.”

Corbyn enters the final week of the election campaign emboldened by a recovery in the polls that's seen his party trail the Tories by as little as three percentage points this week, down from as high as 24 last month. The vote is on June 8.

Labour said its plan to set up a National Investment Bank that will leverage enough private finance to invest 250 billion pounds ($322 billion) in infrastructure over 10 years, coupled with a network of regional development banks, will help create the new jobs. Corbyn will spell out details of the plan at a rally in York, northern England, on Friday, alongside his business spokeswoman, Rebecca Long-Bailey.

The party estimated it'll create 100,000 jobs by encouraging offshore supply chains to move to the domestic market, 380,000 roles from moving to a low-carbon economy, and 257,000 house-building jobs. Another 130,000 jobs would stem from increased research and development spending, and 197,000 from increased investment in transport, education and digital infrastructure.

Prime Minister Theresa May's government gave no credence to the Labour announcement, saying a Labour win next week would lead to fewer jobs.

“Jeremy Corbyn will not create jobs, he will destroy them,” Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond said in a statement. “His reckless plans for higher taxes and more borrowing will wreck the economy and we will all pay the price.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net, Robert Jameson