Election latest: Keir Starmer heckled at manifesto launch - but one chosen picture will rub salt in Rishi Sunak's wounds (2024)

After years of questions over exactly what Labour would do if in government, the party has now unveiled its manifesto, including its tax and spend plans.

Our economics and data editor Ed Conwayhas provisionally crunched the numbers to work out:

• How much Labour will raise in tax versus how much it will spend (spoiler: it's cautious);
• How those plans compare to the other main parties;
• How they compare to Labour's manifesto proposals in 2019 and 2017;
• The effect on the tax burden over the next five years.

Watch Ed's full analysis below:

By Tomos Evans, Wales reporter

It was all about Wales getting its "fair share" of funding.

That was the main call from Plaid Cymru as it launched its manifesto in Cardiff.

Dozens of party faithful gathered inside the Welsh capital's Temple of Peace.

After some initial technical difficulties with the translation facilities, the message was clear.

In Plaid Cymru's view, "the Tories are finished" - but they want to hold the next UK government to account.

Leader Rhun ap Iorwerth and three of the party's candidates were greeted with a standing ovation as they entered the room.

Keira Marshall, the party's candidate in Cardiff West, opened proceedings, telling those gathered it was "high time Farage was put in his place", prompting chuckles from the audience.

Dwyfor Meirionnydd candidate Liz Saville Roberts received applause for a call to show Sir Keir Starmer that "there's no such thing as a safe seat".

Party leader Rhun ap Iorwerth challenged the next UK government to show they were "serious about Wales and resolve the long-standing fair-funding issues".

Mr ap Iorwerth's parting shot was to urge supporters not to give the next government a "free pass" - a message which was well-received by the audience in the room, who again gave their leader a standing ovation.

The challenge now for Plaid will be to get its message to voters across Wales.

Unite, Labour's biggest trade union backer, has released a statement following the publication of the party's manifesto - and it is hardly a ringing endorsem*nt.

Sharon Graham, the union's general secretary, said Unite "wants a change in government" and "workers need Labour to win".

But with public services having been "driven into the ground", and plans to cut back on fossil fuels, there needs to be "more money" spent to ensure the country bounces back from "years of Tory neglect".

"Whilst we all want growth and Labour's proposed changes may move the dial somewhat - that alone is not likely to be enough," she added.

She called on Labour to "listen to workers and communities", and be "bold".

Unite did not endorse Labour's manifesto when it was formally agreed at a crunch meeting of the party's leadership last Friday.

The union said while it did push through changes in some areas, Labour crossed their red lines of revision to workers' rights plans and its pledge to stop new oil and has exploration without, it claims, a real plan to replace those jobs.

Conservative minister Laura Trott was asked by broadcasters a short while ago about the news that the waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England has risen for the first time in seven months (more here).

The minister replied: "Look, we all know, everyone at home who's got a family on waiting lists, we want them to come down, and we're desperately working hard to make that the case."

She said waiting lists have gone down "overall over the past seven months", and the government is "throwing everything at it to try and make them come down further".

Ms Trott added that waiting lists in "Labour-run Wales" are "even higher", and accused the party of "just carping from the sidelines about a problem rather than trying to fix it".

We've just had a response from the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury to Labour's manifesto.

Like Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, Laura Trott labelled it a "tax trap manifesto", saying it "only contains tax rises" and "no tax cuts", which will "take the tax burden to levels never been seen before in this country".

Of course, the tax burden under the Conservative Party has risen to the highest level in 70 years.

She also repeated the claim that Labour will increase taxes by over £2,000 per household - an assertion that experts, including Sky's economics and data editor Ed Conway, have branded highly dubious.

But she adds: "Everyone at home needs to be very, very clear. Their taxes will rise under Labour."

"There is nothing more important to me than spending my life saving the NHS," shadow health secretary Wes Streeting has told Sky's political correspondentSerena Barker-Singh.

He says Labour understands there are challenges facing the country, particularly in the economy and the NHS.

"The only way in which we will deliver the shortest waiting times and the highest patient satisfaction is by voting to re-elect the party that delivered it when we were last in government," he says.

"We did it before, and we will do it again."

His desire to "save the NHS" is borne out of how it helped him survive kidney cancer, he says.

He acknowledges there are "millions of undecided voters out there" and therefore "he takes nothing for granted".

'This is a manifesto for everyone'

Asked about the heckler who interrupted Sir Keir Starmer's manifesto speech and accused Labour of not having any policies for young people, Mr Streeting says "he strongly disagrees".

"You've got a manifesto here that will make sure kids turn up for primary school with hungry minds not hungry bellies by making sure we've got free breakfast clubs at every school," he adds.

"We've got a plan here that will make sure kids aren't taught maths by a teacher not qualified in the subject.

"Real measures here to help people onto the property ladder for the first time and opportunities post school.

"This is a manifesto for young people and for everyone in the country."

Immediately after Sir Keir Starmer's speech, we heard from our political correspondent Serena Barker-Singhwho was in the audience.

She said we heard "a mix of policies" from the Labour leader.

"The feeling with manifestos is the best ones tell a story about what and who a party really is. I'm not really sure what that was."

She said the manifesto is "certainly ambitious" and Labour are "trying to fix everything".

It is clear that they are trying to both entice new voters while securing their base - although the image is based around "one single word", which is "change".

Serena notes the Labour manifesto is 133 pages, while the Tories' is 76 pages.

There are also 33 pictures of the Sir Keir Starmer - including the photo of him with Ukraine's President Zelenskyy at the D-Day commemorations last week.

Given how much stick Rishi Sunak has had for leaving that event early, Labour are "having a bit of fun with this".

We've had some Tory reaction to Labour's manifesto launch - and they are obviously not fans.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has described it as a "tax trap manifesto which only contains tax rises and no tax cuts".

Mr Hunt said under Labour's published plans, "taxes will rise to levels never before seen in this country".

He also repeated his party's disputed assertion that Labour will implement another £2,094 of tax rises to "fill their £38.5bn unfunded spending commitments".

"So what's most important is not what's in Labour's manifesto, but it's what they have kept out of it," he added.

"They are refusing to rule out taxing your job, your home, your pension, your car, your business, and they think they can get away with it without anyone holding them to account."

Labour's event to set out the details of their manifesto has just concluded.

It encompasses pledges and plans on a wide range of issues facing the UK - but there is no big retail offer or any real surprises, which Sir Keir Starmer said shows it is "a serious plan for the future of our country".

Read all the key points from Labour's manifesto here, and follow live reaction and analysis here in the Politics Hub.