£46.8b is a lot to take away from spending in local shops.

So Labour has unveiled its pledges for the General Election.  They will cost £48.6bn - to be funded from extra tax revenue - in its election manifesto.   

Now, taking any money out of the consumer economy and handing it to the government of the day to spend is a pretty serious thing to do.   

Every £1 the government takes from you is a £1 you no longer have to spend.  In local food shops.  In clothes shops.  Shoe shops. Bike shops. Car showrooms. DIY stores.  Yes, Labour are proposing that we will have £48.6b less available to spend in the UK economy.  Which might seem good news for those that think that governments know how to spend best our money, but is a disaster for the economy that you and I live in.  How many jobs will be lost by the government taking that £48.6b out of our pockets?   

And of course, the £46.8b doesn’t include buying back the assets that were sold under privatisations or purchased by private investors since they were liberated from state control.  They talk of nationalising the railways.  That includes the trains.  And the trains are owned by a private company that our pensions invest in.  So if Labour decides just to take them into government ownership without paying the market rate, which John McDonnell very noticeably didn't deny could happen, that’s a chunk out of your pension. Indeed, Labour clearly said that a future Labour government would determine what the market price would be.  That one statement shows how out of touch they are.  Logically, it wouldn't be a market price if the government decided what the price was.  Sadly, Labour are still living in an idealistic fantasy student politics land.    

If they did get into power, be sure that the only beneficiaries would be lawyers who would trouser very large sums as the government would have to fight water, rail and other nationalisations through the courts.  

Nice ideas Jeremy.  But utterly unworkable.