Labour became the first major political party to release a manifesto on Monday, ahead of the Conservatives and Greens, whose policy commitments are expected tomorrow.

The Labour Party’s commitments announced on Monday seek to project a ‘responsible’ image - laying out costing plans for the party’s new policies, promising not to rely on borrowing to deliver election promises and criticising the coalition government’s spending.   

Speaking to the BBC on Monday, Shadow chancellor Ed Balls accused the Conservatives of making promises for extra NHS funding without explaining where the money will come from. He said this amounted to "treating the British people with contempt.”

Balls added, “The only promises [Labour] will make are promises where we can show where the money is going to come from.”

The party’s manifesto includes a ‘budget responsibility lock’, which would ensure that policies are affordable, by requiring all major parties to have their spending plans audited by the Office for Budgetary Responsibility in future.

Manifesto

Labour’s promises include some that have been hinted at or discussed before. The ten headline measures announced on Monday include:

• Raising the minimum wage to £8/hour and banning zero hours contracts
• Preventing energy bills from increasing until 2017
• Introducing a 50p tax rate for those earning over £150,000
• Building 200,000 homes by 2020
• Requiring all first with a major government contract to hire apprentices
• Reversing privatisation of the NHS
• Introducing a mansion tax on homes worth over £2m to fund NHS improvements
• Devolving power to Scotland, Wales and the English regions

The party’s policy paper highlights higher than anticipated borrowing under the current government, and points out that reforms to tax and benefit regimes over the past five years have benefitted the richest, often at the expense of the poorest in the country.

Business and technology commitments include:

• Cutting business rates this year, and freezing them in 2016 for over 1.5m properties
• Devolving power and spending to regional ‘economic powerhouses’ to stimulate local growth
• Introducing a levy on payday lenders and using the funds to create low-cost alternatives, such as credit unions
• Creating a British Investment Bank and a network of regional banks, to boost lending (which has dropped off since the last general election) and allow small businesses to grow

Labour also promises to create more low carbon jobs and set legal targets for decarbonising electricity in the UK by 2030.

Standing by rural commitments, a number of which were announced in February, the party promises to improve flood prevention work and introduce a new climate change adaptation plan, maintain the ban on hunting with dogs and end the badger cull.

Unveiling the Manifesto in Manchester on Monday, Labour leader Ed Miliband expressed the intention to expand the role of the supermarket adjudicator and strengthen ties with Europe.

On Monday, Labour was poling three points higher than the Tories.