MR Arthur Scargill launched his Socialist Labour Party manifesto yesterday with a radical commitment to full employment, and higher taxes for anyone earning more than £80,000 a year.
At a Westminster news conference, Mr Scargill rejected the "glitz and gloss" of the other party manifestoes and announced his party would field 65 candidates in the May 1st general election.
He accused Mr Tony Blair of having rejected socialism and every concept and principle" that led to Labour's formation. And he dubbed the Labour leader's embracing of privatisation a "slap in the face" for every Labour candidate.
Mr Scargill claimed the SLP, which he formed last May, amid growing disenchantment with Labour's direction, was now the fourth biggest political party with 8,000 members.
The manifesto pledges the party to:
. Introduce a four-day working week and a ban on all "non-essential" overtime;
. Repeal all "anti-trade union" laws;
. Bring in a national minimum wage of £6 per hour;
. Return all the privatised utilities to public ownership;
. Cut military spending by two-thirds;
. Withdraw from the EU;
. Abolish VAT and raise income tax on top earners with a possible top rate of 80 per cent for millionaires.
Mr Scargill, SLP generals secretary and president of the National Union of Mineworkers, put full employment as the party's prime aim, claiming the real jobless total was more than seven million.