IT may have been published in the form of a little red book but only an idiot would liken the 2017 Labour Manifesto to the thoughts of Chairman Mao or a bid to start painting the country Marxist crimson on June 9.

There is no doubt that it is out of step with the messages the two main political parties have put forward at recent General Elections, but that is no bad thing.

At least voters will have a real choice to make at polling stations. If your pencil is poised between the boxes marked Conservative and Labour then you can put an X beside more cuts, fixed immigration targets and a shrinking public sector or a bold, brave, foolhardy, uncosted (choose your own adjective) tax and spend approach.

Labour’s pledges will cost £48.6bn to be funded from tax revenue. Whether the numbers add up is up for debate but the calling of a snap election will have made it tough for all opposition parties – don’t forget that the government has the civil service to do its sums – to get fully-costed plans ready in a few weeks.

There will be more free childcare, a minimum wage rise, no tuition fees, no hospital car park fees, publicly owned railways, and more police and firefighters. This approach sets Labour apart from the consensus that spending is bad.

The Tory message of recent years has been that tightening belts, putting thousands of local authority workers on the dole, closing libraries, and suppressing wages was the way forward.

Labour believes that the failure of the Conservatives to fulfil their promise to slash the budget deficit despite years of “we are all in this together” austerity means it's time for a change of direction 

Jeremy Corbyn’s huge challenge is to now live up to the message on the front of the manifesto and appeal to the many not the few.