In his keynote speech in Liverpool McDonnell suggested a Labour government would go further than the Conservative administration has done in introducing the national living wage.

‘When we win the next election we will write a real living wage into law. We’ll charge a new living wage review body with the task of setting it at the level needed for a decent life. Independent forecasts suggest that this will be over £10 per hour. This will be a fundamental part of our new bargain in the workplace,’ McDonnell said.

He indicated that Labour’s plans also include examining ways to reduce the burden of a higher living wage on small and medium-sized companies, and reduce the impact on hours and employment. This could include the expansion and reform of the employment allowance.

McDonnell also pledged to end what he called ‘the social scourge of tax avoidance’, citing data from the Panama papers which he said showed ‘some of the largest firms in the City of London are up to their necks in it’.

‘We will create a new tax enforcement unit at HMRC, doubling the number of staff investigating wealthy tax avoiders. We will ban tax-dodging companies from winning public sector contracts. And we will ensure that all British crown dependencies and overseas territories introduce a full, public register of company owners and beneficiaries,’ he said.

McDonnell went on to state: ‘The next stage of our work will be to develop the legislation and international agreements needed to close tax havens and end tax abuse. I’ll give you this assurance that when we go back into government, we’ll make sure HMRC has the staffing, the resources, and the legal powers to close down the tax avoidance industry that has grown up in this country.’

He also indicated that Labour is in the process of developing policies designed to shift the tax burden away from those who earn wages and salaries and onto those who hold wealth.

‘We’ll shake up how our major corporations work and change how our economy is owned and managed. We’ll clamp down on the abuses of power at the very top. There’ll be no more Philip Greens under Labour and we will legislate to rewrite company law to prevent them,’ McDonnell said.

He also stated that a Labour government would introduce legislation to ban companies taking on excessive debt to pay out dividends to shareholders, and would rewrite the takeover code to make sure every takeover proposal has a clear plan in place to pay workers and pensioners.

In addition, there would be a new ‘right to own’, giving workers first refusal on a proposal for worker ownership when their company faces a change of ownership or closure.

As well as committing to repealing the Trade Union Act within 100 days of taking office, McDonnell said Labour would ‘properly resource HMRC and the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority to make sure there are no more national scandals like Mike Ashley of Sports Direct.’