Source - Daily Telegraph 08/02/24
Labour has slashed its original £28bn green borrowing plan by four fifths and unveiled a new tax raid on oil and gas giants to bankroll the Net Zero drive.
Sir Keir Starmer announced that his flagship clean energy policy has been downgraded to just £4.7bn a year in the biggest about-turn of his leadership.
Speaking to reporters in Parliament, he blamed the Tories for “maxing out the credit card” and insisted that the original pledge was no longer affordable.
Under the new slimmed down blueprint, public funding for a major home insulation drive has been reduced from a planned £6bn a year to just £1.2bn.
Meanwhile the budget for Great British Energy, a publicly owned energy company that Labour plans to set up, will be handed £1.7bn a year of taxpayers’ cash.
Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, said it will be financed by hiking tax on energy producers’ profits from 75pc to 78pc, raising £2.2bn a year.
Miliband: Labour still has a world-leading climate agenda
Ed Miliband has insisted Labour will still “fight the election with a world-leading climate agenda” despite rowing back on its £28bn green borrowing pledge.
The shadow energy secretary said: “The Conservatives’ economic mismanagement and their scorched earth policy have obviously made the fiscal situation far worse than envisaged when Labour announced the Green Prosperity Plan.
“That is what has led to today’s decisions. The next election is now a choice - Labour offering a world-leading climate agenda, Conservatives slipping into climate denial.
“A defining mission of the next Labour government will be to cut bills, ensure energy independence, create jobs and lead the world on climate action.”
Labour: Our plan will cut bills and deliver energy security
The official opposition has put out the below video, which claims “Labour’s Green Prosperity plan will deliver clean power by 2030, Great British Energy, [a] national wealth fund, a British jobs bonus, a warm homes plan, a plan to rewire Britain [and] a proper windfall tax”:
Greens join Left-wing criticisms of Starmer
The Green Party accused Sir Keir of taking “a massive backward step for the climate, for the economy and for good quality jobs”.
“Both the security of our planet for future generations and the UK’s future prosperity is dependent on greening our economy and that requires large scale investment,” said Carla Denyer, the party’s co-leader.
“Labour have chosen to wear their fiscal rules as a millstone around their neck. A different approach through tax reforms, in particular by introducing a wealth tax on the super-rich, could help pay for the green transition.
“There is more than enough money in the economy to pay for this. Indeed, the Green Party would go further and faster, investing at least double what Labour originally pledged, so we can turbo charge the transition to a green economy.”
Unite leads early criticism of Labour U-turn
Unite has accused Labour of “getting scared off by Tory attacks” in the wake of its £28bn green U-turn as Sir Keir Starmer begins to weather a backlash from his union backers.
Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, said: “Britain needs more not less investment and there is still much to do in order for Labour to gain the trust of workers impacted by net zero.
“If Labour keep getting scared off by Tory attacks, they will end up outsourcing their policy making to the Conservatives.
“This is the time to back Britain and make different choices.”
'Higher taxes for everyone and a worse future'
The Conservative Party has shared a video of Sir Keir Starmer talking about Labour’s now-abandoned £28bn green pledge on 35 different occasions throughout his leadership.
“Keir Starmer just admitted he has no plan to pay for the £28 billion spending spree Labour have been talking about for years,” the party wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“The choice is clear: stick with our plan that’s working, or go back to square one with Labour, which means higher taxes for everyone and a worse future.”
Comments
Post a Comment