Labour left call U-turn on green investment ‘environmentally irresponsible and ‘strategically incompetent’ – UK politics live

Labour left call U-turn on green investment ‘environmentally irresponsible and ‘strategically incompetent’ - UK politics live | Politics | The Guardian

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Thu 8 Feb 2024 04.46 ESTFirst published on Thu 8 Feb 2024 04.27 EST

Labour's U-turn 'will destroy Scottish jobs', says SNP

The SNP claims Labour’s U-turn will damage the Scottish economy. This is from Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s leader at Westminster.

Keir Starmer’s damaging decision to cut energy investment will destroy Scottish jobs, harm economic growth and hit families in the pocket by keeping energy bills high.

It’s a weak and short-sighted U-turn, which shows Westminster is incapable of delivering the investment Scotland needs to compete in the global green energy gold rush and secure strong economic growth.

As our partners and allies across the world press ahead with investment to attract jobs and secure economic and energy security, the UK has turned away. It’s as depressing as it is predictable.

Labour's U-turn on £28bn green investment pledge 'a massive backward step', says Green party

The Green party has described the Labour U-turn as a “massive backwards step”. This is from Carla Denyer, the party’s co-leader.

This is 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.

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.

'Economically illiterate, strategically incompetent' - Labour's left criticises Starmer's £28bn green investment U-turn

Good morning. It will come as no surprise to anyone who has been following Westminster news in recent weeks, particularly if they have been reading the Guardian, to learn that Labour is no longer committed to spending £28bn a year on its green investment plan. The soft U-turn, the informal abandonment of the policy as a firm commitment, happened some time ago. But the Tory attacks on the policy, and today we are expecting a proper, hard, bells-and-whistles U-turn – public confirmation that the £28bn target has been consigned to the policy dustbin.

Kiran Stacey and Pippa Crerar broke the news last night.

As they explain, it’s a gamble. The case for getting rid of it is that it allowed the Tories to claim Labour would have to put up taxes to fund it, perhaps reviving the almost primordial fear felt by the British electorate that a Labour government would cost people more. With £28bn off the table, it is harder what policies the Conservatives would attack during an election campaign.

But, if the U-turn innoculates Labour against the “higher taxes” attack, it validates the other key message coming out of CCHQ, which is that you can’t trust Keir Starmer on anything because he keeps changing his mind.

It also makes it harder for Labour to argue that it is offering a distinctive alternative policy at the election because one of its main economic policies has, in effect, been redrafted at the behest of CCHQ.

This latter point is one that Starmer’s critics on the left – both within the Labour party, and outside it – have been making vigorously this morning. There are strong statements to this effect from the SNP, the Green party, Unite and Momentum, but let’s start with the Labour MP Barry Gardiner, who served as shadow climage change minister under Jeremy Corbyn. This is what he told the Today programme when he was asked for his reaction to the U-turn.
It’s economically illiterate, it’s envirionmentally irresponsible and it’s politically jejune.

Gardiner said he could understand why Labour wanted to minimise the risk of its policies being attacked. But he went on:
If you make [your manifesto] so bland, if you stand for nothing, then the opposition and government will actually write your policies for you, they will say ‘You see, Labour’s not telling you what they’re going to do, it’s going to be this it’s going to be that’, and they can paint their own picture. So I think politically, it’s strategically incompetent.

I will post more reaction shortly.

Here is the agenda for the day.

9.30am: NHS England publishes hospital waiting time figures.

9.30am: The ONS publishes homicide figures for England and Wales.

Morning: Rishi Sunak is on a visit to Cornwall where he is expected to speak to the media.

11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.

Noon: Humza Yousaf takes first minister’s questions at Holyrood.

Afternoon: Keir Starmer is expected to make an announcement confirming the £28bn green investment plan U-turn.

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