Labor has backtracked on its flagship “green prosperity plan”, which promised to invest £28billion a year in climate-friendly investment until 2030 if it wins the next general election. An act that the Green Party has denounced while accusing the Labor Party of having failed the climate and the British people after having watered down its promise.
“It underscores more than ever why there is a need to have more Green MPs elected in the next general election,” said Green Party Co-Leader Adrian Ramsay.
Ramsay thinks the UK is seeing environmental degradation at an increasingly alarming rate.
“So you would have thought Labor would understand that we need to see transformational change if we are to tackle the climate emergency as well as the cost of living crisis which is causing so much harm in our society. Yet, once again we see them coming up with a policy that doesn’t go far enough and then backing down at the first sign of trouble,” complained the Green Party co-leader.
For her part Mrs Rachel Reeves, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer has said she wants to become Britain’s ‘first green chancellor’, she says the Tories ‘crushing the economy’ triggered the ’embarrassing’ overhaul .
But Tory critics have accused the party of “flip-flopping”, saying it was another Labor plan that “doesn’t fit”. And Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said Labor’s plan will add another £100billion to the national debt and “fuel inflation”.
Pressed on whether the £28billion figure was no longer realistic, the Shadow Chancellor said Labor would instead “increase” that level of investment halfway through a first parliament.
“We will get to the £28billion, it will be in the second half of the first Parliament. But we will get to that £28billion,” she told BBC Radio 4 Yesterday.
Ms Reeves has said over the past two years that “the Conservatives have destroyed our economy”. “As a result, interest rates have gone up 12 times, inflation is now 8.7%,” Ms Reeves told the BBC.
Adrian Ramsay, however, revealed that the Green Party has pledged to invest nearly £100bn every year for ten years to decarbonise the economy, including £25bn to insulate people’s homes, £12bn to increase renewable capacity and £14 billion for rail, walking and cycling.
“Only the Green Party offers practical and sensible solutions to the crises facing this country and whoever wins the next general election, it is vital that we have a group of Green MPs who fight for the environment and those who have been ignored for too long by both main parties,” he said.
The pledge – which is Labour’s biggest ever spending pledge and would amount to a total of £140billion in borrowing – had been criticized over fears the scale of the borrowing could drive up interest rates.
The plan also raised questions about whether the party would stick to its so-called budget rules. Labor has promised, if elected, to reduce debt as a share of total economic output.
Mr Hunt said: “This superficial change from Rachel Reeves adds another around £100billion to our national debt, which means higher mortgages for families and higher debt interest bills for taxpayers .
“A responsible approach should fight inflation, not fuel it. »
And Greenpeace UK said the dilution of commitment was a “huge mistake” for Labour, which could cost thousands of jobs.