Sir Keir Starmer commits to clean power by 2030

Published

2 years ago

January 7, 2024

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Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to deliver clean power for the UK by 2030 – and told Sky News he wants to have “a fight” with the Conservative Party on his green commitments.

Asked about the 2030 pledge, he told Wilfred Frost on Sky News: “I’m not prepared to move that date. People keep saying to me, are you moving back on your goal? No, we’re not – clean power by 2030.

“But look, it’s absolutely clear to me that the Tories are trying to weaponise this issue, the £28bn, etc.

“It’s a fight I want to have, if we can have a fight going into the election between an incoming Labour government that wants to invest in the future long-term strategy that will lower our bills and give us energy independence, versus stagnation, more of the same under this government.

“If they want that fight on borrow to invest, I’m absolutely up for that.”

The measures Labour has said it will target include quadrupling offshore wind, more than doubling onshore wind, more than tripling solar power, and backing new nuclear power.

Politics latest: Sir Keir Starmer faces questions as election year kicks off

The Labour leader added that he was “very happy to do live debates” – including on Sky News – but the specifics would be negotiated at a later date.

Sir Keir added that his first mission was to grow the economy, and he reiterated that any fiscal pledge would need to adhere to his party’s fiscal rules.

The party has previously watered down the £28bn pledge – saying it was a target rather than a commitment.

Sir Keir was asked if it was “irresponsible” to have a “trade-off” between green policies and the economy.

He told Wilfred Frost on the Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips programme: “No, I don’t.

“Because the government is trying to pretend that the date on which an incoming Labour government signs a particular cheque, is what matters. What matters is clean power by 2030, keeping to those targets.

“I’m not prepared to move that date.”

The Labour leader last week launched his general election campaign, with a vote likely to take place this year.

Speaking near Bristol on Thursday, he rejected that he was “cautious” and pitching himself as simply a way to end the Conservative’s time in power.

Sir Keir added that the “change that we are offering, the difference that we want to make, between 14 years of decline and a decade of national renewal, they are fundamentally different things”.

Earlier this week, Rishi Sunak indicated he will call an election in the second part of this year – with Sky’s deputy political editor Sam Coates hearing that 14 November is the frontrunner in government circles.

Sir Keir taking on Tory strategy head on with challenge on spending

Rob Powell

Political correspondent

@robpowellnews

The first week of the year has seen both party leaders shift into gear for the long election campaign – something fully on show in Sir Keir Starmer’s first Sunday morning interview of 2024.

The pre-ballot trash talk has started with the Labour leader calling on the prime minister to “set a date” now with a new attack line levelled on his opposite number that Rishi Sunak is trying to clock up two years in office before going to the polls.

But despite claiming to be ready for the vote, much of Sir Keir’s policy offering still appears to be a work in progress.

On taxation, the Labour leader suggested he would look to prioritise taxes for people in work – but would go no further.

On the party’s 2021 pledge to spend £28bn on clean energy investment, a pivot is undoubtedly in the offing as Sir Keir looks to shift the emphasis away from the exact figure – which many doubt can be hit given the party’s fiscal rules – and to the longer term promise for clean electricity by 2030.

Plenty of people doubt a Labour government would meet that pledge either, but it’s the £28bn that the Conservatives have chosen to weaponise – hence the recalibration.

We saw Sir Keir address that Tory strategy head on though, saying that if Rishi Sunak wants that fight in the election campaign “bring it on”.

For a politician sometimes accused of lacking personality and emotional depth, we also got a rare glimpse into Starmer the husband and Starmer the father.

He spoke of his one big worry about his potential career trajectory saying there would undoubtedly be an impact on his young children and he “desperately” wanted to protect them.

It’s likely to be a messy and vicious election campaign.

This won’t be the last time that Sir Keir is asked about matters beyond politics and policy.

Sir Keir told Sky that the prime minister is putting “vanity before country” by delaying the calling of a vote, adding that he wants a vote “as soon as possible”.

The Labour leader pointed out this is the first election since 2015 which the public knows is coming in advance.

“And so if people want change – and I think they do – I can make that case.

“But in the end it’s voters who will, on whatever day it is, be able to go and put that cross on the ballot and determine the future of their country.

“I mean, the power of the vote is incredible, and it’s a reminder that this year voters have the power to vote for hope and change.”

In his interview with Wilfred Frost, Sir Keir was also asked which taxes he would cut to deliver his desire to lowering the tax burden.

He did not name any specifics, but rather stated that “taxes on working people” would be what he is aiming to reduce if he gets the keys to Number 10.

But the Labour leader said government needs to look at the reasons for a high tax burden – singling out a “low growth economy” and 14 years of “effectively” stagnation.

“We’ve got to have a discussion about how we grow the economy,” he said.

Speaking about the more personal side of being a frontline politician, Sir Keir said his wife Victoria “is fantastic”.

He added: “She is my complete support and partner in this.

“She doesn’t do anything publicly; she wants to get on with her job, she works for the NHS, we’ve got two relatively young children, a boy who’s 15, a boy who’s 13, but it impacts them all of the time, every single day.

“And all of that I do, I talk through with Vic, all the big decisions, the ones which we sit and talk thorough at home, and that is a good thing except I’m not sure she signed up for this.”

Politics

Trump renews push to oust Fed’s Cook ahead of expected rate cut

Published

3 hours ago

September 15, 2025

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Trump renews push to oust Fed’s Cook ahead of expected rate cut

US President Donald Trump has appealed the district court’s block on Fed Governor Lisa Cook’s removal, but new evidence has emerged.

Politics

Bridget Phillipson calls for party unity as she launches deputy leadership bid

Published

14 hours ago

September 14, 2025

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Bridget Phillipson calls for party unity as she launches deputy leadership bid

And they’re off! Bridget Phillipson was first away in her two-horse race with Lucy Powell in the Labour deputy leadership stakes.

Facing a rival who was sacked from the government nine days earlier, the education secretary said the deputy leader should be a cabinet minister, as Angela Rayner was.

Launching her campaign at The Fire Station, a trendy music and entertainment venue in Sunderland, she also vowed to turn up the heat on Nigel Farage and Reform UK.

She also repeatedly called for party unity, at a time when Labour MPs are growing increasingly mutinous over Sir Keir Starmer’s dealings with sacked Washington ambassador Lord Mandelson.

Despite Ms Phillipson winning 175 nominations from Labour MPs to Ms Powell’s 117, bookmakers StarSports this weekend made Ms Powell 4/6 favourite with Ms Phillipson at 5/4.

But though the new deputy leader will not be deputy prime minister, a title that’s gone to David Lammy, Ms Phillipson praised the way Ms Rayner combined the two roles and rejected suggestions that as a cabinet minister she would be a part-time deputy leader.

“What can be achieved under a deputy leader with a seat at cabinet, just look at Angela Rayner,” Ms Phillipson told her enthusiastic supporters.

“Angela knew the importance of the role she had. There was nothing part-time about her deputy leadership.

“Last year I campaigned up and down the country to get Labour candidates elected – I’ve not stopped as education secretary – and I won’t stop as deputy leader.

“Because with local elections, and with elections in Wales and Scotland right around the corner, that role is going to be more important than ever.

“So that’s why, today, I pledge to continue Angela Rayner’s campaigning role as deputy leader.

“Continuing her mission to give members a strong voice at the cabinet table.

“Her ruthless focus on getting our candidates elected and re-elected, alongside her total determination to drive change from government. Because what mattered was not just what she believed, but that she could act on it.”

Ms Phillipson pledged to run a campaign of “hope, not grievance” and claimed the party descending into division would put the chances of children and families benefiting from Labour policies at risk.

But admitting Sir Keir Starmer’s government had made mistakes, she appealed to party members: “You can use this contest to look backward, to pass judgement on what has happened in the last year, or you can use it to shape positively what happens in the run-up to the next election.

“Back me so I can unite our party, deliver the change we want to see and beat Reform. Back me so together, we can deliver that second term of Labour government.”

Starmer’s candidate vs Manchester mayor’s

As she did in a speech at the TUC conference last week, Ms Phillipson spoke about her upbringing “from a tough street of council houses in the North East all the way to the cabinet”.

At the TUC, she said she grew up – “just me and my mam” – and told how when she was nine, a man who’d burgled the house turned up at the front door with a baseball bat and threatened her mother.

Ms Powell, who enjoys the powerful backing of Labour’s ‘King of the North’ Andy Burnham, called this weekend for a change in culture in 10 Downing Street, with better decisions and fewer unforced errors.

His backing has led to the deputy contest being seen as a battle between Sir Keir’s candidate, Ms Phillipson, and that of the Greater Manchester mayor, seen increasingly as a leadership rival to the prime minister.

And like all the best horse races, with the betting currently so tight, when the result is declared on 25 October the result could be a photo-finish.

Politics

Mandelson appointment was ‘worth the risk’ despite ‘strong relationship’ with Epstein, says minister

Published

17 hours ago

September 14, 2025

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Mandelson appointment was 'worth the risk' despite 'strong relationship' with Epstein, says minister

Appointing Lord Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the US was “worth the risk”, a minister has told Sky News.

Peter Kyle said the government put the Labour peer forward for the Washington role, despite knowing he had a “strong relationship” with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

It is this relationship that led to Peter Mandelson being fired on Thursday by the prime minister.

Politics Hub: Latest updates

But explaining the decision to appoint Lord Mandelson, Business Secretary Mr Kyle said: “The risk of appointing [him] knowing what was already public was worth the risk.

“Now, of course, we’ve seen the emails which were not published at the time, were not public and not even known about. And that has changed this situation.”

Speaking to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, he rejected the suggestion that Lord Mandelson was appointed to Washington before security checks were completed.

He explained there was a two-stage vetting process for Lord Mandelson before he took on the ambassador role.

The first was done by the Cabinet Office, while the second was a “political process where there were political conversations done in Number 10 about all the other aspects of an appointment”, he said.

This is an apparent reference to Sir Keir Starmer asking follow-up questions based on the information provided by the vetting.

These are believed to have included why Lord Mandelson continued contact with Epstein after he was convicted and why he was reported to have stayed in one of the paedophile financier’s homes while he was in prison.

Mr Kyle said: “Both of these things turned up information that was already public, and a decision was made based on Peter’s singular talents in this area, that the risk of appointing knowing what was already public was worth the risk.”

Mr Kyle also pointed to some of the government’s achievements under Lord Mandelson, such as the UK becoming the first country to sign a trade deal with the US, and President Donald Trump’s state visit next week.

Mr Kyle also admitted that the government knew that Lord Mandelson and Epstein had “a strong relationship”.

“We knew that there were risks involved,” he concluded.

PM had only ‘extracts of emails’ ahead of defence of Mandelson at PMQs – as Tories accuse him of ‘lying’

Speaking to Sky News, Kyle also sought to clarify the timeline of what Sir Keir Starmer knew about Lord Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein, and when he found this out.

It follows Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch accusing the prime minister of “lying to the whole country” about his knowledge of the then US ambassador’s relationship with the paedophile.

Allegations about Lord Mandelson began to emerge in the newspapers on Tuesday, while more serious allegations – that the Labour peer had suggested Epstein’s first conviction for sexual offences was wrongful and should be challenged – were sent to the Foreign Office on the same day by Bloomberg, which was seeking a response from the government.

But the following day, Sir Keir went into the House of Commons and publicly backed Britain’s man in Washington, giving him his full confidence. Only the next morning – on Thursday – did the PM then sack Lord Mandelson, a decision Downing Street has insisted was made based on “new information”.

Speaking to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Mr Kyle said: “Number 10 had what was publicly available on Tuesday, which was extracts of emails which were not in context, and they weren’t the full email.

“Immediately upon having being alerted to extracts of emails, the Foreign Office contacted Peter Mandelson and asked for his account of the emails and asked for them to be put into context and for his response. That response did not come before PMQs [on Wednesday].

“Then after PMQs, the full emails were released by Bloomberg in the evening.

“By the first thing the next morning when the prime minister had time to read the emails in full, having had them in full and reading them almost immediately of having them – Peter was withdrawn as ambassador.”

The Conservatives have claimed Sir Keir is lying about what he knew, with Laura Trott telling Sky News there are “grave questions about the prime minister’s judgement”.

The shadow education secretary called for “transparency”, and told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: “We need to understand what was known and when.”

They believe that Sir Keir was in possession of the full emails on Tuesday, because the Foreign Office passed these to Number 10. This is despite the PM backing Mandelson the following day.

Ms Trott explained: “We are calling for transparency because, if what we have outlined is correct, then the prime minister did lie and that is an extremely, extremely serious thing to have happened.”

She added: “This was a prime minister who stood on the steps of Downing Street and said that he was going to restore political integrity and look where we are now. We’ve had two senior resignations in the space of the number of weeks.

“The prime minister’s authority is completely shot.”

But Ms Trott refused to be drawn on whether she thinks Sir Keir should resign, only stating that he is “a rudderless, a weak prime minister whose authority is shot at a time we can least afford it as a country”.