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.

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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

US CLARITY bill could allow Tesla and Meta to evade SEC rules — Senator Warren

Published

1 hour ago

July 9, 2025

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US CLARITY bill could allow Tesla and Meta to evade SEC rules — Senator Warren

The legislation to establish crypto market structure is one of three bills the US House of Representatives is expected to consider starting next week.

Politics

What is a wealth tax, how would it work in the UK and where else has one?

Published

3 hours ago

July 9, 2025

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What is a wealth tax, how would it work in the UK and where else has one?

The idea of a wealth tax has raised its head – yet again – as the government attempts to balance its books.

Downing Street refused to rule out a wealth tax after former Labour leader Lord Kinnock told Sky News he thinks the government should introduce one.

Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said: “The prime minister has repeatedly said those with the broadest shoulders should carry the largest burden.”

While there has never been a wealth tax in the UK, the notion was raised under Rishi Sunak after the COVID years – and rejected – and both Harold Wilson’s and James Callaghan’s Labour governments in the 1970s seriously considered implementing one.

Sky News looks at what a wealth tax is, how it could work in the UK, and which countries already have one.

What is a wealth tax?

A wealth tax is aimed at reducing economic inequality to redistribute wealth and to raise revenue.

It is a direct levy on all, or most of, an individual’s, household’s or business’s total net wealth, rather than their income.

The tax typically includes the total market value of assets, including savings, investments, property and other forms of wealth – minus a person’s debts.

Unlike capital gains tax, which is paid when an asset is sold at a profit, a wealth tax is normally an annual charge based on the value of assets owned, even if they are not sold.

A one-off wealth tax, often used after major crises, could also be an option to raise a substantial amount of revenue in one go.

How could it work in the UK?

Advocates of a UK wealth tax, including Lord Kinnock, have proposed an annual 2% tax on wealth above £10m.

Wealth tax campaign group Tax Justice UK has calculated this would affect about 20,000 people – fewer than 0.04% of the population – and raise £24bn a year.

Because of how few people would pay it, Tax Justice says that would make it easy for HMRC to collect the tax.

The group proposes people self-declare asset values, backed up by a compliance team at HMRC who could have a register of assets.

Which countries have or have had a wealth tax?

In 1990, 12 OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries had a net wealth tax, but just four have one now: Colombia, Norway, Spain and Switzerland.

France and Italy levy wealth taxes on selected assets.

Colombia

Since 2023, residents in the South American country are subject to tax on their worldwide wealth, but can exclude the value of their household up to 509m pesos (£92,500).

The tax is progressive, ranging from a 0.5% rate to 1.5% for the most wealthy until next year, then 1% for the wealthiest from 2027.

Norway

There is a 0.525% municipal wealth tax for individuals with net wealth exceeding 1.7m kroner (about £125,000) or 3.52m kroner (£256,000) for spouses.

Norway also has a state wealth tax of 0.475% based on assets exceeding a net capital tax basis of 1.7m kroner (£125,000) or 3.52m kroner (£256,000) for spouses, and 0.575% for net wealth in excess of 20.7m kroner (£1.5m).

The maximum combined wealth tax rate is 1.1%.

The Norwegian Labour coalition government also increased dividend tax to 20% in 2023, and with the wealth tax, it prompted about 80 affluent business owners, with an estimated net worth of £40bn, to leave Norway.

Spain

Residents in Spain have to pay a progressive wealth tax on worldwide assets, with a €700,000 (£600,000) tax free allowance per person in most areas and homes up to €300,000 (£250,000) tax exempt.

The progressive rate goes from 0.2% for taxable income for assets of €167,129 (£144,000) up to 3.5% for taxable income of €10.6m (£9.146m) and above.

It has been reported that more than 12,000 multimillionaires have left Spain since the government introduced the higher levy at the end of 2022.

Switzerland

All of the country’s cantons (districts) have a net wealth tax based on a person’s taxable net worth – different to total net worth.

It takes into account the balance of an individual’s worldwide gross assets, including bank account balances, bonds, shares, life insurances, cars, boats, properties, paintings, jewellery – minus debts.

Switzerland also works on a progressive rate, ranging from 0.3% to 0.5%, with a relatively low starting point at which people are taxed on their wealth, such as 50,000 CHF (£46,200) in several cantons.

Politics

Jingye and Whitehall officials hold talks over British Steel future

Published

6 hours ago

July 9, 2025

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Jingye and Whitehall officials hold talks over British Steel future

The Chinese owner of British Steel has held fresh talks with government officials in a bid to break the impasse over ministers’ determination not to compensate it for seizing control of the company.

Sky News has learnt that executives from Jingye Group met senior civil servants from the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) late last week to discuss ways to resolve the standoff.

Whitehall sources said the talks had been cordial, but that no meaningful progress had been made towards a resolution.

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Jingye wants the government to agree to pay it hundreds of millions of pounds for taking control of British Steel in April – a move triggered by the Chinese group’s preparations for the permanent closure of its blast furnaces in Scunthorpe.

Such a move would have cost thousands of jobs and ended Britain’s centuries-old ability to produce virgin steel.

Jingye had been in talks for months to seek £1bn in state aid to facilitate the Scunthorpe plant’s transition to greener steelmaking, but was offered just half that sum by ministers.

British Steel has not yet been formally nationalised, although that remains a probable outcome.

Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, has previously dismissed the idea of compensating Jingye, saying British Steel’s equity was essentially worthless.

Last month, he met his Chinese counterpart, where the issue of British Steel was discussed between the two governments in person for the first time.

Jingye has hired the leading City law firm Linklaters to explore the recovery of hundreds of millions of pounds it invested in the Scunthorpe-based company before the government seized control of it.

News of last week’s meeting comes as British steelmakers face an anxious wait to learn whether their exports to the US face swingeing tariffs as part of US President Donald Trump’s trade war.

Sky News’s economics and data editor, Ed Conway, revealed this week that the UK would miss a White House-imposed deadline to agree a trade deal on steel and aluminium this week.

Jingye declined to comment, while a spokesman for the Department for Business and Trade said: “We acted quickly to ensure the continued operations of the blast furnaces but recognise that securing British Steel’s long-term future requires private sector investment.

“We have not nationalised British Steel and are working closely with Jingye on options for the future, and we will continue work on determining the best long-term sustainable future for the site.”