Rachel Reeves refuses to commit to Labour’s £28bn green investment pledge

Published

10 months ago

February 1, 2024

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Rachel Reeves has refused to commit to Labour’s pledge of investing £28bn in green technologies if her party wins the next election.

Asked 10 times by Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby if the policy remained in place, the shadow chancellor appeared to dodge the question.

Instead, she pointed to increasing government debt and “the Tory damage to our economy”, promising she would “never play fast and loose with the public finances” were she to take the keys to Number 11.

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Ms Reeves first announced the £28bn pledge at the party’s 2021 conference, saying there would be “no dither or delay” in spending to tackle the climate crisis – and encouraging private sector investment into green projects in the process.

But she watered down the policy last summer, saying the figure would instead be a target to work towards – and blaming rising interest rates and the “damage” the Conservatives had done to the economy for the change in direction.

The costly pledge has long been used by the Tories to attack Labour’s fiscal responsibility, following Rishi Sunak’s decision to scrap a number of the government’s own green pledges.

And in recent weeks, it has appeared to be hanging by a thread, with some Labour figures calling on the party to drop the plan altogether rather than leave themselves open to government criticism.

But on Sunday, shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds insisted to Sky News it was still the “ambition”, even if the timetable could fall back.

Asked by Beth Rigby to be “straight with voters” over whether she could commit to the £28bn investment plan, Ms Reeves said: “Well, the Conservatives crashed the economy and sent mortgage rates and the cost of government borrowing soaring. And that does change what will be possible for an incoming Labour government.

“But there’s going to be at least one more budget on 6 March, possibly another one later in the year, before we get those final numbers of what I hope an incoming Labour government, if we win the election, would inherit.

“And I’ve been really clear that all of our policies will be subject to the fiscal rules to get debt falling as a share of GDP.”

Pushed to answer the question again, Ms Reeves repeated her concerns about the cost of debt and borrowing, and hinted at moving away from the pledge.

“If there’s one thing that I hope voters know about me it is that I will never play fast and loose with the public finances, because when you do, you play fast and loose with family finances and you affect businesses as well,” she said.

“I will never do that. The fiscal rules will come first and all of our policies will be subject to the iron discipline.”

The shadow chancellor did name certain green projects Labour wanted to invest in, including green hydrogen, carbon capture and offshore wind.

But she again cast doubt on the policy, saying: “We want to make those investments alongside business in the opportunities of the future. But everything has to be affordable.

“I think what people can hear loud and clear is that all of our policies will be fully costed, fully funded and subject to fiscal rules.”

Asked to acknowledge if Labour will not hit the £28bn figure, Ms Reeves replied: “What I absolutely acknowledge is the state of the public finances… the Tory damage to our economy is very different from when we first set out our ambitions.

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“And the governments have sent interest rates soaring because of their recklessness and irresponsibility with the economy. And that does affect what an incoming Labour government would do.”

The shadow chancellor concluded: “All of our policies, and I know, I will just repeat it one more time, are subject to the fiscal rules and the Green Prosperity Plan is no exception.”

Politics

Sir Keir Starmer vows to defend budget decisions ‘all day long’ as farmers slam ‘disrespectful’ PM

Published

1 hour ago

November 16, 2024

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Sir Keir Starmer vows to defend budget decisions 'all day long' as farmers slam 'disrespectful' PM

Sir Keir Starmer has said he will defend the decisions made in the budget “all day long” amid anger from farmers over inheritance tax changes.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced last month in her key speech that from April 2026, farms worth more than £1m will face an inheritance tax rate of 20%, rather than the standard 40% applied to other land and property.

The announcement has sparked anger among farmers who argue this will mean higher food prices, lower food production and having to sell off land to pay for the tax.

Sir Keir defended the budget as he gave his first speech as prime minister at the Welsh Labour conference in Llandudno, North Wales, where farmers have been holding a tractor protest outside.

Sir Keir admitted: “We’ve taken some extremely tough decisions on tax.”

He said: “I will defend facing up to the harsh light of fiscal reality. I will defend the tough decisions that were necessary to stabilise our economy.

“And I will defend protecting the payslips of working people, fixing the foundations of our economy, and investing in the future of Britain and the future of Wales. Finally, turning the page on austerity once and for all.”

He also said the budget allocation for Wales was a “record figure” – some £21bn for next year – an extra £1.7bn through the Barnett Formula, as he hailed a “path of change” with Labour governments in Wales and Westminster.

And he confirmed a £160m investment zone in Wrexham and Flintshire will be going live in 2025.

‘PM should have addressed the protesters’

Among the hundreds of farmers demonstrating was Gareth Wyn Jones, who told Sky News it was “disrespectful” that the prime minister did not mention farmers in his speech.

He said “so many people have come here to air their frustrations. He (Starmer) had an opportunity to address the crowd. Even if he was booed he should have been man enough to come out and talk to the people”.

He said farmers planned to deliver Sir Keir a letter which begins with “‘don’t bite the hand that feeds you”.

Mr Wyn Jones told Sky News the government was “destroying” an industry that was already struggling.

“They’re destroying an industry that’s already on its knees and struggling, absolutely struggling, mentally, emotionally and physically. We need government support not more hindrance so we can produce food to feed the nation.”

He said inheritance tax changes will result in farmers increasing the price of food: “The poorer people in society aren’t going to be able to afford good, healthy, nutritious British food, so we have to push this to government for them to understand that enough is enough, the farmers can’t take any more of what they’re throwing at us.”

Mr Wyn Jones disputed the government’s estimation that only 500 farming estates in the UK will be affected by the inheritance tax changes.

“Look, a lot of farmers in this country are in their 70s and 80s, they haven’t handed their farms down because that’s the way it’s always been, they’ve always known there was never going to be inheritance tax.”

On Friday, Sir Keir addressed farmers’ concerns, saying: “I know some farmers are anxious about the inheritance tax rules that we brought in two weeks ago.

“What I would say about that is, once you add the £1m for the farmland to the £1m that is exempt for your spouse, for most couples with a farm wanting to hand on to their children, it’s £3m before anybody pays a penny in inheritance tax.”

Ministers said the move will not affect small farms and is aimed at targeting wealthy landowners who buy up farmland to avoid paying inheritance tax.

But analysis this week said a typical family farm would have to put 159% of annual profits into paying the new inheritance tax every year for a decade and could have to sell 20% of their land.

The Country and Land Business Association (CLA), which represents owners of rural land, property and businesses in England and Wales, found a typical 200-acre farm owned by one person with an expected profit of £27,300 would face a £435,000 inheritance tax bill.

The plan says families can spread the inheritance tax payments over 10 years, but the CLA found this would require an average farm to allocate 159% of its profits each year for a decade.

To pay that, successors could be forced to sell 20% of their land, the analysis found.

Politics

Trump policies could take DeFi, BTC staking mainstream: Redstone co-founder

Published

7 hours ago

November 16, 2024

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Trump policies could take DeFi, BTC staking mainstream: Redstone co-founder

Trump’s administration could push DeFi from niche to mainstream, with crypto advocates eyeing potential pro-crypto policy shifts.

Politics

William Wragg: Ex-Tory MP feels ‘enormous guilt’ over Westminster honeytrap scandal

Published

7 hours ago

November 16, 2024

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William Wragg: Ex-Tory MP feels 'enormous guilt' over Westminster honeytrap scandal

A former Conservative MP has said he felt “enormous guilt” when he found out he was the victim of a Westminster honeytrap scandal.

William Wragg resigned from the parliamentary party in April after he admitted giving out fellow politicians’ phone numbers to the suspected perpetrator of the sexting scam.

He said he felt threatened and pressured by the “catfish” after exchanging explicit photos with them.

Mr Wragg divulged the numbers to what he thought was a real person on a dating app, amid fears that the intimate images of himself would be leaked.

The former Tory party whip said he first saw news articles about the scandal when he was on a train.

The 36-year-old told the BBC: “My stomach just dropped.

“When I found out some of the things that had been going on, I just felt enormous guilt, enormous remorse.”

After the former Hazel Grove MP handed over the personal information, the catfish told Mr Wragg to vouch for their identity with their next potential victims, with the catfish telling their fresh targets they were a former researcher for Mr Wragg.

Mr Wragg agreed and this is what he feels “the most regret for” as it was “deceitful”.

Panic attacks

After he was allegedly blackmailed, Mr Wragg started having panic attacks, with instances of yelling, crying, and swearing shocking his sleeping flatmates.

Police are investigating the scandal with at least 12 men with links to Westminster believed to have received unsolicited messages from the aliases “Charlie” and “Abi”.

The fake accounts were allegedly part of the scam to get MPs and other people in politics to send explicit images and other private or sensitive information.

Unlike others who were approached by the catfish accounts, Mr Wragg approached “Charlie” himself after spotting the profile on gay dating app Grindr.

And he thought the account was a real person before exchanging explicit photos with the catfish.

Suicidal thoughts

When the scandal broke, the humiliation and shame became too much for Mr Wragg.

He recounted photographers and the media camped outside his parents’ house, which is where he went to as he began to have suicidal thoughts.

Shortly after receiving medical attention, he returned to Westminster to resign as Conservative whip and from his posts on two parliamentary committees.

He had already announced he would not run in the next general election.

Man detained

In June, a member of the Labour Party aged in his mid-20s was apprehended in Islington, north London, on suspicion of harassment and offences under the Online Safety Act.

He has since been released on bail.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK.