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

Published

5 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

Reform candidate resigns over ‘unacceptable’ social media comments

Published

5 hours ago

June 17, 2024

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Reform candidate resigns over 'unacceptable' social media comments

The Reform Party has accepted the resignation of one of its election candidates after “unacceptable” historical social media comments came to light.

Grant StClair-Armstrong, who was standing in Saffron Walden, the Essex constituency where Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch was the most recent MP, tendered his resignation following reports in The Times that he had previously called on people to vote for the British National Party (BNP).

The newspaper reported that StClair-Armstrong posted a blog in 2010 in which he said: “I could weep now, every time I pick up a British newspaper and read the latest about the state of the UK. No doubt, Enoch Powell would be doing the same if he was alive. My solution … vote BNP!”

When The Times contacted Mr StClair-Armstrong about the comments, he said he had “no excuses”.

“I’ve got no excuses for that,” he said. “I think they’re a disgusting party. I don’t like the English Defence League. I don’t like them.”

Election latest: Pub registered as political party; Farage to launch Reform manifesto in Wales

The former candidate also said he would hand in his resignation, adding: “I don’t really see any alternative.”

A spokesperson for Reform told Sky News: “Mr StClair-Armstrong has tendered his resignation as a member of Reform UK due to the revelation of unacceptable historic social media comments and we have accepted his resignation.”

His resignation comes just a day before Nigel Farage is due to launch the party’s policies in South Wales on Monday afternoon.

Last week another Reform candidate apologised for an old internet post which said Britain should have “taken Hitler up on his offer of neutrality” instead of fighting the Nazis in the Second World War.

Ian Gribbin, who is standing in the East Sussex seat of Bexhill and Battle, told Sky News that he apologised and withdrew the comments “unreservedly”.

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He added that he was “upset” at how they had been “taken out of context”, saying his mother was the daughter of Russian Jewish people who fled persecution.

Rishi Sunak surprised his opponents when he called an election for 4 July, having previously hinted it would take place later in the autumn.

Responding to Mr Gribbin’s case at the time, Mr Farage said his party “ran out of time” to properly vet candidates.

The Reform leader claimed all parties “will suffer” from selection controversies because of the speed at which they had to pick people after the election was called.

The candidates standing in Saffron Walden are:

Conservatives – Kemi Badenoch
Independent – Erik Bonino
Green Party – Edward Gildea
Independent – Andrew David Green
Independent – Niko Omilana
Liberal Democrats – Smita Rajesh
Labour Party – Issy Waite
Reform – TBC

The candidates standing in Bexhill and Battle are:

Independent – Abul Azad
Labour – Christine Bayliss
Reform UK – Ian Gribbin
Independent Network – Nigel Jacklin
Liberal Democrat – Becky Jones
Green Party – Jonathan Kent
Party of Women – Julia Long
Conservative – Kieran Mullan
Independent – Jeff Newman
UK Independence Party – Colin Sullivan

Politics

SEC shoots down Ripple’s argument for a lower penalty

Published

9 hours ago

June 17, 2024

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SEC shoots down Ripple’s argument for a lower penalty

The SEC argued Ripple’s proposed lower civil penalty wouldn’t be enough, and there’s no comparison to its settlement with Terraform Labs.

Politics

Nigel Farage to launch ‘contract with the people’ in Wales following poll boosts

Published

11 hours ago

June 17, 2024

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Nigel Farage to launch 'contract with the people' in Wales following poll boosts

Nigel Farage will kick off Reform UK’s policies in South Wales on Monday, where he is poised to put pressure on the Tories over immigration and tax.

The Reform leader will launch his party’s “contract with the people” – which they will not call a manifesto – in Merthyr Tydfil to highlight “what happens to a country when Labour is in charge”.

The Senedd in Cardiff is the devolved legislature of Wales and is currently run by a Labour-administration.

The launch will follow a productive few days for Reform that saw his party overtake the Conservatives for the first time – prompting Mr Farage to declare his party the “opposition” to Labour.

Election latest: Pub registered as political party; Farage to launch Reform manifesto in Wales

His fortunes increased further after another poll by Survation for The Sunday Times showed the Tories could be reduced to just 72 seats in the next parliament, while a separate survey by Savanta for The Sunday Telegraph showed Reform up another three points.

Reform has consistently pushed the Conservatives to adopt a more hardline stance on immigration and tax cuts.

In a flavour of the policies that will be unveiled tomorrow, the party said earlier this month that it would like to see a tax on businesses who employ overseas workers.

This would see firms pay a higher 20% rate of national insurance for foreign workers, up from the current 13.8%.

Reform is also opposed to Labour’s plans to end private school tax exemptions, and wants the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights, overseen by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, in order to use offshore processing centres for illegal immigrants and prevent them from claiming asylum.

Some Tory candidates and former MPs on the right of the party have been agitating for Mr Sunak to advocate for an exit from the ECHR – something he has been reluctant to do but has left the door open to.

Other Reform policies include offering vouchers to go private if you can’t see a GP in three days, scrapping interest on student loans, increasing police numbers, keeping “woke ideologies out of the classroom”, abolishing the TV licence fee, reforming the Lords and reducing “wasteful spending”.

Mr Farage used an article in The Sunday Telegraph to criticise Lord Cameron, the foreign secretary, for an interview he gave to The Times on Friday in which he urged voters to reject the Reform leader’s “inflammatory language” and “dog whistle” politics.

In response, Mr Farage wrote: “If Lord Cameron is worried about damaging divisions, he should look a bit closer to home.

“The terminally divided Tory party has proved itself incapable of effective government over the past 14 years – and is set to be even more hopelessly split in opposition, after it gets hammered on 4 July.”

The Reform leader will also turn his fire on Labour, saying he had chosen Wales to launch his “contract with the people” “because it shows everyone exactly what happens to a country when Labour is in charge”.

“Schools are worse than in England, NHS waiting lists are longer than in England, COVID restrictions were even tighter than in England and now Welsh motorists are being soaked by literally hundreds of speed cameras to enforce the deeply unpopular new 20mph blanket speed limit in towns and villages,” he said.

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“Meanwhile, the Tories have been the official opposition almost solidly since 2016 and have achieved zilch, which probably explains why we are neck-and-neck with them in the polls in Wales.

“So, if you want a picture of what the whole country will be like with a Starmer government and a feeble Conservative opposition, come to Wales and then hear us unveil a better future for all of Britain”.

Rishi Sunak has repeatedly said a vote for Mr Farage’s party amounted to handing a “blank cheque” to Labour, whom the polls predict will form the next government from 4 July.

The full list of candidates standing in Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare are: