Labour to ditch £28bn green prosperity plan, Sky News understands

Published

2 years ago

February 8, 2024

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Labour will announce on Thursday that it is scaling back its flagship green prosperity plan, Sky News understands.

The policy will not be dropped altogether, but the party is ditching the financial target to spend £28bn a year on environmental schemes.

Politics Live: PM ends ‘disaster’ of a day with invitation to Brianna Ghey’s family

Labour will put this down to uncertain public finances and is also likely to say that this is the outcome of finalising ideas for their manifesto for the next general election, expected later this year.

The major U-turn comes after weeks of confusion surrounding the policy.

Last week, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves refused to commit to the spending target 10 times when asked by Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby if the pledge remained in place.

However earlier on Wednesday, Sir Chris Bryant, a shadow digital minister, told Sky News that “we are doing it” – adding that “it will be £28bn”.

And the day before, party leader Sir Keir Starmer also insisted he was not scaling back on the pledge, telling Times Radio: “We want to have clean power by 2030… that’s where the £28bn comes in.

“That investment is desperately needed for that mission and I’ve been unwavering in relation to mission clean power by 2030.”

The muddled briefings have led to speculation of a split between Sir Keir and Ms Reeves.

The pledge to spend £28bn a year on environmental projects, like offshore wind farms and electric vehicles, was first made in 2021 as part of a promise that Labour would be the greenest government in history were it to win the keys to Number 10.

But it was watered down last year to be a target to work towards, rather than a day-one commitment, with Ms Reeves 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 criticise Labour’s fiscal responsibility, following Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to scrap a number of the government’s own green pledges .

Labour is said to be divided on the matter, with some shadow ministers arguing the policy plays into Conservative attacks on its economic credibility, and others fearing ditching it will accentuate the feeling that Sir Keir has rowed back on the majority of his key pledges.

Since becoming Labour leader, Sir Keir has U-turned on policies including ditching university tuition fees, nationalising public utilities, increasing income tax for the top 5% of earners and abolishing Universal Credit.

A spokesperson for Momentum, the left-wing pressure group, said: “This latest Starmer U-turn represents yet another capitulation to right-wing interests.

“In doing so, Starmer isn’t just breaking another promise – he is defying the consensus among Labour members unions, voters and economists for a major green investment boost to tackle the climate crisis and create jobs in every corner of the country.”

The Tories also attacked the change in direction, with Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Laura Trott, saying it creates “uncertainty for business and our economy”.

“On the day that Labour are finalising their manifesto, Keir Starmer is torpedoing what he has claimed to be his central economic policy purely for short-term campaigning reasons,” Ms Trott said.

Carla Denyer, co-leader of the Green Party, said: “Labour have chosen to wear their fiscal rules as a millstone around their neck.

“A different approach through tax reforms, in particular by introducing a wealth tax on the super-rich, could help pay for the green transition.

“There is more than enough money in the economy to pay for this. Indeed, the Green Party would go further and faster, investing at least double what Labour originally pledged, so we can turbo charge the transition to a green economy.”

Politics

A peace deal isn’t a sure thing, Zelenskyy’s UK visit needs more than a warm welcome

Published

6 hours ago

December 8, 2025

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A peace deal isn't a sure thing, Zelenskyy's UK visit needs more than a warm welcome

Volodymyr Zelenskyy is heading to Downing Street once again, but Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will be keen to make this meeting more than just a photo op.

On Monday the prime minister will welcome not only the Ukrainian president, but also E3 allies France and Germany to discuss the state of the war in Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will join Sir Keir in showing solidarity and support for Ukraine and its leader, but it’s the update on the peace negotiations that will be the main focus of the meet up.

The four leaders are said to be set to not only discuss those talks between Ukraine, the US and Russia, but also to talk about next steps if a deal were to be reached and what that might look like.

Ahead of the discussions, Sir Keir spoke with the Dutch leader Dick Schoof where both leaders agreed Ukraine’s defence still needs international support, and that Ukraine’s security is vital to European security.

But while Russia’s war machine shows no signs of abating, a warm welcome and kind words won’t be enough to satisfy the embattled Ukrainian president at a time when Russian drone and missile attacks continue to bombard Kyiv.

What is the latest in negotiations?

Over the weekend, Mr Zelenskyy said he had discussed “next steps” with US President Donald Trump’s advisers and was “determined to keep working in good faith”.

“The American representatives know the basic Ukrainian positions,” Mr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address. “The conversation was constructive, although not easy.”

But on Sunday evening, ahead of an event at the Kennedy Center, President Trump said he was “disappointed” with Mr Zelenskyy, as was asked about the next steps in Russia-Ukraine talks following negotiations.

He said: “We’ve been speaking to President Putin and we’ve been speaking to Ukrainian leaders, including Zelenskyy, President Zelenskyy.

“And I have to say that I’m a little bit disappointed that President Zelenskyy hasn’t yet read the proposal. That was as of a few hours ago.

“His people love it. But he hasn’t – Russia’s fine with it. Russia’s you know, Russia, I guess, would rather have the whole country when you think of it. But Russia is, I believe, fine with it, but I’m not sure that Zelenskyy’s fine with it. His people love it but he hasn’t read it.”

On Saturday, Keith Kellogg, Trump’s outgoing Ukraine envoy, had told the Reagan National Defence Forum that efforts to resolve the conflict were in “the last 10 metres”.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov praised new US security strategy over the weekend, adding that Russia hopes this would lead to “further constructive cooperation with Washington on the Ukrainian settlement”.

Politics

Coinbase mounts a cautious comeback in India, two years after exit

Published

6 hours ago

December 8, 2025

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Coinbase mounts a cautious comeback in India, two years after exit

Major US cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is returning to India after a two-year absence from the market.

Coinbase has resumed app registrations in India as it prepares to roll out local fiat on-ramps in 2026, Coinbase APAC director John O’Loghlen announced at India Blockchain Week (IBW), according to a Sunday report by TechCrunch.

Coinbase’s return to India comes more than two years after it ceased local services in September 2023, following a troubled debut of its local exchange launched in 2022.

“We had millions of customers in India, historically, and we took a very clear stance to off-board those customers entirely from overseas entities, where they were domiciled and regulated. Because we wanted to kind of burn the boats, have a clean slate here,” O’Loghlen said.

Crypto-to-crypto trades available immediately

As Coinbase resumes customer onboarding in India, users can immediately execute crypto-to-crypto trades, according to the report by TechCrunch.

The exchange initially began onboarding users through an early-access program in October, around the time it hired Karan Malik as its India marketing lead.

Coinbase, India, Cryptocurrency Exchange, Policy — *Source: Coinbase India marketing lead Karan Malik*

Malik had previously overseen marketing for last year’s IBW event, where Coinbase served as a platinum sponsor this year.

“Last year, I was leading the charge and building the marketing and brand playbook for IBW. This year, I’m bringing Coinbase to the party,” the exec said.

Coinbase ramps up push in India

Coinbase has been actively working to rebuild its relationship with the Indian government. In early December, Coinbase’s international policy adviser Katie Mitch represented the exchange before India’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance.

“We are optimistic on the potential for forward-looking VDA regulation in India,” she said in an X post last Thursday.

In another development last week, Priyank Kharge, IT minister for Karnataka, signed a memorandum of understanding with Coinbase India to deepen the state’s leadership in blockchain innovation and cybersecurity.

*Source: Karnataka IT minister Priyank Kharge*

Through the collaboration, the Karnataka government will collaborate with the exchange on startup incubation on Coinbase-backed Base protocol and speed up real-world applications of blockchain technology, the minister said.

As previously mentioned, Coinbase secured a license with India’s Financial Intelligence Unit in March 2025, positioning the exchange for a potential launch in the country. In August, Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal also met with Karnataka’s IT minister Kharge to explore collaboration on developer tools, cybersecurity and blockchain in governance.

Cointelegraph approached Coinbase for comment regarding its relaunch in India, but had not received a response by the time of publication.