Labour to ditch £28bn green prosperity plan, Sky News understands
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.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Rachel Reeves refuses to commit to Labour’s pledge of investing £28bn in green technologies
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.”
Henry Birch, the former boss of Rank Group, is among the candidates vying to run Entain, the FTSE-100 owner of Ladbrokes.
Sky News has learnt that Mr Birch is one of a small number of candidates being considered by Entain to replace Jette Nygaard-Andersen as its permanent chief executive.
The recruitment process comes at a challenging time for Entain, which has been beset by boardroom upheaval and regulatory difficulties in various international markets.
Its stock has halved in the last year, leaving it with a market capitalisation of just under £5bn.
This weekend, sources close to the company confirmed that Mr Birch was a serious contender for the post, although they said others were also in contention.
An appointment could still be weeks or even a small number of months away, they added.
Henry Birch, former CEO of Very Group
Mr Birch stepped down as chief executive of Very Group, the online retailer owned by the Barclay family, in 2022.
He is an experienced gambling industry executive, having spent four years as chief executive of William Hill Online prior to joining the London-listed multichannel gaming operator Rank Group.
He has also held roles at Leisure & Gaming plc and BettingCorp.
Under Mr Birch, Very Group broke the £2bn annual sales mark for the first time.
Investors in Entain have been pressing its board to recruit a new chief executive with substantial gambling experience as it grapples with a plunging share price and numerous regulatory and strategic challenges.
Last week, Sky News revealed that former bosses of bookies Coral and Skybet had rejected overtures to become its new boss.
Pic: Reuters
Industry sources said that Dan Taylor, chief executive of Flutter Entertainment’s international operations, had also been approached, although it was unclear whether he was interested.
Entain has been under siege from activist investors for months.
In January, it announced that Ricky Sandler, who runs Entain shareholder Eminence Capital, would join its board as a non-executive director.
Last month, it said that Barry Gibson, its chairman, would retire later this year and be replaced by interim chair, and former acting CEO, Stella David.
Entain has hired bankers to sell PartyPoker and other non-core operations, which the Financial Times reported could include Netherlands-based BetCity, which Entain bought for £398mn last year.
As well as Ladbrokes, Entain owns Coral and a stake in BetMGM, a major US betting player.
Read more on Sky News:
Calls for arena ticket levy and tax relief
British Airways owner’s profits soar
Interest rate held for sixth consecutive time
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
MGM Resorts, the US casino operator behind the Bellagio in Las Vegas, attempted to buy Entain in 2021 but was rebuffed at a much higher valuation than the UK company’s shares trade at now.
MGM has since ruled out a further bid, although analysts expect it to return at some stage.
The company has faced a deluge of regulatory problems, triggering sharp criticism of its governance and business practices.
Last December, it was ordered to pay £615m for failing to prevent bribery at its former Turkish subsidiary under a deferred prosecution agreement.
Shares in Entain closed at 778.8p on Friday, giving the company a market capitalisation of £4.98bn.
Entain declined to comment, while Mr Birch could not be reached for comment.
A privately owned used-car platform is circling Cazoo Group, its stricken US-listed rival which is on the brink of administration.
Sky News has learnt that Motors.co.uk is a leading contender to acquire Cazoo’s marketplace operation, which would include its brand and intellectual property assets.
The process to auction the used-car platform’s constituent parts comes after it spent tens of millions of pounds on sponsorship deals in football, snooker and darts in a rapid attempt to gain market share.
Earlier this week, Cazoo filed a notice of intention to appoint Teneo as administrator, just three years after it floated in New York with a valuation of $8bn.
The filing was intended to provide protection from creditors while Teneo finalises asset sales.
Since an announcement last month about a restructuring of the group, advisers have offloaded a string of assets and unwound Cazoo’s previous operating model to transform it into a marketplace.
Among those have been the disposal of Cazoo’s vehicle fleet, which sources said had been achieved at higher-than-anticipated values, reflecting a current shortage of used cars in the market.
Teneo is also said to have struck a deal with Constellation Automotive, the owner of Cazoo’s rival, Cinch, involving a handful of sites and dozens of jobs.
Meanwhile, several parties are understood to have expressed an interest in Cazoo’s wholesale operation and other vehicle collection sites.
One industry source said the pivot to a platform model had seen its inventory rise to more than 15,000 cars, with Cazoo now the online vehicle marketplace where consumers can buy and sell cars under a single brand.
If, as expected, the group does fall into administration, it would underline the rapid implosion of a company which once ranked among Britain’s hottest technology start-ups.
Read more on Sky News:
UK no longer in recession
Interest rate cut is not far off
New Post Office body plan rejected
Founded by Alex Chesterman, the founder of Zoopla, it raised hundreds of millions of pounds in funding, and rapidly attracted a ‘unicorn’ – or $1bn – valuation.
Mr Chesterman left the business several months ago in the wake of a balance sheet restructuring which saw hundreds of millions of dollars of debt converted to equity.
One insider said the formal triggering of insolvency proceedings was likely to attract wider attention in Cazoo’s assets, including its brand.
It was unclear on Friday how much Motors.co.uk or other suitors for the marketplace were likely to bid for it.
Cazoo founder Alex Chesterman left the business several months ago
A spokesperson for Cazoo said: “Our new marketplace model, where consumers can both buy and sell cars, is revenue generating and performing ahead of expectations with interest from almost 100 car dealers including many household names wishing to trade on the Cazoo platform.
“Cazoo has successfully restructured and significantly reduced the cash burn of the group, resulting in a cash position in excess of £95m at 30th April 2024 compared to £113m at 31st December 2023, and the platform now has approximately 17,000 cars which is more than double the volume we previously supported and demonstrates the scalability of our technology and the strength of the team.
“We are making efforts to secure the next phase of our business and are grateful to our employees for their hard work and commitment.”
Motors.co.uk did not respond to enquiries, while a spokesperson for Cazoo declined to comment on talks about asset sales.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Environment12 months agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports6 months agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports1 month agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Environment1 year agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Environment1 year agoTesla advances Powerwall pilot project with German electric company