Labour accused of ‘massive backward step’ over decision to drop £28bn green investment pledge – UK politics live

Good morning. After weeks of uncertainty about its future, the Guardian is reporting that Labour’s plan to spend £28bn a year on green investment projects is definitely set to go.

That does not mean Labour is giving up on its green energy mission. But the £28bn a year figure had become a liability, because the Tories repeatedly depicted it as a gateway to higher taxes, and so that particular feature of the policy is being dropped.

But Labour has not actually announced this. The Guardian story is based on information from party sources, and it has not been officially confirmed. On the Today programme this morning Chris Mason, the BBC’s political editor said that, when he sought to stand it up, he was told by one figure in the party the story “shouldn’t be seen as any more authoritative than all the other speculation there has been on this”.

Having decided to drop the £28bn the, Labour now has to decide how to announce this. There are two options; a hard, sharp U-turn, that gets widely noticed, while looking humiliating; or a soft, gradual U-turn. Labour has been embarked on the latter for a while (the £28bn policy has already been subject to various revisions watering it down), but the attacks from CCHQ have not stopped.

The big danger for Labour is that, by closing down a line of attack from the right, they are opening one up from the left. And the Green party has obliged, describing the U-turn as “massive backward step”. This is what Carla Denyer, the Green party’s co-leader, said in a statement about the Labour policy released yesterday.

Just as the president of the British Chambers of Commerce calls on the next government to make the transition to a green economy its number one priority, Labour decides to shred their £28bn green investment plan. This is a massive backward step – for the climate, for the economy and for jobs.

This U-turn will push businesses into taking their investment elsewhere – especially to the EU and US where green investment plans are being rolled out – and threatens thousands of potential exciting new job opportunities. The UK’s future prosperity is dependent on greening our economy and that requires large scale investment.

While the Tories have broken Britain and left the country’s finances in a dire state, Labour can choose whether or not to have this “fiscal inheritance” as a millstone around their neck …

Investing in this secure future is a political choice. By ditching its green investment plan, and making a series of other U-turns, Labour has clearly signalled that it is turning its back on a fairer, greener future. It is clear we are going to need a group of Green MPs in parliament after the next election pushing whoever forms the next government to do the right thing.

Here is the agenda for the day.

9.30am: MPs debate private members’ bills.

11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.

Late morning: Angela Rayner, the deputy Labour leader, joins Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, on a visit in Edinburgh.

Noon: The political parties in Northern Ireland are meeting to dis

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