Labour could water down £28,000,000,000-a-year spending on green plans | UK News

Labour could water down its pledge to spend £28 billion-a-year on green initiatives because of the current state of public finances.

The plan could be scaled back as the party instead focuses on meeting its fiscal rules.

It had originally promised to invest £28 billion-a-year on green projects until 2030 if it came into power next year.

But shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said in June the figure would instead be a target to work towards in the second half of a first parliament.

Labour could now be set to backtrack further and the Tories have latched onto the policy to attack Labour’s fiscal credibility.

The party has attacked Labour for the idea of the extra borrowing needed to fund the pledge.

A senior source in Sir Keir Starmer’s office suggested to the BBC the £28 billion figure may not be reached at all due to the current state of the public finances.

Another source told The Telegraph fulfilling Labour’s fiscal rules was more important than meeting that pledge.

The party’s rules include paying for day-to-day expenditure through tax receipts and getting debt down as a share of the economy.

A move to further dilute the commitment is likely to anger climate campaigners and prompt accusations of another u-turn by Keir Starmer.

Hannah Martin, co-director of the Green New Deal Rising campaign group, said any such move would be a ‘disaster’.

‘Failing to commit even to the basics of investing in our planet and economy would be a huge betrayal – and our generation won’t let them forget it,’ she said.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement offered significant tax cuts, but pencilled in steep curbs in public spending.

Starmer has already acknowledged his party will face ‘tough choices’ if it wins the general election next year.

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