Labour to ditch £28bn green prosperity plan – Sky News

Maybe the vast scale of anti-net zero protests around Europe has given them cold feet, plus the general lack of enthusiasm for such extravagant so-called climate policies among UK voters battling the fast-rising cost of living.
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Labour is ditching its policy of spending £28bn a year on its green investment 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.

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.
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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 Rishi Sunak’s decision to scrap a number of the government’s own green pledges.

Full report here.