Labour has said it remains “committed” to the “level of ambition” outlined in its £28bn green investment pledge as uncertainty continues to surround whether it will be watered down further or scrapped.
Shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the party aspired to achieve the promise it first made in 2021 but admitted the investment may not be met until “the latter part of the next parliament”.
Speaking to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Mr Reynolds said how much the party would spend would be determined by the “health of the economy, which is clearly in a challenging position”.
He also said Labour had its own “fiscal rules”, including that debt should fall by the end of a parliament, that the pledge would be subject to.
“So, we’re still committed to that level of ambition but we’re clear it is the fiscal rules that determine whether you can do that, and that is not because we’re limiting our ambition in that space – it’s a recognition if you don’t have that discipline, you end up with the kind of disaster we saw with Liz Truss where you’re spending more money, but it’s only that interest, rather than the investments, that you want to make.”
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The shadow business secretary also said the money would be sourced from a combination of public and private investment, and added: “We want to get to that level of ambition by the latter part of the next parliament.”
Under the green prosperity plan, first announced by shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, Labour promised to invest £28bn a year until 2030 in green projects if it came to power.
The promise has emerged as a key dividing line with the Conservatives following Rishi Sunak’s decision to scale back a number of green policies, including reaching net zero by 2050 and moving the date for a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035.
Ms Reeves has already watered down the original commitment, saying last year the £28bn…
