Britain's main opposition leader is being pressured by senior MPs in his own party to shake up his “green prosperity plan” to make it more beneficial to the UK economy and less about meeting climate targets.
At the helm of the Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer has fashioned himself as a prime minister-in-waiting and has jumped on the climate debate in a bid to score points with voters.
The green policy, by far the party’s largest single spending commitment, would provide a £140 billion stimulus over five years. Under the plan, a Labour administration would borrow £28 billion annually to spend on efforts aimed at speeding up the transition towards the UK’s 2050 net zero target. Areas targeted would include renewable energy schemes and home insulation projects.
Labour has for months had a strong lead over the ruling Conservatives in opinion polls and is gearing up for a general election, expected to happen in 2024.
Senior Labour figures are understood to be trying to persuade Sir Keir to refocus his green agenda to make the aims and benefits appear closer to home for voters.
They will be eager to avoid being seen as out-of-touch with the working class, a bloc that has traditionally supported Labour.
A member of the shadow cabinet was quoted by the Financial Times as suggesting the policy should be renamed to reflect voters’ priorities.
The cost of living crisis and job creation remain high on the minds of voters when it comes to deciding who to support.
“Voters care more about jobs than green stuff, it was always a mistake to call it the green prosperity plan,” the MP said.
“A bunch of us are now saying it should be used for capital spending even if not explicitly ‘green’.”
Mr Starmer’s green policy is also reported to have caused “growing tension among front-benchers”.
Legislators are questioning the sense behind the commitment to borrow large sums of money to roll out green initiatives instead of funding for hospitals and schools.
But Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, is among those publicly pushing the policy as a propellant for economic growth.
“Labour’s Green Prosperity Plan will create good jobs, grow the economy, keep energy bills low and make Britain a clean energy superpower,” she tweeted on Thursday. “Where the Tories have thrown in the towel, Labour will build a better Britain.”
Ed Miliband, the shadow climate change and net zero secretary and former Labour leader, last week used the issue of offshore wind to lambast Rishi Sunak’s government for its policy.
He accused the Tories of being “complacent” and lacking an industrial strategy to bring green jobs to Britain.
Mr Miliband cited the case of the Kincardine offshore wind farm, off the coast of Scotland, the components of which were constructed in Spain, the Netherlands.
He said these were “jobs that could have come to Britain but didn’t because we have no industrial strategy and the government refuses to invest in our ports.”
The UK under Conservative rule “will never win the global race” to turn back the effects of climate change and achieve net zero by 2050, he said, “because they think public investment in green industry that brings jobs to Britain is dangerous”.
Labour has claimed its industrial strategy could lead to the creation of 80,000 jobs in the British automotive sector alone.
