Growth is the flavour of the month for Sir Keir Starmer’s government, with Rachel Reeves this morning delivering a big speech on Britain’s economic potential. As the Chancellor attempts to woo the public with a number of talking points in today’s address, all eyes remain on the rather controversial matter of Heathrow’s expansion – which, Reeves announced today, is ‘badly needed’. Going on, the Chancellor insisted:
We cannot duck the decision any longer. A third runway at Heathrow will unlock growth, boost investment and make the UK more open. This government supports a third runway at Heathrow and is inviting proposals to be brought forward by the summer.
Golly. It won’t please a number of sceptics in her party, however – with Reeves facing criticism from within her own ranks last week after it was reported she planned to move forward with plans to build the new runway. As Katy Balls wrote on Tuesday, there has been many a grumble among Labour politicians about the reported proposals, with some concerned about the government prioritising growth over the environment. Batting away these worries was Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds on the airwaves this morning, claiming that there is ‘no tension’ between Labour’s climate goals and its plans for growth. What a curious claim. Mr S wonders just what Energy Secretary Ed Miliband makes of it all…
And it isn’t only Labour MPs and green groups, like Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, blasting the Chancellor. Labour donor Dale Vince – and owner of green energy organisation Ecotricity – this morning slammed the plans as a ‘mistake’, citing concerns about costs and carbon emissions. Speaking to the BBC ahead of Reeves’ speech, Vince fumed:
It’ll take ten years to build a runway, cost maybe £50 billion. It’ll create the wrong kind of growth — we’ll be exporting tourism money abroad, creating a bigger imbalance than we already have, and it will come at the expense of our carbon-cutting effort. I think it’s the wrong kind of growth.
We’ve got to decarbonise energy, transport and food, and at the moment we’re on course to do energy, and we won’t do that with this Heathrow expansion, which is a big mistake.
Ouch. If it’s not Labour’s opponents bashing the government, it’s the party’s own supporters. Will Reeves manage to get her critics onside as she attempts to push through her grand plans? Don’t hold your breath…
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