Once again Labour’s internal debate over its £28 billion green spending pledge is playing out publicly. On Friday there was some talk of clarity following a report that the headline figure would be ditched – with the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones then going out on the media where he appeared to confirm it. Jones said Labour would decide how much to spend on environmental programmes once in government, adding that ‘the number will move around just as a matter of fact’. But then Keir Starmer popped up on Monday to declare in an interview with Times Radio that the £28 billion a year on green spending is ‘desperately needed’.
Starmer said:
We’re going to need investment, that’s where the £28 billion comes in. That investment that is desperately needed for that mission… you can only understand the investment argument by understanding that we want to have clean power by 2030 … We need to borrow to invest to do that.
The comments have been taken by those pushing for the figure to stay as a recommitment, and a sign that Starmer will not be bounced into a position.
For Starmer, the row over green spending is fast turning into a question on his authority
It means that for the first time, there appears to be a significant difference of opinion between Starmer and his shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves. Reeves has been careful not to recommit to the £28 billion figure while Starmer is happy to mention it. ‘There comes a point when you can’t just put it down to confusion on the media round’, says a party figure. Shadow ministers joke that at this point that they are having to decide the line for themselves when sent out to do the media. There is still an expectation – as I previously reported – that Starmer will junk the headline figure of £28 billion around the time of the Spring Budget, blaming the Tories for using the remaining headroom. However, each time Starmer mentions the figure, there is more doubt as to whether this will really happen, given he doesn’t appear to be ramping down the speculation.
The Tories are delighted by the confusion over the policy and are trying to make hay from it. Today the Tories have released a new official Treasury costing on Labour’s insulation pledge to spend £6 billion a year to hand out grants to upgrade 19 million homes with an EPC rating below C. This pledge forms part of the 2030 clean power policy that was originally costed to form in total £28 billion. However, the official costing alleges that the £6 billion is wide of the mark and it would actually cost closer to £13 billion. Inevitably, this has led to an immediate row over the use of civil servant time for political attack. What’s more, Labour has dismissed its findings, issuing the statement: ‘This costing is ludicrous and uses bogus assumptions. They have costed someone else’s policy, not Labour’s.’
If the figure does go in the next month, then the Tories will keep going in this direction, suggesting that the party’s clean power by 2030 target is incompatible with the spending figures the party has announced. But for now Starmer’s most immediate problem relates to his grip on his party. The mixed messages from senior members of his shadow cabinet is raising questions about how policy is decided and who is in control. For Starmer, the row over green spending is fast turning into a question on his authority over his party.
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