Keir Starmer has reaffirmed Labour’s plans to target a carbon-free electricity grid by 2030 and boost green government spending to £28 billion a year if the party wins the next election, as the Opposition Leader today delivered his first major speech of what is virtually will certainly turn out to be an election year.
The Labor leader today pledged that if the party wins a parliamentary majority at the general election now expected to take place this autumn, it would deliver a “total overhaul” of British politics that would enable a “new level of ambition and focus to make’. “in the way Britain approaches domestic and global challenges.
Speaking in Bristol, Starmer said Labor would lead a “mission government” that would be “vital to tackling the profound challenges of our time: the rising geopolitical temperature, climate change, terrorism, securing our borders, the revolutions in science, energy, technology that are reshaping everything we know about our world”.
It came as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak today dampened speculation about the prospect of a spring election, telling reporters his “actual assumption is that we will have a general election in the second half of this year”.
As such, 2024 promises to be a pivotal year for British politics and the ongoing net zero transition, with Starmer insisting Labor wants to fight the upcoming election over the economy, adding that “we are ready for that fight, ready to close. ” the book up [the Conservatives’] trickledown nonsense, once and for all”.
He said Labor would “deliver good industrial policy and higher investment” and “bulldoze through red tape” to unlock the “homes, infrastructure and investment we need”.
In addition, he reiterated Labour’s commitment to its “unashamedly ambitious” targets to take UK economic growth to the highest levels in the G7 and ramp up clean energy sources and grid technologies to achieve a fully carbon-free energy system by the end of the decade build.
Starmer also again praised Labour’s plan to create a new public clean energy developer called GB Energy, which he said would help pay cheaper bills and ensure the country runs on “clean British power and not on foreign oil and gas”.
Experts have questioned the feasibility of delivering such a widespread and complex electricity grid transformation within a single parliamentary term, while government ministers have attacked Labour’s plans to invest £28 billion a year in green infrastructure projects, with the argument that this would lead to more loans which could lead to more loans. fuel inflation.
In response, Labor has insisted that any borrowing to help meet the £28 billion target would be subject to strict budget rules, sparking fears among green groups that the target may not be met.
Responding to questions from journalists after his speech, Starmer reiterated Labour’s commitment to its £28 billion Green Prosperity Plan, which he said would support capital investment projects and be partly funded by loans used to help grow the economy.
The Labor leader said again that the aim would be to gradually increase green financing to reach the £28 billion annual investment figure by the second half of parliament – and no later than 2029 – but did not rule out this level of investment would be reached sooner.
“There is no question of pushing back the mission; the mission is clean energy by 2030,” said Starmer. ‘It is clear that we have looked very carefully at the investments required for this. The investments we want to make were intended to stimulate private investment at a ratio of one to three. So we’ve had quite extensive discussions with global investors about how that will work. And the date a check is written by the government is not the date the mission is delivered; the mission delivery date is 2030. That’s the mission.”
However, Starmer warned that the precise level of green investment would depend on current government spending and budget rules on borrowing.
“It is clear that we have reduced the increase to £28 billion,” Starmer said. “It doesn’t mean there’s nothing there for that; it means that it has been increased to £28 billion, depending of course on the money that the government may already be putting in, and on our budget rules. But that’s just a wise investment.”
Labor has said that green funding already committed by the current government, such as the £6 billion recently allocated to energy efficiency programs set to run from 2025 to 2028, would count towards the £28 billion target, reducing any funding needs to a be kept to a minimum.
But as he reiterated Labour’s ambitious plans for a green economy during his speech, Starmer said he was “under no illusions” about the challenges the party faces if it is to win the next election and Britain’s sluggish economy wants to breathe new life into.
“This is a huge test,” he told the crowd. ‘We are trying to defeat not just the Tories, but their whole brand of politics, a mentality that will seek out any differences between the people of this country and, like weeds between the cobblestones, will tear apart the cracks. , so that they can ultimately divide and conquer.”
“No one in Britain thinks the next few years will be easy,” Starmer added. “But this year is the chance, the only chance, to change our course.”
Responding to Starmer’s speech today, James Alexander, the chief executive of the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF), urged Labor to “stick with” its £28 billion annual green investment commitment, as well as the proposed reforms to the planning system.
“We welcome Labour’s recognition of the crucial role that private investment can play in decarbonising the UK energy sector and achieving net zero ambitions, catalyzed by government action,” he said. “Targeted public investment, combined with supply-side reforms, is key to unlocking greater levels of private capital to accelerate green growth in the UK.”
Hannah Martin, from campaign group Green New Deal Rising, urged Labor to make a stronger commitment to the £28 billion target. “Rather than backtrack on another major promise, Labor should commit £28 billion in investment from day one of a new parliament, and use the money to reprogram our economy so that it works for us all, not only for large companies and shareholders.” she said. “£28 billion a year is the minimum we need to meet our climate targets and reverse the economic decline. Voters want to see a strong commitment to tackling the climate crisis in the next elections. Labor should set fiscal rules that encourage much-needed investment in the economy. our economy to create jobs, reduce inequality and prevent catastrophic climate change.”
In related political news today, the government today admitted that oil recently produced at the controversial Rosebank field in the North Sea would, given the green light, be sold on the international market rather than to British consumers, according to The guard.
Despite widespread testimony from industry experts to the contrary, ministers have repeatedly claimed that developing oil and gas fields in the North Sea would improve Britain’s energy security and help reduce bills to expand fossil fuel production fuels in the region.
But in a written statement to Parliament published today in response to a ministerial question, the government said it was “not desirable to force private companies to ‘allocate’ North Sea oil and gas for domestic use”. seen as a tacit acknowledgment of the fact that the fossil fuel from the Rosebank project will be sold on the international market.
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