Commenting on reports that Labour will further water down their £28bn green investment pledge, Greenpeace UK’s policy director, Doug Parr, said:
“‘Let’s speed ahead’, he said. ‘Really slowly’, he was thinking. This steady erosion of what was a really bold and much needed investment pledge is far from what our economy, climate or country needs right now. It’s the sort of doublespeak we’ve come to expect from Sunak, not Starmer.
“The US, EU and China are steaming ahead in the global green tech race having pumped hundreds of billions into green infrastructure projects, while the current government’s net zero rowbacks are only taking the UK backwards. Green infrastructure spending is one of the best economic growth generators there is, and borrowing to fund such investment will pay for itself.
“Labour’s £28bn-a-year green investment pledge was the only solid proposition we had in order to catch up and stimulate the kind of private investment needed to get the UK green economy back on track. It would have demonstrated that we are, once again, serious about tackling the climate crisis. If Labour cave now, and keep rowing backwards, we’ll all pay the price.”
