A LABOUR aide has said that there are fears Labour’s latest U-turn on green investment will leave Keir Starmer looking like an “empty vessel”.
It comes after the Labour leader insisted he had no choice but to ditch Labour’s £28 billion a year green pledge.
Following months of speculation, the U-turn was finally confirmed and met with widespread criticism.
Starmer (below) told the BBC Labour would still spend more than the Tories on green projects if it wins the election, and was committed to “clean power by 2030”.
Politico has reported that a Zoom call was held by shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves and shadow energy secretary Ed Miliband on Thursday that was so hastily arranged only around 45 MPs turned up.
One MP who was at the meeting told the outlet: “I don’t think they knew what they were going to spend the money on in the first place” and that it has now prompted “more worries that we don’t look like we know what we’re doing”.
The party’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting appeared on Question Time on Thursday night where he defended the U-turn.
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He blamed Liz Truss’s mini-budget as one of the reasons why Labour have ditched the investment plan.
However, one Labour aide told Politico that it will lead to concern that Starmer is an “empty vessel”.
Discussing Reeves, they added: “If we can’t get anything ambitious through now, what hope do we have in government?
“Treasury says no to everything. She’s going to rule with an iron fist.”
Reacting to the U-turn, the SNP’s leader in Westminster Stephen Flynn said: “Keir Starmer’s damaging decision to cut energy investment will destroy Scottish jobs, harm economic growth and hit families in the pocket by keeping energy bills high.
“It’s a weak and shortsighted U-turn, which shows Westminster is incapable of delivering the investment Scotland needs to compete in the global green energy gold rush and secure strong economic growth.
“As our partners and allies across the world press ahead with investment to attract jobs and secure economic and energy security, the UK has turned away. It’s as depressing as it is predictable.”
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