Labour is still firmly committed to its Green Prosperity Plan, despite the impression you may have gained from recent news coverage.
We made a commitment to this some time ago, before the catastrophe that was the Liz Truss budget.
And in the same way that many of us have had to tighten our belts because of rising prices and interest rates, Labour has had to reevaluate what the country is going to be able to afford to spend, not just on green policies, but all the policies that come from our five missions, that together will start to rebuild a fairer, more compassionate and prosperous society.
We know that when you play fast and loose with public finances, as the Tories did in that disastrous budget two years ago, then you put families’ finances at risk.
So Labour is now aiming to get to the £28bn annual spend during the second half of a five-year administration.
Labour is still committed to a long-term plan to bring in a decade of national renewal and to get Britain’s future back.
Our Green Prosperity Plan will create good jobs, cut your bills and make Britain’s energy secure.
It will be funded by a windfall tax on oil and gas giants and borrowing to invest within our fiscal rules.
Our leader, Keir Starmer, has made it clear that a Labour government will:
- Deliver clean power by 2030, saving households hundreds of pounds on annual household bills and provide a cheaper, zero-carbon electricity system for businesses.
- Switch on Great British Energy, investing in clean homegrown power, creating jobs across the country and ending the energy insecurity Britain faces under the Conservatives.
- Create 500,000 jobs in Britain’s industrial heartlands, giving opportunities to plumbers, electricians, welders, and working people in every single nation and region of the country.
- Unlock private sector investment in British industries such as electric vehicle production, ports, clean steel, hydrogen and carbon capture.
- Insulate Britain’s homes and cut energy bills for good.
Good jobs. Lower bills. Energy security.
Labour is under no illusions about the challenges we will face in government. The Tories have crashed the economy, and the public finances are a mess; but we remain ambitious for the future of our country, and for a better life for its people. There is a global race taking place in the jobs and industries of the future, and we are determined to lead it, and get Britain’s future back.
Julie Farmer, Chair, Cheltenham Labour Party
This article was first published in the Cheltenham Post on 8th March 2024