Labour drops £28bn green pledge from campaign bible

SIR KEIR STARMER’S flagship £28 billion green investment pledge has been thrown into fresh doubt after it was not included in Labour’s new 24-page “campaigning bible”.

The party issued the summary of its five “missions” for government to all parliamentary candidates yesterday.

The Labour leader initially pledged to borrow £28 billion annually to fund green projects from year one if the party wins back power, but has since watered down that commitment.

Earlier this month Sir Keir said his promise to bring about “clean power” by 2030 was his central green energy pledge, not “writing a cheque”.

Labour sources insisted last night that the party remained committed to the borrowing plan, despite it not appearing in the campaign document.

The Conservative Party has increasingly focused on the £28 billion figure as they have put the economy front and centre of their early 2024 framing of the long election campaign. Rishi Sunak and his Cabinet ministers have warned that a vote for Labour risks taking the country “back to square one”, arguing it is financially irresponsible to borrow £28 billion a year.

There have been indications that the Labour leadership could go even further in watering down the investment figure, with some Labour think tank insiders predicting more changes.

Sir Keir himself now no longer promises the borrowing amount will be hit in the first five years of a Labour government, arguing all policies are dependent on hitting the party’s fiscal rules. A Labour spokesman reacted by saying: “If the Tories spent more time managing the economy than obsessing over our policies they may go some way to fixing the low growth, high tax doom loop they’ve created over 14 years.”

Shadow cabinet ministers have been told to make sure policies are ready for a potential manifesto launch in the spring.

‘If Tories spent more time managing the economy they may fix the low-growth high-tax doom loop’