The Daily Telegraph - Saturday
Miliband living on borrowed time, say MPs
ED MILIBAND has been warned by Labour MPs he is “living on borrowed time” amid fury over his role in the party’s £28 billion green spending U-turn.
Mr Miliband, the shadow climate secretary, angered backbenchers and activists by backing Sir Keir Starmer’s climbdown on the flagship policy.
He said yesterday that he had not considered resigning over the matter and still had a “massive agenda to invest” in clean energy production – but the about-turn led to a furious response amongst Labour MPs, who said he had lost credibility by going along with it. One said the shadow climate secretary was “busy trying to save” what was left of the party’s green agenda, but added: “It all lacks credibility, and there is a widespread view in the parliamentary Labour Party that he is living on borrowed time.
“He is forever in retreat whilst stoutly saying he is on course. He reminds me of the general who says ‘we are not retreating, we are just advancing in another direction’.”
Mr Miliband was asked on Channel 4 News whether he had considered quitting over the decision to slash the £28 billion a year climate scheme to just £4.7 billion.
He said: “Why would I think about doing that when we have a massive agenda to invest in the future of the country? Absolutely not. I’m in frontline politics because I care so much about this cause. My test of what we’ve come up with is does it meet the criteria I have?
“And absolutely it does. So the only thing I can do - the only right thing to do – is to fight for the maximum possible ambition and to make sure that, in government, we can make a difference.”
The interview was Mr Miliband’s first public appearance since Thursday’s announcement of the green policy about-turn, and came after the Tories accused him of going into hiding.
He had privately argued against the decision at a meeting with the Labour leadership on Tuesday, but was overruled and agreed to go along with it.
Another Labour MP said Mr Miliband was “very loyal” to Sir Keir but that “privately he’ll be totally gutted” about having to agree to the about-turn.
One source on the Left of the party said the shadow climate secretary’s standing with activists had been damaged, adding: “Generally on the Left there has been disappointment that Ed knows how wrong the leadership is but just takes it.”
It came as rumours swirled within the party that Sir Keir had wanted to stick to the £28billion policy but was overruled by Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor.
Pat McFadden, Labour’s national campaign coordinator, is also understood to have been instrumental in dropping the pledge to blunt Tory attack lines. One MP said: “I’ve never known a Labour leader to be overruled like that.”
Sir Keir and Ms Reeves have rejected claims of a split and insisted the decision was joint.
The Telegraph can reveal that Sir Keir has watered down his green policy even further, scrapping a pledge to backdate an expanded windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas firms made in the first four months of 2022.
The Tories leapt on the row, with Matt Vickers, the deputy Conservative chairman, saying: “You cannot trust a word Sir Keir Starmer says. Labour’s top team publicly committed to a £28 billion spending spree 311 times, then dropped the figure when it was no longer politically convenient but kept the policy.”
The Tories accused Mr Miliband of going into hiding after Labour ditched its green spending plan. Conservative Central Office launched a “Where’s Ed?” website with a ticker claiming that Mr Miliband, was last seen 141 days ago. He reportedly argued against the U-turn at a meeting with the leadership on Tuesday, only to be overruled. His allies have insisted he backs the decision and is not dodging scrutiny.
The Tory claim that he has not been seen for 141 days relates to his last appearance in the broadcast media, which was on Sept 21.
Mr Miliband backed the decision to drop the plan in writing, though he has not so far appeared in public since the move to do so was announced. In a written statement, he said Labour still had “a world-leading agenda on climate and energy”. He posted a series of tweets in which he blamed “the Conservatives’ economic mismanagement and their scorched earth policy” for the U-turn.
Sir Keir insisted the shadow climate secretary would be appearing in public yesterday and that he backed the decision. Mr Miliband did not appear on yesterday’s morning broadcast round.
Shadow climate secretary has angered the party by backing Starmer’s green energy climbdown