Published On : 02/08/2024

UK’s Labour to back out of 28 billion stg green pledge -BBC

(Reuters) – Britain’s opposition Labour Party will back out of its 28 billion pound ($35.34 billion) policy pledge that sought to invest in green energy, BBC reported on Wednesday citing sources.

The party is no longer looking to commit to the investment in green energy projects, but plans to create a publicly-owned green power firm are not being dropped altogether from its Green Prosperity Plan, the report said.

The plan, first announced in 2021, was pared back by the party last June, saying higher interest rates would mean the target would have to be met gradually. An official announcement from the party is expected on Thursday.

Last week, the party’s finance policy chief Rachel Reeves defended the target to spend 28 billion pounds a year on green projects in the second half of a Labour government, but said she would not break “iron-clad” fiscal rules to reach it.

Labour has sought to portray itself as the only party which can spur economic growth by investing heavily in green technologies and jobs, but its promise to invest 28 billion pounds every year until 2030 in green technologies had come under fire from some who said it could lead to rising borrowing costs.

The party did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

($1 = 0.7922 pounds)

(Reporting by Utkarsh Shetti in Bengaluru; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

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