Labour ditches £28bn green investment pledgeLabour is ditching its policy of spending £28bn a year on its green investment plan in a major U-turn.
An official announcement will be made on Thursday.
The plan to spend £28bn a year on green energy projects, like offshore wind farms and developing electric vehicles, was first announced by shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves in September 2021.
That pledge was watered down last June, with the £28bn target adjusted so that a Labour government would meet it about halfway through its first term rather than in its first year.
At the time Ms Reeves said the party needed to be "responsible" with the public finances, given the poor economic backdrop and rising cost of borrowing.
Since then there have been growing questions about whether the policy could be scaled back further.
The move was criticised by left-wing campaign group Momentum and Unite, Labour's biggest union backer.
"This latest Starmer U-turn represents yet another capitulation to right-wing interests," a spokesperson said.
"Sadly, there is a huge gap emerging between the scale of the economic and environmental crises facing us, and the solutions being offered by a Labour leadership afraid of its own shadow."
Unite leader Sharon Graham said: "The Labour movement has to stand up to the Conservatives' false accusations of fiscal irresponsibility.
"There is a catastrophic crisis of investment in Britain's economic infrastructure."
Carla Denyer, co-leader of the Green Party, said: "This is a massive backward step - for the climate, for the economy and for good quality jobs.
"Both the security of our planet for future generations and the UK's future prosperity is dependent on greening our economy and that requires large scale investment."
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Laura Trott said: "This is a serious moment which confirms Labour have no plan for the UK, creating uncertainty for business and our economy.
"On the day that Labour are finalising their manifesto, Keir Starmer is torpedoing what he has claimed to be his central economic policy purely for short-term campaigning reasons."