Who’s to blame for Labour’s green U-turn?

Who to blame for the demise of Labour’s £28 billion annual green investment pledge? According to Keir Starmer, it’s the Conservatives. He said this afternoon: ‘What would be really irresponsible is to know the damage done to the economy by this failed government and ignore that and pretend it didn’t happen.’ The party briefing is that because the Conservatives have crashed the economy and Jeremy Hunt plans to ‘max out’ the country’s credit card, the £28 billion is now unaffordable. 

A quick way to set fire to voters’ trust in you is to drop your fiscal rules as soon as they don’t feel very fun. Within the party, there is a debate about whether Ed Miliband or Rachel Reeves is to blame. Miliband, as shadow energy secretary, is accused of pushing so hard for it in the first place. The charge against Reeves is that she has exerted so much power that the party is failing to look remotely ambitious about the future.