Afternoon summary
Labour has cut its green investment plans by half, as Keir Starmer ended weeks of speculation to confirm the biggest U-turn of his leadership in a move designed to bolster the party’s chances at the general election. Here is an analysis from Fiona Harvey as to what this means.
And here is an extract:
Estimates from thinktanks and academics suggest 10s of billions a year are needed for the shift to a low-carbon future: the IPPR thinktank came up with a figure of £30bn a year of public investment in a study in 2021, while earlier this year the London School of Economics suggested £26bn a year.
And as a result, the UK is now lagging behind. As Ed Matthew, campaigns director at the E3G thinktank, put it: “A lack of investment in our clean energy transition has left the UK off track to meet our climate targets and uncompetitive in the global clean tech race. Securing climate safety and future prosperity requires a major uplift in public green investment.”
These are from Faisal Islam, the BBC’s economics editor, on what Labour is doing.
Bottom line:
— Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) February 8, 2024
Opposition prioritising ability to attack Government over the rise in mortgage rates as their central election strategy, versus defending an economic strategy of borrowing to invest in a green Industrial Revolution, in a US/ Biden way…
Bottom line:
Opposition prioritising ability to attack Government over the rise in mortgage rates as their central election strategy, versus defending an economic strategy of borrowing to invest in a green Industrial Revolution, in a US/ Biden way…
Essentially the strategy here is
Relentlessly saying “Tory Mortgage Premium” is being prioritised over defending “£28bn green borrowing”
Updated
This is from Common Wealth, a leftwing thinktank, on Labour’s £28bn U-turn. Its director Mathew Lawrence said:
Labour’s retreat from their green investment plan – on the same day scientists have confirmed last year was a record for global heating – is a deeply disappointing reversal. Our homes will be colder, our energy dirtier, our economy weaker, the transition slower and more expensive as a result. What’s more, the shrinking of ambition is taking place exactly as other countries are pouring record levels of investment into the green industries and jobs of the future.
Despite the U-turn, the outlines of an agenda – GB Energy, clean power by 2030, and green wealth fund – remain. However, if these ideas are to be more than rhetoric, Labour needs a strong commitment to what remains of their plans to delivering serious public investment and deep and meaningful change.
Updated
Labour gives details of what's in green prosperity plan
As well as dropping the £28bn annual target, Labour has also released some details of what is still in the green prosperity plan. Journalists have been given a briefing paper which does not seem to be online yet. A lot of this has been announced before, but some elements are new – in particular relating to the insulation plan, where Labour says there will be “a slower initial roll out than we had hoped to deliver”.
Here are the details. This is a relatively long post, but since there is a lot of comment around these days about Labour not having a plan, given that they have published it, it seems worth showing what it actually says.
Setting up Great British Energy, costing £8.3bn
Labour says:
We will create a new publicly owned company – Great British Energy - to invest in homegrown clean energy across the country and give us real energy independence from foreign dictators.
GB Energy will be headquartered in Scotland. It will accelerate new nuclear and position Britain as a leader in technologies such as floating offshore wind and tidal. It will also partner with the private sector to accelerate the rollout of more mature renewable energy generation technologies such as wind and solar.
We already have public ownership of energy in Britain, just by foreign governments such as the French and Chinese, rather than our own. Great British Energy will aim to emulate the success of domestic energy champions in other European countries.
A Labour Government will capitalise Great British Energy with an initial £8.3bn (inclusive of the £3.3bn Local Power Plan) – over the first parliament, investing in partnership with the private sector.
Having a local power plan, using £3.3bn of the 38.3bn for GB Energy
Labour says:
Whilst the Conservatives block cheap homegrown renewables with an onshore wind ban that is costing families £180 on their bills every year, Labour will back the builders and not the blockers, so that communities in all four nations of the UK can put up wind turbines, solar panels, and other forms of low carbon power to cut bills.
To drive the energy transition and crowd in investment, as part of its initial capitalisation, Great British Energy, Labour’s publicly owned energy company, will partner with energy companies, local authorities and cooperatives to develop 8GWs of clean power by 2030 - double the power of the world’s largest windfarm.
That is why Labour is allocating resources to support local power in partnership with communities. Of Great British Energy’s capitalisation, £3.3bn will be available in grants for local authorities and loans to communities to create one million owners of local power.
Setting up a national wealth fund, valued at £7.3bn
Labour says:
Labour will set up a National Wealth Fund, which will create good well paying jobs in a zero-carbon economy by investing in industries where one pound of public investment can crowd-in a further three pounds of private sector investment.
This plan will help to re-industrialise the UK with hundreds of thousands of good jobs for plumbers, electricians, engineers, and technicians across the country.
A Labour Government will invest £7.3bn in our National Wealth Fund, with investment deployed in every region and nation of the UK, including:
• Steel: investing £2.5bn in a bright future for our steel industry, benefiting communities in Cardiff, Rotherham, Sheffield, Port Talbot and Scunthorpe. This reflects our original £3bn commitment, of which £500m is now in the government’s spending plans. Due to the perilous state of the steel industry, we are accelerating this scheme from over ten years to five.
• Ports: upgrading our ports so they are renewable-ready, with an investment of £1.8bn, which would inject investment into nine clusters, including; Forth and Tay, Humber, East Anglia, Solent, North West and North Wales, Belfast Harbour, North East Scotland, North East England and the Celtic Sea.
• Gigafactories: breaking the ground for new electric vehicle and battery factories, with £1.5bn investment in our automotive heartlands in the West Midlands, the North East, and the South West. This is in addition to the £500m already committed by the UK Government.
• Industrial hubs: decarbonising carbon-intensive heavy industrial hubs in every corner of the country, with an investment of £1bn, benefiting Scotland, South Wales, the Humber, Teesside and Merseyside.
• Hydrogen: channelling up to £500m into green hydrogen manufacturing, which could benefit the North West, Sheffield and the South East.
Taken together, these policies will support the creation of over 200,000 direct jobs and up to 260,000-300,000 indirect jobs over the decade. This will directly address geographical inequalities, with 50,000 new jobs each in both the North West and Yorkshire, as well as 30,000 new jobs each in the North East, the East Midlands, the West Midlands, and the East of England.
The National Wealth Fund will use a range of tools of support, including equity stakes in return for those investments.
British jobs bonus, costed at £500m a year
We will boost investment and jobs in Britain’s industrial heartlands and coastal communities, by rewarding clean energy developers with a British Jobs Bonus if they invest in good jobs and supply chains in those areas.
Labour will allocate a fund of up to £500m per year, starting from the 2026-27 contract for difference auction round, to provide capital grants to incentivise companies developing clean technologies like offshore wind, onshore wind, solar, hydrogen, and carbon capture and storage, to target their investment particularly at the regions that most need it.
Warm homes plan, with £6.6bn on top of the £6.6bn already being spent by the Tories
The national emergency of rising energy bills has again highlighted the urgent importance of insulating as many homes as possible. The UK spends more money on energy wasted through the walls and roofs of our houses than any other country in Western Europe.
Labour’s Warm Homes Plan would start a national programme that will upgrade up to five million of the UK’s 16 million homes below an EPC rating of C over the parliament. Our aim will remain to ensure that every home below EPC C that can be practically upgraded, is done by 2035 - this is aligned with the government’s target, but offers a credible plan.
This programme will go street by street, installing energy saving measures such as loft insulation and low-carbon heating, saving families on low-incomes hundreds of pounds per year, slashing fuel poverty, and getting Britain back on track to meeting our climate targets.
Our investment will be split between: energy efficiency grants, delivered hand-in-glove with local authorities to target the areas and families in most need; government-backed zero-interest loans for green home upgrades like solar panels; and grants to make sure heat pumps are affordable for people who want them. We will work with commercial banks to ensure they offer mortgage products that support retrofit.
This is a slower initial roll out than we had hoped to deliver when we originally planned this policy, due to the fiscal situation. On the Tories’ watch, insulation rates have crashed 90% - one of the reasons the UK had one of the most acute energy price crises in Western Europe.
Proper windfall tax on oil and gas companies
Labour will introduce a proper windfall tax on the excess profits of oil and gas companies, so we can invest in the clean power we need to cut bills for families.
Labour will fix the holes in the Energy Profits Levy by:
• Increasing the rate to 78%, the same rate of tax as in Norway.
• Ending the loopholes in the levy that funnel billions back to oil and gas giants.
• Extend the sunset clause in the windfall tax until the end of the next parliament, provided there continue to be windfall profits.
Together, these changes would raise £10.8bn over the next five years from 2024-25 to help fund the Green Prosperity Plan.
This amount is based on current OBR forecasts. The amount raised will depend on outturn oil and gas prices and production levels, as well as the level of investment and the amount offset against taxation.
Updated
Labour has 'world-leading agenda on climate and energy', says Ed Miliband, after £28bn target dropped
Labour’s news release confirming the abandonment of the £28bn annual green investment target contains these quotes from Labour figures.
From Keir Starmer
I have changed the Labour party to put it back in the service of working people. Our Green Prosperity Plan is about turning a corner on fourteen years of Conservative decline and investing in Britain’s future. It is a plan for more jobs, more investment and cheaper bills. It’s a plan to get our country’s future back.
From Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor
Rachel Reeves, Shadow Chancellor, said:
Labour is ambitious for Britain’s future. There is a global race taking place in the jobs and industries of the future, and we are determined to lead it. All the Conservatives are offering the country is five more years of economic failure that will working people choice. Labour has a plan to invest and to get Britain’s future back.
And from Ed Miliband, the shadow energy secretary, said:
Labour will be fighting the election with a world-leading agenda on climate and energy with every single individual policy already announced now confirmed for the manifesto: Great British Energy, a National Wealth Fund, a Warm Homes Plan, a British Jobs Bonus, a Local Power Plan and no new oil and gas licences as well as our 2030 clean power mission.
It is thought that, of these three, Miliband will have been the one most reluctant to see the £28bn target go, because of his particularly strong personal commitment to the net zero agenda. He has not been doing interviews recently, and the Conservatives have been running a social media campaign suggesting he’s in hiding.
Updated
Labour says it won't be able to spend £28bn per year on green investment because Tories crashed the economy
Labour has confirmed that it has formally dropped its target of spending £28bn a year on green investment. It made the announcement in a briefing to journalists giving new details of its green prosperity plan.
The party said:
Labour has today announced plans to invest in Britain’s future, with Keir Starmer setting out further details of Labour’s mission to kick start growth and deliver clean power by 2030.
As part of the party’s finalisation of policies for a general election campaign, Labour has reconfirmed its commitment to the policies announced through the Green Prosperity Plan, to create jobs, cut bills and unlock investment.
The Green Prosperity Plan will be funded by a windfall tax on the oil and gas giants, and borrowing to invest within Labour’s fiscal rules.
The party also confirmed that, due to the Conservatives’ crashing the economy and Jeremy Hunt’s plans to ‘max out’ the country’s credit card, it would not be possible to reach the previous commitment of £28bn a year.
The centrepiece of the package is Great British Energy, a publicly owned energy company to take back control of the energy system on behalf of the British people.
Updated
Gordon Brown defends dropping £28bn green investment target, saying Labour has to show 'fiscal discipline'
Gordon Brown has also defended Labour’s decision to drop £28bn as the annual target for spending on green investment. Asked about the move being confirmed today, Brown told LBC’s Tonight with Andrew Marr:
I haven’t seen any official announcement actually. But if that’s what he’s decided, it is because [Keir Starmer] and [Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor] have decided that they’ve got to abide by some fiscal discipline, given the state of the public finances.
You have got to remember when we left power in 2010, debt was below 40% of national income. It’s now 100% of our national income, I got criticised for allowing it to rise to 40%. Now it’s 100% and the Conservatives have got to take some responsibility for leaving a mess for the incoming government, whoever it is.
Rishi Sunak deliberately visited a dental practice that’s not accepting new adult NHS patients, Downing Street have said. (See 3.21pm and 3.26pm.)
The prime minister went to Gentle Dental in Newquay to promote his plans to offer cash incentives to dentists to accept more patients as more than 12 million were unable to get an appointment last year.
Sunak insisted the announcements this week will make a significant difference, and quickly”.
When asked if Sunak couldn’t find a practice accepting new patients, the prime minister’s deputy spokesperson said:
The prime minister wants to hear about the challenges surgeries are facing, and the challenges we’re trying to address through our dental plan … It’s right for the prime minister to hear from people on the frontline.
The Labour announcement about the future of the commitment to spend £28bn a year on green investment is coming at 5pm.
Rishi Sunak was in Cornwall today where he visited an dental surgery that does not accept adult NHS dental patients. (See 3.26pm.) He also visited Nancledra preschool where one of the people on the advisory board is Hannah Ray, a former colleague at the Guardian. I know that readers often wonder what the point of these visits is. Hannah was there, and she has been wondering about it too. She sent me this.
Rishi Sunak visited our preschool today, and completely missed the point. He did a puzzle with one of the children, looked at the guinea pigs, looked at the garden, and then took questions from the local press.
But while the press asked about second homes, his response to Brianna Ghey comments made at PMQs, and local council funding, no one – including the PM – seemed at all interested that the very preschool he was sitting in is under constant threat of closure due to lack of government funding into early years provision and lack of investment in early years staff training and incentives.
Government funding is now available for nearly all two-year-olds. However, the living wage has gone up by 9.8%. Staff are barely paid above the minimum wage yet have the biggest responsibility, working long hard hours to care for the most vulnerable people in society. The preschool is bursting at the seams with working parents wanting to get the childcare they need, but there aren’t the spaces.
Why did Rishi visit our preschool, in one of the most under-funded areas of the country, and one of the most deprived, if he didn’t really care about how it was doing?
Updated
Gordon Brown says he apologised as PM when he made mistakes, and Sunak should too
The former prime minister Gordon Brown has added his voice to those saying Rishi Sunak should apologise for his anti-trans jibe at PMQs yesterday. Asked about it in an interview for Sky’s Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge, Brown said:
Well, when I made mistakes, I did apologise. And look, every prime minister makes mistakes. I don’t think you can say that every prime minister will fail to make some mistakes, but I think you should apologise if you get things wrong and I mean it is a very sad and really tragic, tragic case of a family in grief.
I know he’s said he’s compassionate about the family, but perhaps he should do what I had to do on one or two occasions and apologise. And I do accept that if you make mistakes, you’ve got to correct them quickly.
Brown was giving an interview to highlight his concern about rising levels of extreme poverty in Britain, and his proposals for what should be done to address this. He has written about this in an article for the Guardian.
Updated
John Crace’s sketch is up, and it’s about Chris Philp’s media round this morning. You can read it here.
Nick Candy, a major Tory donor, thinks it is time for a Labour government, Alex Wickham from Bloomberg reports. He has posted about this on X.
Exclusive
— Alex Wickham (@alexwickham) February 8, 2024
— Property tycoon Tory donor Nick Candy says it’s “time for a change” of government to Labour
— praises Keir Starmer’s engagement with business
— blasts years of Tory infighting
Speaking to @BloombergUK @flacqua In the City podcast >> https://t.co/WqRVkLw5Ki
Exclusive
— Property tycoon Tory donor Nick Candy says it’s “time for a change” of government to Labour
— praises Keir Starmer’s engagement with business
— blasts years of Tory infighting
— Nick Candy attended the PopCon launch two days ago with his wife Holly Valance
— he gave the Tories £100,000 in 2020 and backed Shaun Bailey for London mayor
— today he says it’s “probably time for a change” of government to Labour
— Candy criticises Labour’s private schools tax policy but praises Starmer
— he says: “we still don’t know the Labour policies, but do I think Keir Starmer is a decent man with good values and good morals? 100 percent”
Last week Helena Horton revealed that water company bosses and the chairs of the regulator Ofwat and the Environment Agency had a dinner together at an exclusive private members’ club to discuss issues like rising bills and sewage spills. Helena found out about this using a freedom of information request.
But this came as a surprise to the Liberal Democrats, because the party had also submitted FoI requests to try to find out what hospitality the Environment Agency boss has been receiving and this dinner was not disclosed. The Lib Dem MP Tim Farron suspects some sort of cover up, and he has written to Sir Laurie Magnus, the PM’s ethics adviser, to ask if the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which is responsible for the Environment Agency, is in breach of the ministerial code. He has posted the letter on X.
Enough is enough. This is starting to stink of a cover up. I’ve called for an investigation into a possible breach of Ministerial code. DEFRA & EA are refusing to comply with requests for information. Maybe this cosy club between water firms & officials is worse than we feared
Enough is enough. This is starting to stink of a cover up. I've called for an investigation into a possible breach of Ministerial code. DEFRA & EA are refusing to comply with requests for information. Maybe this cosy club between water firms & officials is worse than we feared https://t.co/OphDiXzHks pic.twitter.com/bgGfkiNUzh
— Tim Farron (@timfarron) February 8, 2024
went for dinner at an exclusive private members’ club to discuss how to quell public anger over bill rises and sewage spills, the Guardian can reveal.
Scottish government to consider levy on shops to claw back profits from minimum unit price for alcohol as it rises by 30%
Scottish ministers are considering a new public health tax on shops after increasing the minimum price for alcohol by 30% in an effort to combat Scotland’s rising alcohol-related deaths and hospitalisations.
Shona Robison, the deputy first minister, confirmed a Guardian story earlier this week that the minimum unit price (MUP) will increase from 50p a unit to 65p, to keep pace with inflation and maintain fiscal pressures on alcohol abuse.
The new price will come into force on 30 September; it means a basic bottle of whisky will now cost £18.20, up from £14. “Alcohol harm remains a significant issue in Scotland,” she said. “It continues to contribute to worsening health outcomes,” particularly for men in deprived areas.
Scotland’s finance secretary, Robison also confirmed that ministers are considering demands for a new public health levy to claw-back the excess profits that shops earn from MUP, although she said the government already spends £112m a year on alcohol and drug treatment units.
The Fraser of Allander Institute at Strathclyde university estimates retailers have earned around £30m a year in unearned profits from MUP because they keep the difference between the higher price paid for drinks and the wholesale price of the product.
Scottish Labour and public health charities argue the case for a claw-back is now even greater; a higher 65p minimum price means higher unearned profits. Labour said the levy’s on proceeds should be spent on alcohol treatment and recovery projects.
Robison said they were consulting businesses and health experts on doing so, with a decision due before the next Scottish budget later this year. Scotland had a public health levy on large retailers between 2012 and 2015, which raised £95m.
The Scottish Retail Consortium said it welcomed the increased unit price but was furious at the prospect of an “unevidenced and unreasonable” new levy. “Any mooted tax rises are nothing more than a thinly veiled cash grab at the expense of an industry already under immense pressure,” it said.
Liz Truss is going to publish her book, Ten Years to Save the West – Lessons from the only conservative in the room, on 16 April, the publishers, Biteback, have announced.
In a news release about it, they say:
In Ten Years to Save the West, former prime minister Liz Truss reflects on the battles she fought – and too often lost – against the establishment during her ten years in government and sets out what conservatives and their allies across the western world must do in the years ahead if hostile regimes and increasingly extreme left-wing ideologies are to be defeated …
Ten Years to Save the West offers a timely warning about the perils facing conservatism in the years ahead if the agenda continues to be set in so many institutions – from the media to academia and the corporate world – by those espousing extreme ideologies, from the net zero zealots to the radical trans activists questioning basic scientific facts. If the west is to preserve the economic and cultural freedom and institutions that it holds so dear, Truss’s warnings need to be heeded.
Truss has secured a plug for her book from Boris Johnson, her predecessor, who says:
Liz Truss is right about one big thing – the old establishment economic models are failing. That’s bad news for the entire western world. And she is right that the last thing any of us now needs is more socialism, more taxes and more regulation. We need to reject that tiresome refrain of the global left and instead pursue an agenda that unleashes enterprise and boosts economic growth. I commend this invigorating tract!
The British Dental Association says that, in visiting a dental practice that is not taking new adult NHS patients (see 3.21pm), Rishi Sunak was seeing what the reality is for millions of people. The BDA’s chair Eddie Crouch said:
Rishi Sunak is seeing what life is like for millions across this country. The difference is he has options
The PM won’t have to queue around the block to get an appointment. He won’t face travelling hundreds of miles for care. He’ll never find himself reaching for a set of pliers.
The paucity of the government’s plan means many patients will keep facing these horrific choices.
The BDA has been fiercely critical of the government’s dental recovery plan published yesterday, saying it is “incapable of even beginning to honour Sunak’s promise to ‘restore’ NHS dentistry, or in any way meet the government’s stated ambition to provide access to NHS dentistry for ‘all who need it’”.
The dental practice Rishi Sunak visited in Cornwall today to promote his government’s dentistry plan is not accepting new adult NHS patients, PA Media reports. PA says:
The prime minister met staff and patients at Gentle Dental in Newquay on Thursday.
He told broadcasters that “it hasn’t been easy enough for people to access NHS dentistry over the past couple of years” but claimed “the announcements this week will make a significant difference, and quickly”.
“It’s a very significant new investment in dentistry so that everyone can get the access that they need,” Sunak said.
But the practice’s website states that it is not taking on new adult NHS patients or those entitled to free dental care.
Esther Ghey, whose daughter Brianna was murdered and who was in parliament yesterday when Rishi Sunak made an anti-trans jibe at PMQs, has said she does not want to comment on the row.
In a post on Facebook page of the Peace & Mind UK campaign she set up in her daughter’s memory, she wrote:
I don’t wish to comment on reports of wording or comments recently made. My focus is on creating a positive change and a lasting legacy for Brianna.
Through Peace & Mind, we want to improve lives by empowering people, giving them the tools they need to build mental resilience, empathy and self-compassion through mindfulness. In developing these skills, I hope that we can create a more understanding, peaceful and stronger society for everyone.
119 schools in England affected by Raac will have buildings replaced, DfE says
The government has announced that 119 schools and colleges in England affected by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) will have buildings replaced as part of its long-term school rebuilding programme.
In a written statement, Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, said:
Our priority will always be to ensure the safety of pupils and staff, which is why we took a cautious approach for schools and colleges. Although the technical advice does not recommend removal in all cases where it is present, we have taken a precautionary approach for the education estate in England to remove Raac.
The Department for Education said its national survey of schools and colleges, with buildings dating from when Raac was widely used in construction, was now complete. Its final update added three more, including Barking and Dagenham College, a further education college in east London, and Thornleigh Salesian College, a secondary school in greater Manchester.
The DfE said that of the 234 found to have Raac-infested buildings, 119 are to get new buildings through its rebuilding programme, while 110 will receive grants to renovate or remove the affected parts. It said that “a small number” are still carrying out additional checks.
There are roughly 500 schools in England awaiting rebuilds, with about 50 completed every year, meaning that some schools could be waiting for several years before the work is completed.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the rebuilding effort was welcome but raised further questions over funding. He said:
Given the severe pressures on the school estate as a whole, we need assurances that this work will be funded wholly through additional capital expenditure and money will not be diverted from other sources. There must also be clear timelines set out for when this work is going to be completed.
The Raac crisis was exposed at the end of last summer, after the government received further evidence that buildings including Raac were in danger of decay and collapse. By the end of August, days before the start of the new school year, the Guardian revealed that the DfE was telling schools to make contingency plans against the risk of collapse. It then abruptly ordered more than 100 schools to close.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said:
While dealing with Raac is crucial, we really need to see more ambitious investment from the government to bring the schools estate up to scratch overall – from Raac, to asbestos, to general disrepair – it needs a plan to tackle all school building issues before they become the next big crisis. That can’t happen without more money from the Treasury.
Updated
No-fault evictions up 49% in England year-on-year as campaigners complain renters reform bill being stalled
Campaigners have criticised the government for delaying plans to ban no-fault evictions as new figures show a steep rise in repossessions in England, PA Media reports.
The latest statistics published by the Ministry of Justice show that some 26,311 accelerated possessions have been made from the second quarter of 2019 until the end of 2023.
Landlords can apply for an accelerated possession order if their tenants have not left by the date specified in a section 21 notice. Section 21 of the Housing Act allows no-fault evictions.
There were 9,457 such repossessions last year, up from 6,339 in 2022 – a 49% rise.
As the figures were released, Commons leader Penny Mordaunt outlined upcoming business in parliament but made no mention of the renters (reform) bill.
Labour’s Lucy Powell, responding in the Commons, complained that the report stage of the bill “was promised by early February, but it’s nowhere to be seen”.
In a statement, the party’s shadow minister for housing and planning, Matthew Pennycook, said: “The stark rise in section 21 notices served last year lays bare the devastating impact that the Tories’ failure to abolish them is having on hard-pressed renters.”
He vowed that if the government does not “get on and quickly pass the Bill abolishing section 21 evictions, that the next Labour government “will get the job done”.
Tom Darling, campaign manager of the Renters’ Reform Coalition, described the bill as “on life-support after being deprioritised by the government”.
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “It’s utterly shameful that the government is bowing to vested interests while renters are marched out of their homes in their thousands.”
And Ben Twomey, chief executive of Generation Rent, said: “Today sees the continuation of an awful trend that has been blighting the lives of renters across our country. As long as landlords can evict tenants through no fault of their own with just two months’ notice, homelessness in England will continue to soar.
“Renters have been waiting five years since the government promised to end these evictions, and yet today we find out the government is delaying their plans again. Since that promise, almost 90,000 households have been forced out because of no-fault evictions – and this number is rising every day.”
DfE says its Raac survey now complete and 234 schools in England found to have problem concrete
The number of schools and colleges in England with buildings affected by crumbling concrete, known as reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac), has risen to 234, the Department for Education today revealed.
Three more schools have been added to the list since the DfE’s last update in December, including Barking and Dagenham College, a further education college in east London, and Thornleigh Salesian College, a secondary school in greater Manchester.
The DfE said that of the 234 with Raac-infested buildings, 119 are currently listed to get new buildings through its school rebuilding programme, while 110 will receive grants to renovate or remove the affected parts.
The DfE said its Raac identification programme launched last summer was now complete, with all schools and colleges with buildings likely to have used the material having responded to its survey.
All schools or colleges that advised us they suspect they might have Raac have had a survey to confirm if Raac is present. A small number of schools and colleges are carrying out additional checks for further assurance.
Updated
Penny Mordaunt implicitly criticises Sunak's anti-trans jibe at PMQs, saying he should 'reflect' on his comments
Penny Mordaunt, the leader of the Commons, has implicitly criticised Rishi Sunak for his anti-trans jibe at PMQs yesterday.
Speaking during business questions, she suggested he made a mistake and she contrasted Sunak’s much-criticised joke with the emotional mini-speech given by a backbencher who recalled trying to take his life.
She told MPs that she was sure that Sunak had “reflected” on what he said, and particularly what it might have meant to people who are trans. Sunak would be issuing a comment, she said.
She implied Sunak might be about to express some regret for what he said.
But, in the statement he gave to the media this morning, Sunak did the opposite, refusing the accept that his remark was anti-trans and claiming that it was Labour that was in the wrong because it was using the murder of Brianna Ghey to criticise him. (See 11.07am.)
Speaking in the Commons, referring to Brianna’s parents, Mordaunt said:
We’ve also seen a mother meeting the brutal murder of her child with the most profound grace and compassion, turning her anguish into positive action to protect other children.
And we’ve seen a father speak about how the love for his child enabled him to overcome his worries about her being trans.
These are things that our nation is made of: compassion, fairness, tolerance, responsibility, service and love.
We see these things every day in the people that sent us here and we look on them with pride.
Sometimes that pride is reciprocated. I’m sure it was for [Elliott Colburn] in what he said yesterday. [Colburn spoke very movingly at PMQs about how he tried to take his life and about the need for people feeling suicidal to realise “whatever you are going through, you are not alone, that help is out there, and better days lie ahead”.]
And sometimes that pride is not reciprocated.
Whatever the rough and tumble of this place, whatever the pressures and mistakes that are made in the heat of political combat, we owe it to the people who sent us here to strive every day to make them proud of us and this place.
The prime minister is a good and caring man. I am sure that he has reflected on things and I understand he will say something later today, or perhaps even during this session.
And that is not just about Mr and Mrs Ghey that he should reflect on, but I am sure he is also reflecting about people who are trans, or who have trans loved ones and family, some of whom sit on these green benches.
Mordaunt also said she thought Keir Starmer should reflect on his actions too, but her comments were seen as primarily aimed at her own party leader, not him.
Mordaunt is one of the most liberal members of the government on trans issues. But during the Conservative leadership contest in 2022 her views on this topic badly damaged her campaign because she faced relentless criticism, led by papers backing Liz Truss, claiming she favoured self-identification for people wanting to change gender.
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Green industralist Dale Vince backs Labour's move on £28bn, saying it's 'arbitrary figure' and economic responsibility matters
Dale Vince, the green industrialist and Labour donor has come out in support of plans by Labour to ditch the £28bn number attached to its flagship green pledge, which he described as “an arbitrary figure which is distracting from the bigger picture”. In a statement he said:
Whether this policy is being ditched or being nailed to the mast, the truth is somewhere in the middle. I think Labour are entirely right to say the economy matters. I think voters want a responsible next government. The current Conservative government hasn’t been responsible with the nation’s money.
This £28bn is an arbitrary figure which is distracting from the bigger picture.
Vince, who said last year that he ws to stop funding direct action climate groups such as Just Stop Oil and instead funnel money towards getting the vote out for Labour at the next general election, added that he was “confident a Labour government will pave the way to the biggest economic opportunity we have, and that’s to achieve energy independence”.
Starmer to scale back home insulation scheme as part of green policy U-turn
Keir Starmer is cutting back his ambitious home insulation scheme as part of his decision to scale down Labour’s green policy, Kiran Stacey reports. Kiran says:
The Labour leader will announce on Thursday that he is drastically reducing the scale of the £28bn “green prosperity plan” after weeks of uncertainty over the fate of the plan.
People briefed on the scaled-back plan say the party’s home insulation scheme, which was singled out for attack by the Conservatives earlier this week, would be the major victim of the cuts.
One person added they expected Labour to promise an additional £5bn a year of additional green spending on top of what the government has already committed, allowing the party to stick to its separate pledge to cut government debt levels.
The full story is here.
Here is more criticism of Labour’s decision to drop its £28bn target for green investment spending from environmentalists, progressive campaigners, and policy experts (or people who qualify as all three).
From Danny Sriskandarajah, chief executive of the New Economics Foundation, a leftwing thinktank
It is deeply disappointing that on the day scientists say global warming has exceeded 1.5C across an entire year for the first time, Labour is set to ditch its £28bn green investment plan.
This figure is not an arbitrary number. It is what the UK needs to lower emissions and create an economy that improves lives.
From Fatima Ibrahim, co-drector of the campaign group Green New Deal Rising
Scrapping Labour’s £28bn commitment is a cowardly and shortsighted capitulation to the government, and leaves Starmer with no plan for growth and no way of tackling climate change …
Young people are watching and will hold Labour to account to deliver a Green New Deal that responds to the scale of the cost of living crisis and climate catastrophe we face.
From Jess Ralston, an energy analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), a thinktank
A lack of investment in insulating homes and building more British renewables over the past decade left UK households on the hook for high gas prices, which cost bill payers and taxpayers in the region of £50-60bn in one year alone. Each home could have saved up to around £2,000 last year had we made those investments.
If we want warm homes, reasonable bills, and energy independence, investment is required. Switching to heat pumps will leave us less dependent on foreign gas imports, running our home heating instead on electricity from British renewables.
There is a global economic race to build clean industries and Britain has to compete for green investment. Investors are looking for policy certainty and a clear plan from policy makers.
From Rebecca Newsom, head of politics at Greenpeace UK
Dropping the green investment pledge would be weak political, economic and climate leadership from Starmer before he’s even got his feet under the table …
Investing around £28bn extra per year in green technologies of the future will be needed from any future government willing to fix this broken country, insulate our homes, better our health, restore nature, improve public transport and slash emissions.
Without this level of serious investment Starmer risks leaving the door wide open for the EU, US and China to overtake us in the global green tech race. This is a vision worth fighting for, not retreating from. Or voters will start wondering what the Labour party actually stands for.
Streeting says latest NHS figures show people 'waiting longer for NHS treatment than ever before'
Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, says today’s NHS England waiting time figures show that people are waiting longer for hospital treatment than ever before. He has released a statement saying:
People are waiting longer for NHS treatment than ever before, and waiting lists are 400,000 longer than when Sunak became prime minister.
The last Labour government cut the maximum waiting time from 18 months to 18 weeks. After 14 years of Conservative vandalism of the NHS, more patients wait longer than 18 weeks than ever before, and the number of patients waiting 18 months has doubled in the past few months. Things are getting worse and worse.
Labour will get patients treated on time with 2 million more weekend and evening appointments, paid for by abolishing the non-dom tax status. Only Labour can get the NHS back on its feet.
The headline waiting list figure for NHS hospitals in England has fallen marginally, according to today’s figures. (See 9.54am.) But Streeting is referring to figures showing that only 56.6% of patients get seen within 18 weeks, the target set out in the NHS constitution. This is the lowest proportion in recorded data going back to 2007. And the median wait is 15 weeks, which is also the worst figure in the recorded data.
NHS figures show big increase in January in long waits in A&E in English hospitals
There has been a sharp rise in people facing long waits in A&E, though the overall NHS waiting list continues to fall, PA Media reports. PA says:
An estimated 7.60 million treatments were waiting to be carried out in England at the end of December, relating to 6.37 million patients, down slightly from 7.61 million treatments and 6.39 million patients at the end of November, according to NHS England.
But hospitals were clearly under pressure as winter took hold, with the number of people waiting more than 12 hours in A&E departments from a decision to admit them to actually being admitted hitting 54,308 in January, up sharply from 44,045 in December.
This is the second highest figure on record, just below the record 54,573 in December 2022.
The number of people waiting at least four hours from the decision to admit to admission has also risen, from 148,282 in December to 158,721 last month – again, the second highest figure on record.
NHS England said A&E and ambulance services experienced their busiest ever January.
It said there were 2.23 million A&E attendances, with more than a 10% increase in emergency admissions from A&E, compared with the same month last year.
Junior doctors in England staged the longest strike in NHS history in January, for six full days from 3 January to 9 January.
Today’s waiting times data also revealed some NHS waits for planned treatment are getting worse.
Some 13,164 people in England had been waiting more than 18 months to start routine hospital treatment at the end of December, up from 11,168 at the end of November.
The government and NHS England set the ambition of eliminating all waits of more than 18 months by April 2023, excluding exceptionally complex cases or patients who choose to wait longer.
Elsewhere, 337,450 people in England had been waiting more than 52 weeks to start treatment at the end of December, down from 355,412 at the end of November.
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Michael Matheson resigns as Scotland's health secretary over iPad roaming charges controversy
Michael Matheson has quit as Scotland’s health secretary, saying he was leaving the post so the row over his iPad roaming charges “does not become a distraction” to the government, PA Media reports. PA says:
Matheson had been under fire since November last year when details of an £11,000 bill on his Holyrood-issued iPad were made public.
In an emotional statement to MSPs, he revealed his teenage sons had been using the device as a hotspot so they could watch football while on a family holiday to Morocco.
The then health secretary, however, had originally insisted the charges had been run up while he was using it for constituency work during the break.
When he learned of his children’s use of the device, Mr Matheson paid back the charges, which had originally been picked up by the Scottish Parliament.
With the Scottish parliament corporate body conducting an investigation, Matheson said he was “conscious that this process will conclude in the coming weeks”.
In a letter to the first minister, Humza Yousaf, he said: “It is in the best interests of myself and the government for me now to step down to ensure that this does not become a distraction to taking forward the government’s agenda.”
Matheson has posted his statement on X.
Statement pic.twitter.com/4Fc5XPnjyD
— Michael Matheson MSP (@MathesonMichael) February 8, 2024
Sunak claims Labour's U-turn show he's right to say Starmer 'doesn't have a plan'
Rishi Sunak has claimed that Labour’s U-turn over £28bn as the target for Labour’s green investment spending confirms Tory claims that Keir Starmer “doesn’t have a plan”.
Speaking to reporters in Cornwall, where he was asked about the Labour story, Sunak said:
This is a serious moment. This was the flagship plank of Labour’s economic policy and it now looks like he’s trying to wriggle out of it.
I think it demonstrates exactly what I’ve been saying, that he U-turns on major things, he can’t say what he would do differently because he doesn’t have a plan. And if you don’t have a plan, then you can’t deliver change for our country.
In contrast, our plan is working and people can see that. Inflation has come down, mortgage rates are starting to come down and because economic conditions have improved, we’ve been able to start cutting people’s taxes.
This is slightly different from the argument the Conservative party was making last night, which was that in reality Starmer remains committed to green plans that would cost £28bn a year. (See 10.26am.)
Sunak refuses to apologise for anti-trans jibe, saying linking what he said to Brianna Ghey tragedy was 'worst of politics'
Rishi Sunak has refused to apologise for the anti-trans jibe he made about Keir Starmer at PMQs yesterday, after being told Brianna Ghey’s mother would be listening in the public gallery.
Speaking to journalists in Cornwall, Sunak insisted that he was just making a point about Starmer. And he said that to link what he said to the death of Brianna, whose murder was partly motivated by transphobia, was “the worst of politics”.
Labour and other opposition parties have said Sunak should apologise for what he said and Brianna’s father, Peter Spooner, backed those calls, saying Sunak’s remark was “absolutely dehumanising”.
But, when asked today if he would apologise, Sunak said:
If you look at what I said, I was very clear, talking about Keir Starmer’s proven track record of U-turns on major policies because he doesn’t have a plan.
A point only proven by today’s reports that the Labour party and Keir Starmer are apparently planning to reverse on their signature economic green spending policy.
That just demonstrates the point I was making. He’s someone who has just consistently changed his mind on a whole range of major things.
I think that is an absolutely legitimate thing to point out and it demonstrates that he doesn’t have a plan for the country.
Sunak said he was “completely shocked” by the murder of Brianna, and he said he had “nothing but the most heartfelt sympathy for her entire family and friends”.
He went on:
But to use that tragedy to detract from the very separate and clear point I was making about Keir Starmer’s proven track record of multiple U-turns on major policies, because he doesn’t have a plan, I think is both sad and wrong, and it demonstrates the worst of politics.
This is an echo of the argument used by Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary and minister for women and equalities, yesterday when she argued that it was Starmer, not Sunak, who was disresepecting the Ghey family.
During PMQs Sunak said: “I think I counted almost 30 [Starmer U-turns] in the last year: pensions, planning, peerages, public sector pay, tuition fees, childcare, second referendums, defining a woman – although in fairness that was only 99% of a U-turn.”
The 99% joke was primarily aimed at Starmer, but it also entailed implicit mockery of trans people because it was a reference to an interview Starmer gave in which he said 99.9% of women did not have a penis.
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Environmental campaigners are also criticising Labour for abandoning £28bn as its target for green investment. This is from Alice Harrison, head of fossil fuels campaigning at Global Witness.
Today’s announcement will give confidence to the oil and gas industry and those who stand to benefit from a fossil fuel energy system. For the rest of us, faced with unaffordable energy bills, fossil fuel-funded wars, and the floods, storms and droughts that the climate crisis brings, this is a deeply disappointing signal on the low level of ambition a future government has when it comes to the biggest challenge the world is facing.
And this is from Mike Childs, head of policy at Friends of the Earth.
Green investment doesn’t just deliver for the planet; it also benefits our health and economy. Cutting it would be shortsighted and cost the country dearly.
The UK is already lagging behind in the race to manufacture green steel, build electric vehicles, and develop giga-battery factories. Thousands of jobs are at risk if we don’t match the investment the US and the rest of Europe are making in these industries …
For years UK climate action has been undermined by dither, delay and lukewarm support from government. We urgently need real political leadership to confront the climate crisis and seize the huge opportunities that building a greener future would bring.
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Tories claim that, despite Labour's 'attempted U-turn', Starmer still committed to £28bn green investment plan
The Conservative party issued their initial response to the news that Labour is formally dropping £28bn as the annual arget for its green investment spending last night.
Having attacked Labour obsessively for having the target in recent weeks, arguing that it would have to be funded by higher borrowing or higher taxes, or both, the Tories could embrace the U-turn and argue that it shows Keir Starmer is unreliable.
Alternatively, they could argue that in practice the target has not been dropped because Labour is still firmly committed to clean energy goals that require spending on that scale.
But, at the risk of causing some confusion, CCHQ is trying to run both lines of attack. Its new release described the move as an “attempted £28bn U-turn” and included this quote from Laura Trott, chief secretary to the Treasury.
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.
He must explain how he can keep the £28bn spending when he is finally admitting he doesn’t have a plan to pay for it.
This black hole will inevitably mean thousands of pounds in higher taxes for working people. That’s why Labour will take Britain back to square one.
In an explanatory note in the news release, the Tories said “Labour remain committed to their ‘Green Prosperity’ policy, which Labour have costed at £28bn a year”.
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Minister defends Sunak’s transgender jibe amid calls for apology
Chris Philp, the policing minister, has defended Rishi Sunak’s transgender jibe after the father of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey called on the prime minister to apologise. Eleni Courea has the story here.
This is what Momentum, the leftwing Labour group, said about the party dropping £28bn as the target for its green investment plan in posts on X last night.
Once again, the Leadership is making a rod for Labour's back.
— Momentum 🌹 (@PeoplesMomentum) February 7, 2024
By breaking every promise, they are sewing distrust in the party & politics.
By capitulating to Tory attacks, they are strengthening the Right and a false economic narrative.
By watering down what few progressive… https://t.co/bh4C4n0wyI
Once again, the Leadership is making a rod for Labour’s back.
By breaking every promise, they are sewing distrust in the party & politics.
By capitulating to Tory attacks, they are strengthening the Right and a false economic narrative.
By watering down what few progressive policies remain, they are undermining Labour’s chances of tackling Britain’s crises in government.
Politics is about choices.
Last week Starmer & Reeves chose to cap corporation tax & uncapped banker bonuses.
This week, they’re choosing to water down investment in climate action, green jobs & warmer homes.
We need real Labour values
Hospital waiting list for England fell slightly in December, for third month in row, figures show
The waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England has fallen for the third month in a row, PA Media reports.
An estimated 7.60 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of December, relating to 6.37 million patients, down slightly from 7.61 million treatments and 6.39 million patients at the end of November, NHS England said.
Britain needs 'more not less investment', says Unite, as it urges Labour to resist Tories' 'false accusations'
Sharon Graham, Unite’s general secretary, has criticised the Labour move on the grounds that the UK needs more investment, not less. She said:
The retreat from Labour’s £28bn green investment pledge will confirm workers’ scepticism of the endless promises of jam tomorrow and it will be ‘alright on the night’ rhetoric on the green transition.
If different choices aren’t made Britain will again lag behind other nations. The German government investment bank already has in its funds equivalent to 15% of German GDP.
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. Britain needs more not less investment.
Labour's U-turn 'will destroy Scottish jobs', says SNP
The SNP claims Labour’s U-turn will damage the Scottish economy. This is from Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s leader at Westminster.
Keir Starmer’s damaging decision to cut energy investment will destroy Scottish jobs, harm economic growth and hit families in the pocket by keeping energy bills high.
It’s a weak and short-sighted U-turn, which shows Westminster is incapable of delivering the investment Scotland needs to compete in the global green energy gold rush and secure strong economic growth.
As our partners and allies across the world press ahead with investment to attract jobs and secure economic and energy security, the UK has turned away. It’s as depressing as it is predictable.
Labour's U-turn on £28bn green investment pledge 'a massive backward step', says Green party
The Green party has described the Labour U-turn as a “massive backwards step”. This is from Carla Denyer, the party’s co-leader.
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.
Labour have chosen to wear their fiscal rules as a millstone around their neck. A different approach through tax reforms, in particular by introducing a wealth tax on the super-rich, could help pay for the green transition. There is more than enough money in the economy to pay for this. Indeed, the Green party would go further and faster, investing at least double what Labour originally pledged, so we can turbo charge the transition to a green economy.
'Economically illiterate, strategically incompetent' - Labour's left criticises Starmer's £28bn green investment U-turn
Good morning. It will come as no surprise to anyone who has been following Westminster news in recent weeks, particularly if they have been reading the Guardian, to learn that Labour is no longer committed to spending £28bn a year on its green investment plan. The soft U-turn, the informal abandonment of the policy as a firm commitment, happened some time ago. But the Tory attacks on the policy, and today we are expecting a proper, hard, bells-and-whistles U-turn – public confirmation that the £28bn target has been consigned to the policy dustbin.
Kiran Stacey and Pippa Crerar broke the news last night.
As they explain, it’s a gamble. The case for getting rid of it is that it allowed the Tories to claim Labour would have to put up taxes to fund it, perhaps reviving the almost primordial fear felt by the British electorate that a Labour government would cost people more. With £28bn off the table, it is harder what policies the Conservatives would attack during an election campaign.
But, if the U-turn inoculates Labour against the “higher taxes” attack, it validates the other key message coming out of CCHQ, which is that you can’t trust Keir Starmer on anything because he keeps changing his mind.
It also makes it harder for Labour to argue that it is offering a distinctive alternative policy at the election because one of its main economic policies has, in effect, been redrafted at the behest of CCHQ.
This latter point is one that Starmer’s critics on the left – both within the Labour party, and outside it – have been making vigorously this morning. There are strong statements to this effect from the SNP, the Green party, Unite and Momentum, but let’s start with the Labour MP Barry Gardiner, who served as shadow climage change minister under Jeremy Corbyn. This is what he told the Today programme when he was asked for his reaction to the U-turn.
It’s economically illiterate, it’s environmentally irresponsible and it’s politically jejune.
Gardiner said he could understand why Labour wanted to minimise the risk of its policies being attacked. But he went on:
If you make [your manifesto] so bland, if you stand for nothing, then the opposition and government will actually write your policies for you, they will say ‘You see, Labour’s not telling you what they’re going to do, it’s going to be this it’s going to be that’, and they can paint their own picture. So I think politically, it’s strategically incompetent.
I will post more reaction shortly.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: NHS England publishes hospital waiting time figures.
9.30am: The ONS publishes homicide figures for England and Wales.
Morning: Rishi Sunak is on a visit to Cornwall where he is expected to speak to the media.
11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
Noon: Humza Yousaf takes first minister’s questions at Holyrood.
Afternoon: Keir Starmer is expected to make an announcement confirming the £28bn green investment plan U-turn.
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