Plaid Cymru urges UK Labour to honour £28 billion green investment pledge
Plaid Cymru’s Treasury spokesperson, Ben Lake MP, has called on the Labour Party to honour its pledge to spend £28 billion a year on green investment.
Last week, Labour Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed on that her party’s annual funding for green industries will now not be put in place from the first year of a Labour government.
Instead, a Labour government would “ramp up” climate spending throughout its first parliamentary term, with an aim of reaching the £28 billion figure by 2028.
Echoing UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ warning last week that countries’ “pitiful” response to the climate crisis will lead to “catastrophe”, Mr Lake countered Labour’s claim that phasing in climate spending is ‘fiscally responsible’.
Stalling
He said: “we cannot underestimate the cost of stalling our green transition” adding that “stalling our green transition due to short term political strategies is dangerously irresponsible.”
As an alternative, he has urged Labour to commit to a tax system that more fairly reflects wealth distribution in the UK, with the financial wealth held by the richest 1% of households currently greater than that held by 80% of the population.
“Firefighters have been tackling six different wildfires in south Wales in recent days, and have all been alarmed by pictures of noxious smoke enveloping New York,” Mr Lake said.
“Just last week, UN Secretary-General António Guterres issued a rallying cry for countries to stop hurling towards disaster, eyes wide open.
“We are currently on a trajectory to average temperatures of 2.8 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times by the end of the century, nearly twice the UN goal of a 1.5 degree rise. That would be catastrophic.
“The Climate Crisis will not wait for the Labour Party. We cannot expect future generations to praise today’s politicians for adhering rigidly to self-imposed Conservative fiscal rules if our planet becomes uninhabitable.
“If we consider the social, environmental, and indeed economic cost of continuing on the current trajectory, it is clear that stalling our green transition due to short term political strategies is dangerously irresponsible.
“Indeed, if Labour is concerned about being fiscally responsible it should consider ways of making our tax system fairer, and to address the UK’s high wealth and income inequality.
“Plaid Cymru urges the Labour Party to stand firm on climate spending targets and avoid diluting their commitment to tackling the climate crisis.”
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We don’t expect pro-nuclear Rhun to criticise Labour’s commitment to building highly expensive nuclear power plants – exposing Keir
Starmer’s vague talk of future reduced energy bills. The £28 billion plan to borrow that sum each year would in large part go to nuclear (re-badged as “green” and “secure”). Plaid had the chance to differentiate itself from Labour’s reliance on foreign funds, overseas mega-companies and importing England’s nuclear engineering workforce. But Rhun appears to shoot from the hip, with no study from Welsh energy experts to advise Plaid.
I don’t feel like listening to anything Plaid say about any other party until I see evidence they have sorted the misogyny and bullying out in their own ranks. I see no action at all on this. The tactic just seems to be to kick this into the long grass and point at others.
Really? I mean , Really now?!
You’re more concerned with levels of civility amongst a very small number of Plaid people who have jobs in the corridors of power, rather than the fate of the entire country?
Is your real name Leanne Wood?
Credit goes to Plaid Cymru’s MP Ben Lake for challenging Labour to honour their £28 billion green investment pledge. Sadly Labour can’t honour a pledge when as a party they have no honour. They’ve already backtracked on promises made like scrapping tuition fees. I wouldn’t trust them with my spit let alone anything else. We all know that in power a UK Labour under Keir Starmer will resort to type. They’ve already admitted they’ll continue with Tory policies in their first term on office. Ominous signs from Blue Labour So it’s a certainty UK Labour will continue interfering with Welsh… Read more »