The Tories introduced the 50% strike ballot threshold to make industrial action harder. MATT WRACK argues that a Labour government has no justification for leaving it on the statute book
BACK in February, I asked: “Will Rachel Reeves really spend £28 billion a year on a Green Prosperity Plan?” It’s worth asking again because Labour’s most stupid rightwingers are beginning to rally against even this thoroughly centrist plan.
Reeves’s plan is, broadly, that a future Labour government will encourage the growth of greener British manufacturing, along with better insulation and other energy-saving measures, through a mixture of government and private investment, tax breaks and other incentives.
To get the plan off the ground, Reeves has to make the argument that investment isn’t a “waste.” If you own an asset, it isn’t the same as “spending too much money.” If you buy a valuable asset you still have your “money,” only it is now in the form of something that might help you, do you good, or even save you more money. It is OK to borrow to invest, as long as your investment is sound.
Trade unions call for windfall tax hike to fund social energy tariff to public’s energy bills
Only an ambitious programme of state-led investment can restore growth and improve living standards, argues MICHAEL BURKE


