Skip to main content
Labour’s Green Prosperity Plan revisited: will they, won’t they?
The proposed massive investment in a greener economy looked like a flagship policy — but it is already on shaky ground when Labour figures cannot make the most basic arguments for it, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer chairs a meeting with shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves where he addressed 22 new local council leaders at the headquarters of the Labour Party in London, May 9, 2023

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.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
The skyline of Canary Wharf in London as the cold snap continues to grip much of the nation, February 14, 2021
Inequality / 14 July 2026
14 July 2026

Trade unions call for windfall tax hike to fund social energy tariff to public’s energy bills

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer tours Palantir Technologies headquarters with company employees and British military personnel in Washington DC, February 27, 2025
Politics / 4 July 2026
4 July 2026

Only an ambitious programme of state-led investment can restore growth and improve living standards, argues MICHAEL BURKE

bills
Editorial / 31 October 2025
31 October 2025
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves after she gave her keynote speech during the Labour Party Conference at the ACC Liverpool, September 29, 2025
Editorial: / 16 October 2025
16 October 2025