Labour waters down £28bn green investment pledge to protect fiscal credibility

Rachel Reeves’ spending climbdown comes amid reports of internal tensions over the policy

Rachel Reeves
Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, said soaring interest rates had played a part in the decision
(Image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Labour has watered down plans to spend £28bn a year on green investment after internal tensions over Labour’s flagship economic policy.

Writing for The Times, Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, said that soaring interest rates and her “non-negotiable” pledge to reduce government debt every year meant the spending commitment would not now be fulfilled until the second half of her party’s first term.

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  Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.