Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves
Labour has pledged to spend an extra $38 billion a year on making the UK economy more “green” if it wins power.
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said the money would go on offshore wind farms, planting trees and developing batteries.
In her speech to Labour’s annual conference in Brighton, she also promised to phase out business rates to help the Covid-damaged High Street.
And she said giant tech firms would pay more tax in future.
An aide to Reeves told the BBC the $38 billion would come from government borrowing and the investment should “have a positive impact” on the wider economy.
In her speech, Reeves said: “I will be a responsible chancellor. I will be Britain’s first green chancellor.”
For the Labour Party activists crying out for ambitious pledges following a series of lukewarm announcements there was $38 billion a year of investment to support the UK in reaching its climate targets.
She also went after some of the most potent symbols for party members: private schools and Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon (“if you can afford to fly to the moon, you can afford to pay your taxes here on earth!”)
For the business community there was a promise to axe business rates and replace the £30bn of revenue with… something.
For those who thought it was all a bit too much she unveiled some fiscal rules that could lightly limit her room to spend and borrow, and a new value for money “hit squad” that would scrutinize government spending.
