Keir Starmer appears to row back on plans to spend £28 billion a year on green investments following warnings they could damage the economy

• Labour appears to have pushed back its green investment plans 
• Rachel Reeves has already scaled back the £28bn-a-year plans

Labour yesterday appeared to have pushed back plans to spend £28billion a year on green investment after warnings that it would damage the economy.

Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones, said the commitment would now be met ‘towards the end of the next Parliament’ should Labour win the election.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has already scaled back the plans due to the economic situation, saying the policy would ‘ramp up’ by the middle of the first parliament.

And Keir Starmer has faced fresh ‘Sir Flip-Flop’ accusations over the latest apparent policy shift, The Mail On Sunday reported.

Yesterday, Mr Jones appeared to delay the plan further on BBC1’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg.

Keir Starmer has faced fresh ‘Sir Flip-Flop’ accusations over the latest apparent policy shift

Labour has denied claims Sir Keir wants to scale back the green fund altogether

A Labour source said Mr Jones had meant to say ‘in the second half of the parliament’.

Mr Jones also said Labour was committed to the plan but that ‘it would only be introduced if national debt was falling as a percentage of the size of the economy’.

He was responding to reports that the Labour leader’s aides have urged Ms Reeves to cut back the fund, which would mean borrowing billions a year, The Telegraph reported. 

Labour has denied claims Sir Keir wants to scale back the green fund altogether.

It comes as the Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride wrote to Labour to demand clarity on its position on welfare reform.

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