UK’s Labour to Set Rules to Avoid Runaway Green Spending: FT

(Bloomberg) -- Britain’s main opposition party will seek to reassure voters that it won’t take a spendthrift approach toward green energy if it gets into power in the next general election.

Rachel Reeves, Labour’s shadow chancellor, will announce new rules for its proposed £8 billion National Wealth Fund on Monday which would invest alongside the private sector in renewable energy projects and infrastructure, according to the Financial Times. 

Reeves will say the fund would only invest in a project if every £1 invested attracted £3 of private finance, the paper said. The Labour Party, which is leading in the polls, is trying to burnish its green credentials while also seeking to reassure the public that it would be fiscally responsible.

The plan will be announced at the start of Labour’s annual conference, which is due to take place in Liverpool next week. Reeves will say the new rules could attract £24 billion pf private investment into the UK, including in eight new gigafactories for electric vehicle batteries, six clean steel plants and nine low carbon ports, according to the FT.

She will also set out how Labour will reform the planning system to speed the delivery of key infrastructure projects, the report said.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been seeking to create a dividing line with Labour on net zero, as he rolls back green policies which he said will burden households. This includes delaying bans on the sale of new fossil-fueled vehicles and gas boilers.

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