As party narrowly misses out on overall majority, co-leader says it has won spread of urban and rural seats
The Greens are celebrating a spectacular win in Bristol, where it became by far the largest party, as it headed for a record number of councillors in local elections across England.
Party officials said they believed they were on track to finish with more than 800 members on more than 170 councils.
Continue reading...Cabinet votes to leave historic Bute House agreement after government abandons emissions target
The historic power-sharing agreement between the Scottish National party and Scottish Greens is to end after a crisis over the Scottish government’s climate strategy, reports say.
The Bute House agreement was signed by the then SNP leader, Nicola Sturgeon, and the Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie in August 2021, bringing the Greens into government for the first time in the UK.
Continue reading...Party claims financial position still strong as it continues to hold a commanding lead in opinion polls
Labour has suffered a sharp fall in membership over the past two months following controversies over its policy on Gaza and its U-turn on green investment, according to figures released to its National Executive Committee (NEC). The drop of more than 23,000 members comes despite the party holding a commanding lead in the opinion polls, which suggests it is now seen by the wider electorate as ready and able to form the next government, after 14 years of Tory rule.
Labour sources said the party’s overall financial position remained strong despite membership subscriptions falling off, because donations large and small were healthy, and the expectation was that the unions would still give very substantial backing to the election effort.
Continue reading...Climate Change Committee finds Scottish government has repeatedly failed to make cuts required by law
Scotland’s pledge to cut its climate emissions by 75% by 2030 is “no longer credible” and cannot be met, the UK’s climate watchdog has said.
In a damning report submitted to the Scottish parliament, the UK Climate Change Committee (CCC) accused the Scottish government of repeatedly failing to live up to its legally binding targets.
Continue reading...Blockades at facilities in Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, with protests in Scotland and action expected in Denmark
Climate activists in four countries are blocking access to North Sea oil infrastructure as part of a coordinated pan-European civil disobedience protest.
Blockades have been taking place at oil and gas terminals, refineries and ports in Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, in protest at the continued exploitation of North Sea fossil fuel deposits.
Continue reading...Britain spent about £26bn in three years on low-carbon measures, less than Italy, Germany, France and Spain, Greenpeace finds
The UK spends less on low-carbon energy policy than any other major European economy, analysis has shown, despite evidence that such spending could lower household bills and increase economic growth more than the tax cuts the government has planned.
Spending on low-carbon measures for the three years from April 2020 to the end of April 2023 was about $33.3bn (£26.2bn) in total for the UK, the lowest out of the top five European economies, according to an analysis by Greenpeace of data from the International Energy Agency.
Continue reading...Tory government has ‘ducked’ difficult decisions, leading to higher bills, says shadow energy secretary
Labour has claimed a “culture of inertia and stasis” has blocked renewable energy projects under the Conservatives and says the party will overturn a de facto onshore wind ban “at the stroke of a pen” if it wins the general election.
The shadow energy secretary, Ed Miliband, told energy industry executives at a conference in London on Tuesday that Labour would immediately rip up a decade-long effective block on large onshore wind developments in England if elected.
Continue reading...Demonstration against Welsh Labour policy included No Farmers No Food campaign calling for end to climate measures, and Welsh Tory leader
Rishi Sunak attended a protest alongside a group which has posted conspiracy theories about climate change, and which campaigns against net zero, the Observer can reveal.
The prime minister has been accused of “pandering to extremists” by farmers and wildlife groups, who have asked him to “listen to reason and logic” rather than conspiracy theories.
Continue reading...The announcement ends weeks of speculation about the policy
Rishi Sunak has refused to apologise for the anti-trans jibe he made about Keir Starmer at PMQs yesterday, after being told Brianna Ghey’s mother would be listening in the public gallery.
Speaking to journalists in Cornwall, Sunak insisted that he was just making a point about Starmer. And he said that to link what he said to the death of Brianna, whose murder was partly motivated by transphobia, was “the worst of politics”.
If you look at what I said, I was very clear, talking about Keir Starmer’s proven track record of U-turns on major policies because he doesn’t have a plan.
A point only proven by today’s reports that the Labour party and Keir Starmer are apparently planning to reverse on their signature economic green spending policy.
But to use that tragedy to detract from the very separate and clear point I was making about Keir Starmer’s proven track record of multiple U-turns on major policies, because he doesn’t have a plan, I think is both sad and wrong, and it demonstrates the worst of politics.
Today’s announcement will give confidence to the oil and gas industry and those who stand to benefit from a fossil fuel energy system. For the rest of us, faced with unaffordable energy bills, fossil fuel-funded wars, and the floods, storms and droughts that the climate crisis brings, this is a deeply disappointing signal on the low level of ambition a future government has when it comes to the biggest challenge the world is facing.
Green investment doesn’t just deliver for the planet; it also benefits our health and economy. Cutting it would be shortsighted and cost the country dearly.
The UK is already lagging behind in the race to manufacture green steel, build electric vehicles, and develop giga-battery factories. Thousands of jobs are at risk if we don’t match the investment the US and the rest of Europe are making in these industries …
Continue reading...Keir Starmer announces party will now spend less than £15bn on green projects a year if it wins election
Labour has cut its green investment plans by half, as Keir Starmer ended weeks of speculation to confirm the biggest U-turn of his leadership in a move designed to bolster the party’s chances at the general election.
Starmer and his shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, announced on Thursday that they were cutting the scale of the green prosperity plan from £28bn a year to under £15bn, only a third of which will be new money.
Continue reading...Plans to reform social care and House of Lords are trimmed as Keir Starmer’s party opts for caution ahead of vote
Labour is planning only limited first-term reforms of social care and the House of Lords and a smaller green investment plan as part of a stripped-down general election manifesto, as it seeks to make its policies “bombproof” to Tory attacks.
Shadow cabinet ministers have been given until 8 February to make policy submissions for the manifesto, as Keir Starmer’s party gears up for an election that, according to opinion polls, looks likely to return it to government for the first time since 2010.
Continue reading...Tories watch on delighted as Starmer repeats figure while the shadow Treasury team distance themselves
For weeks, Labour officials have been locked in meetings as they try to figure out how to present Westminster’s worst kept-secret: Keir Starmer’s slow U-turn away from his pledge to spend £28bn a year on the green economy.
Publicly, senior party figures insist that nothing has changed since last summer, when the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said the party would spend £28bn only if the party’s strict fiscal rules allowed.
Continue reading...A senior Labour frontbencher confirmed the party has ditched its commitment on green spending
Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, says reports that the government is giving up on plans for a returns agreement with Turkey are “very concerning”.
This decision by the Home Office is very concerning.
As Home Secretary I worked up proposals to list Turkey as a safe country : a member of the Council of Europe, a NATO ally and a Candidate country for EU accession.
The government should re-think this decision.
The Times said that ministers’ hopes for a returns deal, along the same lines as the current agreement with Albania, has collapsed after an internal review said Turkey was “a state that does not meet the criteria of being ‘generally safe’”.
Rishi Sunak and other leading Tories have hailed the Albania deal as a key success in the prime minister’s bid to stop small boats crossings in the Channel. But it now appears a similar agreement with Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is unlikely to happen.
Notably, the assessment also raises concerns over Turkey’s compliance with adverse rulings from the European court of human rights (ECHR), which the Home Office assessment said “raised questions about adherence to the rule of law”.
This is significant given Sunak’s plans not to comply with interim injunctions from the same court.
Continue reading...Former Cop26 president abstains from vote saying bill breaks UK’s promise to phase out fossil fuels
Alok Sharma has said the government’s oil and gas bill going through the Commons will not cut household energy costs or create jobs and instead will break the UK’s promise to phase out fossil fuels.
The government’s offshore petroleum licensing bill passed its second reading on Monday night with 293 votes to 211 against. No Conservative MPs voted against it, and Sharma – the former business secretary who served as president of the Cop26 climate talks – abstained. The legislation would place the North Sea Transition Authority under a duty to run annual applications for new offshore oil and gas licences.
Continue reading...Jonathan Reynolds calls for version of US Inflation Reduction Act amid row over future of Labour policy
Britain needs its own ambitious green investment plan to keep up with its allies, a Labour frontbencher has said, amid an increasingly bitter row over whether Keir Starmer should stick to his £28bn pledge.
Jonathan Reynolds, the shadow business secretary, said the UK should come up with a version of Joe Biden’s $369bn (£290bn) Inflation Reduction Act, which has provided support to a range of technologies including electric cars and renewable power.
Continue reading...MEPs react to ‘tragic’ findings revealing UK falling behind EU in key environmental policies since Brexit
European lawmakers have lamented the UK’s decision to weaken environmental rules since leaving the EU, after the Guardian revealed it is falling behind in almost every policy area.
One Green group MEP said the findings were “tragic” while a centre-right MEP said the divergences were “particularly bad” for companies that want to do business on both sides of the Channel.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Britain is falling behind the bloc on almost every area of green regulation, analysis reveals
Vital legal protections for the environment and human health are being destroyed in post-Brexit departures from European legislation, a detailed analysis by the Guardian reveals.
The UK is falling behind the EU on almost every area of environmental regulation, as the bloc strengthens its legislation while the UK weakens it. In some cases, ministers are removing EU-derived environmental protections from the statute book entirely.
Water in the UK will be dirtier than in the EU.
There will be more pesticides in Britain’s soil.
Companies will be allowed to produce products containing chemicals that the EU has restricted for being dangerous.
EU-derived air pollution laws that will be removed under the retained EU law bill.
Dozens of chemicals banned in the EU are still available for use in the UK.
Thirty-six pesticides banned in the EU have not been outlawed in the UK.
The UK is falling behind on reducing carbon emissions as the EU implements carbon pricing.
The EU is compensating those who are struggling to afford the costs of the green transition, while the UK is not.
The EU is implementing stricter regulations on battery recycling, while the UK is not.
Deforestation is being removed from the EU supply chain, while the UK’s proposed scheme is more lax and does not come in until a year later.
Continue reading...Ministers hope to build fleet of reactors to meet quarter of electricity demand by 2050 but critics highlight long delays and rising costs
The government has set out plans for what it claims will be Britain’s biggest nuclear power expansion in 70 years, despite concerns about faltering nuclear output and project delays.
Ministers published a roadmap on Friday that recommits the government to building a fleet of nuclear reactors capable of producing 24GW by 2050 – enough to meet a quarter of the national electricity demand.
Continue reading...Climate thinktank says Britain could be left trailing in global race to develop low-carbon energy
Labour’s independent energy advisers have warned the party against watering down its £28bn green spending plans in advance of its promise to create a zero carbon electricity system by 2030.
Experts at the climate thinktank Ember, which provided the independent analysis underpinning Labour’s green targets, said growing international competition for low-carbon investment from the US and EU could leave the UK lagging in the global race for low-carbon energy.
Continue reading...Statement is clearest sign yet party is willing to drop one of its flagship policies in face of Conservative attacks
Keir Starmer has ruled out breaking Labour’s fiscal rules to meet its green investment targets if it wins the election this year, in the clearest sign yet that the party is willing to scale back one of its flagship policies in the face of Conservative attacks.
The Labour leader told an audience in Bristol on Thursday that he would not borrow £28bn to spend on green projects if it meant breaking a separate promise to reduce government debt as a proportion of economic output.
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