My Green New Deal colleague, Clive Lewis MP, has an article in the New Statesman discussing Labour's £28 billion plan for a Green New Deal. As he says in it:
Labour's so-called fiscal rules, like Labour's pledge to reduce debt as a percentage of GDP by the end of the next parliament, are no excuse either. They may well be called “rules” but they're actually political choices, constructed to project whatever the government of the day wishes them to. In the last 16 years, we've had multiple sets of fiscal rules. By seeking to hide behind these, Labour makes the mistake of treating them like the laws of physics.
He added:
Labour's £28bn-a-year green prosperity plan is a crucial step towards creating that framework. Its promised investment in green steel, home insulation and electric vehicles can provide the long-term certainty that industry has been crying out for – but only if it has the courage of its convictions. Beyond these headline pledges, climate action means investing in comprehensive walking and cycling infrastructure, the circular economy, nature restoration and a more localised food system, as well as ensuring local authorities have the funds to decarbonise their own areas. In fact, we should view £28bn a year as a floor, not a ceiling.
Clive is right, including on this:
All this would pay for itself: in tax revenue from the jobs created, in public health benefits, and in the higher proportion of wealth retained locally. Some of the £700bn saved in tax-free ISAs could be put to work via new green ISAs, which would be invested in renewable energy, heat pumps and public transport, while providing a return guaranteed by the government.
And now Labour has abandoned this plan, and no doubt Clive will be at risk of deselection if he keeps talking about it.
The rest of the article is worth reading and does not appear to be behind a paywall.
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Here’s my response to his Tweet on the subject.
“Hear, hear, Clive. Are you beginning to feel you’re in the wrong Party? Or that the Party has left you – lurching as it has to the extreme Right?”
My thoughts exactly! Come on Clive, you know you want to do it – throw your lot in with the Green party!
One wonders how long the likes of Clive Lewis can carry on convincing themselves that the Labour Party is their political home. And how long can the Labour Party carry on as it is without causing progressives and the left to give up on it altogether?
Maybe Clive, like the rest of us is hoping that Starmer is keeping his cards close to his chest and not opening himself to the right wing media, pre election. We can only hope this is the case. It is the only hope that we have left.
That he is lying to the electorate in the hope that right wing voters will choose Labour while intending to betray them once in government? Some democracy. If true, it might be a cunning plan, but it is cynical and dishonest and not worthy of the support of principled voters.
Starmer has either lied to the membership, or is lying to the general public.
Peter Mandelson, who was among those who helped Starmer get into his position, openly said on Times Radio that he deceived the membership, and that it was a good thing.
Alastair Campbell was writing pamplets for business leaders telling them to not worry about the membership, since the leadership’s position is that the membership are to be managed.
Internal democracy in the Labour party has been weakened in order to keep the left out. CLPs have been weakened, selections all run by Labour Central now, and coincidentally they keep bringing in people loyal to Starmer & Co. Union leaders literally walked out of a dinner with Starmer over policy differences.
I think who he’s deceived is rather obvious.
Even if they were planning on tacking to the left post-election, they wouldn’t have built up the narrative justifying investment, and would have no mandate to do so.
Total agreement from me.
Labour is failing to represent ‘The People’.
Labour caved to the City and the Money long before the symptom of Blair, Brown, Mandleson emerged in 1997 with ‘Business as usual’ kneeling to the god of mammon.
Vote Green
At last, a politician who realises that the presentation of economic ideas as a branch of physics is literally, and risibly absurd.
For the avoidance of doubt, what neoliberal economics offers is a materialist religion; the deification of the idea of money as personal property, rather than the reality; an IOU received from the sovereign government.
‘For the avoidance of doubt, what neoliberal economics offers is a materialist religion; the deification of the idea of money as personal property, rather than the reality’.
I could not put it better than Mr Warren.
I think he hits the nail on the head because my view is that money is a social-economic utility that should be made widely available to all to meet their needs.
That is what money was designed for.
And also why it has to be destroyed by tax.
Government Green ISAs, great idea, I’d love to invest my savings in such ISAs rather than in Bank ISAs, much of which goes towards funding the fossil fuel industries.
We are a long way off from ceasing the burning of fossil fuels to provide essential energy & transport. The transition period to 100% renewables & nuclear base load could be at least 20 plus years. The harsh reality is that we still need oil & gas for our lives & the economy to function & grow.
So oil & gas needs to be affordable & readily available during this 20 year transition or economies will collapse, unemployment will rocket & people will suffer.
Which ever way you look at getting to ‘Net Zero, huge govt subsidies will be required to actively encourage the Green Transition over the next 20 years.
I’ve posted before that once Starmer is sure the election is coming, he will deselect Lewis, Sultana, Begum, Osamor and others, and parachute in SpAds and nepo babies. Lewis and Sultana are outliers in NuNuLabor.
My thoughts exactly. I have the same worry about our MP, Lloyd Russell Moyle. I wonder if it would help if I wrote in to say that if he was deselected, Labour could not rely on my vote
I can understand both of your concerns – but – the deselect and parachute route did not work so well in the North East – Jamie Driscoll.
That said, I am fairly confident that LINO has not learnt its lesson and may well take the deselection route.
That’s fine.
I will make money available to Labour MPs deselected – with a view to hel;ping with their re-election as, e.g. Real-Labour.
(do not think I am “rich” – but I am willing to fund those who will speak for Britain and British people – as opposed to banksters)
And I am confident, given comments on this particular blog, that the unions have had a belly full of Starmer and his ghastly crew.
Jamie Driscoll seems to be doing okay, thanks. You are obviously not following him. He was not parachuted in as he was a councillor in the north east anyway, so I don’t understand what you mean.
Kate Osamor has already had the labour whip taken away from her, as has Andy McDonald.
I think Mike meant that LINO failed in their attempt to oust Driscoll, not that Driscoll was a spad.
What a pity there are so few Labour MPs of the calibre of Clive Lewis and well done the New Stareman for publishing his article. In the tragic event that Clive is deselected by Labour It may be a bit late for transfer to the Green Party as Norwich may have probably already selected their Green PPCs
Bill, Lewis could stand as an independent as so many others are doing.
And lose
https://labourhub.org.uk/2024/02/04/a-real-leader-of-the-opposition/
Can’t remember the name of Mick Lynch’s predecessor but he said something like
“If you try you might lose, but if you don’t try you will always lose.”
There ARE independents winning, particularly up north. Because of the mess that Starmer has made of Liverpool, Liverpool Community Independents who are socialists are standing candidates in each seat.
In council elections in Norfolk last year the tories lost overall control of King’s Lynn with the independents having the second highest number of seats.
Offering a Green ISA would act as a form of referendum on the matter. Investors would support it to a greater or lesser extent thereby giving the government a strong indication of the ‘will of the people’.
My suggestion is that all other ISAs should be withdrawn
They provide no return to society
NS&I had a green bond saver last year. I don’t know what the uptake was, it was withdrawn after a couple of months presumably when enough had invested.
Contrary to your own self-importance, it’s not for you to decide ‘what is good for society’, that’s for society to decide. Which is what they do already, with thousands of green / esg ISA products available.
What you actually mean is that they do invest like you think they should. All the while you never admit what you invest in yourself. It’s hardly a glowing endorsement of your proposal.
You very clearly have a problem with understanding democracy. It means anyone can make policy suggestion. You seem to think I do not have that right. Why is that?
Sarah Calverley,
Given Brexit, Johnson’s scandalous premiership, the Truss disaster, the 20 year Post Office scandal (owned 100% by Government) with Parliament still incapable of fixing it in any victim’s lifetime, the cronyism of Government, the Covid Inquiry revelations, and the further scandals surrounding the catastrophe of building regulations or the English law of leasehold, the cost of living crisis, the BoE blind-spot bungle of pension fund LDIs; to select only a few items from a long à la carte menu of utter failure; all voted for in an FPTP system that distorts democracy and is still sloppily supported by ‘society’, and all simply to elect people demonstrably of proven bad judgement (or worse) by ‘society’:
may I say that anyone who suggests what they think is “good for society”, is certainly worth examining, and certainly far more convincing than your bald, acidic comment, that offers the reader nothing but bile to consider.
May be expect an actual defence of the status quo ante will soon follow; or was your comment just the bilious guff it advertises itself to be?
Just been watching a you-tube video with Owen Jones. He seems to think that Starmer is trying to rid the party of SCG MPs, of which Clive Lewis is a member. In fact Lewis was one of the group who supported Corbyn to be elected as leader.