The Labour Party is on the brink of dropping its pledge to append £28bn a year on environmental projects.

Intended to accelerate investment and create infrastructure for green energy projects, such as offshore wind farms and EV charging, the pledge soon became seen as an economic trap, with Labour seen as untrusted on spending and tax. The idea has long been viewed sceptically, and more recently the cost of borrowing has added more weight to a policy about to be dropped like a stone.

Announced in 2021 by shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, it was diluted from a target to be reached in a year to one to be achieved halfway through Labour’s term office in 2023. In 2024 it was further relegated from a pledge to an ‘ambition’ in the best political traditions

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