Can Labour still win on a new green deal?

The Labour Party is now finding itself in its annual post-election soul searching after the latest election defeats earlier this May. One of the leading explanations being levelled at Starmer from critics is a lack of a clear and ambitious policy package for the Labour Party, which they say was unlike that in 2019.

Whatever the rights or wrongs with this argument, one thing that we all can agree with is that the world has changed greatly since December 2019. Back then one of the most popular and ambitious parts of the party’s election manifesto was the so called, Green New Deal.

Fast forward to 2021 and we have a Conservative Party encroaching on this territory. Calling for Great Britain to become the Saudi Arabia of offshore wind and committing the UK to the most ambitious climate targets globally. 

So here are five key considerations for what it means for the Labour Party’s environmental messaging. 

(1) The devil will be in the detail to unlock the infrastructure needed  

To meet our 2035 climate targets we are going to need a radical overhaul of our national infrastructure. From electric charging points to replacing gas boilers.  This will require the biggest shift in our infrastructure since the Victorian era.

The UK has a head start to other countries due to the amount of offshore wind already plugged into our energy system, however, when you compare the size of the package we are putting to renewables in our post-COVID economic recovery it pales in comparison compared to France, Germany and the US.  

A key challenge for Labour is creating a viable plan for incentivising private money, committing to large scale investment in infrastructure while also not opening ourselves up to attacks by Conservatives of fiscal irresponsibility that damaged us so much in 2019.  

What is clear is that there is a lot of private investment that wants to come in to help make this happen, but it needs to be incentivised. For example, one of the questions arising from the recent Williams Rail Review, is who is going to pay for the electrification of the railway.

This isn’t just about public money it is about the detail of a future regulatory framework to create the right incentivises for private investment.  

(2) Focus on creating the right jobs in the right areas  

One of the most attractive parts of the new green deal is the jobs that it is likely to create. A recent report from Tory think tank Onward notes that it is important to consider this when developing policy around the labour market. It shows that the UK’s least prosperous regions disproportionately rely on heavily emitting industries for jobs at present.  

It also warns that the seats that make up the so-called Red Wall in the North and in the Midlands, are likely to suffer the highest levels of disruption of any constituencies.  

This is important as although green policies are popular now, it remains to be seen whether they will remain so when they impact on livelihoods.  Already the Trade Union’s are doing a lot of important work in this area – a great example is Prospects “Just Transition for energy workers campaign”. The Labour Party needs to be building on this thinking and turn the promise of jobs into actual opportunities through our skills and training policy. We also need to support local and regional governments to develop and promote successful industrial strategies.  

(3) Need a just and equitable transition that supports the losers

Like with jobs, there will be winners and losers of the energy transition. We have already begun to see this with the ban on diesel cars – I’m sure we’ve all met people who say they only bought one because they thought they were better for the environment. The next decade of transition is going to make these types of stories far more common. There are a lot of stories at the moment about making it harder to get a mortgage if the house isn’t energy efficient.  It is clear that the Labour Party need to be working with business and civil society to think about a fair transition ensuring that the transition impacts people as equitability as possible.  

(4) Be more like Attenborough

There is broad support for climate action with opinion polls frequently showing a very high level of support for action on climate change. While a citizen assembly last year found support even for policies that on the face of them would be desperately unpopular like taxes on airplane flights. However, there are the warning signs that support for climate action is fragmenting. For example, polls continually show some of the tactics used by Extinction Rebellion are unpopular. This is not to take away from their good work and the important role they play, but as a political party we need to reflect the values and speak with the voice of voters. We should therefore learn from the great environmental communicator David Attenborough that on topics this hard it is important to educate, warn and be solution focused showing we are on the side of social fairness as well as climate action.

(5) This is about competence and we have a better track record  

The Tories have been behind a number of environmental policy failures since they’ve been elected. From the recent cut to the Green Home Grant through to Cumbria coal mine– there are a number of flagship governmental green policies that are delayed or have been withdrawn over the last ten years. There is a competence message here that we should be highlighting around a struggle to implement climate related policies. This should be combined with Labour’s successful legacy – from passing the Climate Change Act in 2008 to the number of Labour run councils that are introducing innovative measures to address climate action.     

The Labour message on climate action has to move from one of vision to one of competence. Simply put this is no longer an area where we can enter into an arms race with the Conservative Party around targets and funding. Rather, we need to be seen by voters as a trusted partner that can seize the opportunity of the next decade to help the UK reach its net zero targets, while creating a fairer and successful economy.

So, what is the lesson for Labour when looking at the Green New Deal through the lens of 2021. To win votes in this area, we now need to be seen to have a more credible net zero plan and be more trusted by voters to deliver the transition in a fairer and more equitable way than the Tories.  

Jonathan Caleb-Landy
H+K Strategies