Starmer makes a bold climate and energy pledge as conference kicks off

Both the Conservatives and Labour say they want the economy to grow. They differ, however, on how we get there. Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng launched their tax-cutting agenda with the ‘mini-Budget’ on Friday – which, to be generous, is a plan that overwhelmingly rewards high earners in a hope that the benefits will somehow ‘trickle down’ to the rest of us. To be less generous, it is a plan to make sure that their wealthy mates keep more of their cash.

Keir Starmer, on the other hand, has this morning outlined a plan to deliver economic growth – and cheaper energy bills – by transforming the UK into a “clean energy superpower” by 2030. The Labour leader has outlined proposals to quadruple offshore wind, triple solar and double onshore wind production by the end of the decade in a move that the party says will build a power system run entirely on home-grown renewables and nuclear. As well as the obvious benefits to combatting the climate emergency, the party estimates that this will support the creation of over 200,000 direct jobs and up to 260,000 to 300,000 indirect jobs.

The pledge is a good news story for the leadership as conference kicks off today – likely to be well received by all members – before all the inevitable shenanigans erupt. Conference delegates in Liverpool are right now attending a briefing ahead of the ‘priorities ballot’ – which is a ballot to decide which policy motions get debated. Voting will take place between 10am and 2pm. Six motions will be agreed from the trade union section and six from the membership (down from ten under the last leadership).

One key fight for the left will be the ‘Labour for Labour motion – supporting striking workers and trade unions. Momentum sources said last night that the motion is under threat because the ballots are being distributed by pro-leadership aligned regional directors. Another interesting one is UNISON’s, which proposes inflation-proof pay rises and a £15 minimum wage and is likely to pass unamended. Constitutional amendments (that’s rule changes, to you and me) will be debated and voted on today and the result will be announced early Monday morning. The national executive committee agreed a number of rule changes to put to conference earlier this week.

On LabourList for you this morning, we have Labour Movement for Europe chair Stella Creasy urging Labour to “take back control of the Brexit agenda” and work with European partners to deliver renewable energy at cheap prices. We also have exclusive findings of our focus of 2019 Tory voters in Bassetlaw, who describe Truss’ tax cuts as “pretty disgusting”. Most important, perhaps, for Labour is the fact that they reacted strongly once the impact of the ‘mini-Budget’ for different households had been shown with the help of a graph. There is appetite to reject the deeply regressive agenda put forward by Truss – but it requires a clear and compelling narrative.