Keir Starmer has been forced to deny watering down some of his previous promises to voters as he relaunched his government by unveiling a new “plan for change”.
The hefty document, launched at Pinewood film studios, appeared to dilute Labour’s previous pledges on the economy and green energy.
Starmer’s five “missions” for government, launched nearly two years ago, had vowed to make the UK economy the fastest-growing in the G7 group of wealthy nations.
But in his speech today, the prime minister only said the government was committed to “raising living standards in every part of the United Kingdom so working people have more money in their pocket as we aim to deliver the highest sustained growth in the G7″.
Labour had also previously pledged to completely de-carbonise the electricity grid by 2030.
However, Starmer today said he wanted Britain to be “on track to at least 95% clean power by 2030, while accelerating the UK to net zero”.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said it was clear that Labour’s economic growth pledge had been “dropped because of the hit to the economy from the Budget”.
She added: “Costly plans for energy decarbonisation watered-down – while poor pensioners lose their winter fuel payments.
“This relaunch can’t hide the reality of a government that doesn’t know what it is doing.”
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said: “After years of Conservative chaos, the people want real change instead of a government simply moving the goalposts.”
Challenged by journalists after his speech about the apparent change in the government’s pledges, Starmer said: “The clean energy plan is today exactly what it was in the election.”
He also insisted that the government’s promise to have the fastest-growing economy in the G7 had not changed.