UK Politics

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA minister in Rishi Sunak’s government has said he is quitting parliament at the general election after a series of death threats and an arson attack on his constituency office.Justice minister Mike Freer said he had avoided murder “by the skin of my teeth” – as MPs urged the government, their own parties and Commons authorities to do more to ensure proper security protection.Mr Freer – the Tory MP for London’s Finchley and Golders Green seat since 2010 – said it was time to say “enough” as he could no longer put his family through fears for his safety.The minister, who has pro-Israel views and represents a heavily Jewish constituency, said antisemitism was behind some of the intimidation and attacks on his office.The MP said he was shocked to learn that Ali Harbi Ali – who went on to kill Southend West MP David Amess – had previously watched his Finchley office.“There comes a point when the threats to your personal safety become too much,” he said in an interview with the Daily Mail.Mr Freer said: “I was very lucky that actually on the day I was due to be in Finchley, I happened to change my plans and came into Whitehall. Otherwise who knows whether I would have been attacked or survived an attack. He said he came to Finchley to attack me.”Conservative MP Mike Freer says there has been a history of attacks on him and his officeThe MP and his staff started wearing stab vests at public events after learning that Ali had watched his Finchley office before going on to knife Amess to death during a constituency surgery in 2021.The minister said he had also received threats from the group Muslims Against Crusades “about coming to stab me” and found “mock molotov cocktails on the office steps”.The arson attack on his north London constituency office in December was “the final straw”, he said.Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said he was “saddened” to hear that Mr Freer was quitting – admitting it was a “big challenge” to make MPs feel safe.Sir Lindsay told ITV’s Good Morning Britain programme that “we all get death threats” – appearing to suggest that it was normal. But he also insisted that the abuse and threats aimed at politicians is “not acceptable”.He later told Sky News he wanted MPs at Westminster to take the “heat” out of general election “fever”, suggesting it was adding to the febrile atmosphere.Sir Lindsay said: “I want us to have a nicer politics within the House. That’s why I made the statement [on Wednesday], to try and turn down the heat of each [PMQs] – because in the end, don’t be shocked if people react in the way that we react to each other.” He added: “I will do whatever I can as speaker, working with the security, working with the police, working with ministers, to ensure that members are safe, their families are safe, their offices safe. But that is the big challenge at the moment. It really is a threat.”Commons speaker Lindsay Hoyle said MPs had to turn down the ‘heat’Amid fresh questions for the government and Commons authorities on security, Penny Mordaunt, the Tories’ Commons leader, said she knew many MPs were “enduring” threats and intimidation.“Such attacks on elected members are attacks on democracy itself,” the senior Tory said in the Commons. “We condemn such actions and those who also encourage, incite and excuse them.”Labour MP Barry Sheerman criticised his own party as well as the Commons authorities, as he revealed that he had “raised my own worries and concerns in my own case recently”.He asked Ms Mordaunt about how better support can be given to MPs, adding: “I recently raised my problems, I haven’t had much help or support from the House or even from my own party.”Penny Mordaunt said many MPs were ‘enduring’ abuse and threats Ms Mordaunt said the public “can help” with the problem too as she criticised social media, urging voters not to “dehumanise” MPs online.“Whatever you think of a person’s political persuasions or their views or their voting record, they are here at the service of the people who sent them here, and that deserves respect and it deserves our protection too.” Tory MP Bob Blackman also pressed the government to ensure antisemitism is “prosecuted properly” after raising the decision of Mr Freer to quit parliament.The MP for Harrow East said ministers must raise the matter with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to make sure “that this is the last case of this and antisemitism is prosecuted properly”.Mr Sunak’s attorney general Victoria Prentis said she was working closely with the CPS and police. The cabinet minister said a “large number of prosecutions” have started on antisemitism cases in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel.“We’re just starting to enter the phase – as we all saw, very sadly, a large uptick in this horrible crime after 7 October last year – where trials are beginning where people have not pleaded guilty,” said Ms Prentis.Shadow Commons leader Lucy Powell shared her “profound regret” that Mr Freer was forced to quit. “That any member is forced from office due to intimidation, threats and fear is an attack on all of us and what we represent,” she said.Mr Freer won his seat by around 6,600 votes at the last general election in 2019, seeing off a Liberal Democrat. Mr Freer joins a series of MPs who have announced their intention not to contest the next election, which is expected later this year.Sarah Sackman, Labour’s candidate in Finchley and Golders Green, said she was “shocked” by the reason for his exit. She added: “We should have been able to face each other in the polls based on our ideas and merits. Instead, politics is now so often skewed by violent language, hate and the dangers of social media.”Tory former minister Sir Conor Burns said it was a “totally understandable decision”. He tweeted: “The drip-drip of hate (not exclusively from people on the other side) and remorseless cynicism will drive more people out of politics.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSir Keir Starmer made veiled jab at his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn at a conference with business leaders whilst also flattering his audience as “wealth creators”.The Labour leader’s comments follow a series of policy announcements designed to help Labour cosy up with business.The shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has said that Labour would cap corporation tax at 25 per cent in the first parliamentary term of government.Ms Reeves also said yesterday that Labour would not reinstate the cap on bankers bonuses, after it was removed under former Conservative prime minister Liz Truss’ premiership in 2022.Speaking at his party’s business conference in central London, Sir Keir said: “I’d like you all to cast your mind back to 2019.“Let’s imagine that you were invited to an event like this, a Labour business conference, before any of the changes to our party had taken place.“The question is, would you go? Would you as a wealth creator feel that your ambition, the vital role you play in our economy commanded the respect it deserves?”The former Labour party leader was known for his cynical approach to business and his pro-worker policies Labour’s business blitz has evoked some ire from the left of the party, with both unions and MPs questioning the party’s commitment to working people at the expense of the interests of big business. Left-wing grassroots organisation, Momentum, called the decision not reinstate the cap “a terrible decision totally out of touch with Labour’s values and public opinion”, while Neal Compass, director of leftwing think tank Compass, stated:“The UK’s corporation tax rate is already the lowest in the G7. Labour’s pledge today not to raise it in government only serves to underline how difficult it is to change things under our political system.More and more people and organisations want a society that is fairer and more equal and better investment in our crumbling public services. But to win under FPTP [first past the post] means promising to the corporate lobby that nothing much will change, and so dissatisfaction with politics grows.”Angela Rayner, the deputy leader, has previously declared the party as “unashamedly pro-worker and pro-business”, explaining that working people want “growth that they both create and share – jobs that are well paid and secure, communities that can stand on their own feet, public services that are strong enough to help them succeed”. Deputy leader Angela Rayner has said the party will be ‘unashamedly pro-worker and pro-business’ Thus far the party has put economic growth at the top of their agenda, making it their core “mission”. Labour leaders have been engaging in a long-standing charm offensive with businesses up and down the country. The approch marks a significant change in policy from the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who was known for being more cynical of business and the financial sector, having called bankers “speculators and gamblers”.Mr Corbyn has since hit back at Labour’s announcement not to cap banker’s bonuses.On social media site X, the former Labour leader wrote:“Refusing to scrap the 2-child benefit cap is a political choice to impoverish the worst-off. “Refusing to reinstate the bankers’ bonus cap is a political choice to enrich the wealthy. “4.2 million children are living in poverty, but will nobody think of the bankers?”Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer told delegates at the sold-out conference that the “caricature that British business only serves the shareholder interest is lazy and out of date”.He told senior executives and investors that “one of the things I draw great hope from” is the “determination I see from the countless business leaders I’ve met to serve the national interest.”He stressed the “partnership” between Labour and business, saying “your fingerprints (are) on every one of our five missions.”“Everything we do is driven by a determination to provide the businesses, communities and people of this nation with the conditions to succeed,” he added. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailConservative justice minister Mike Freer has become the latest MP to announce that he will not stand at the next general election.Mr Freer, who represents Finchley and Golders Green in north London, said he was stepping back due to concerns about his safety.He said he had received several death threats and had a suspected arson attack on his constituency office on Christmas Eve last year.“There comes a point when the threats to your personal safety become too much,” he said in an interview with the Daily Mail.Mr Freer joins a growing number of Conservative MPs deciding to quit politics, including several high-profile ex-cabinet secretaries and other ministers.Former deputy prime minister Dominic Raab is among the big names stepping down Alok Sharma, the former business secretary and Cop26 president, Sajid Javid, the former health secretary, Dominic Raab, the ex-justice secretary and Ben Wallace, the former defence secretary, are among the other big-name Tories who have called it a day as their party struggles in the polls.Mr Sharma and Mr Raab, who resigned from his cabinet position following a slew of bullying allegations which he denied, would have been defending majorities of fewer than 5,000 votes at the next national poll.Most MPs walking away from Westminster are Conservatives, which is unsurprising given they are the biggest party, winning 365 seats at the 2019 election.According to the Institute for Government, the 2010 election saw more than 100 MPs stand down, mainly from the Labour Party, which had been in power since 1997.Some MPs also announced they were standing down after the expenses scandal the same year.Of all the 85 MPs standing down ahead of the next national poll – expected in the spring or summer of next year – 53 are Conservative.Harriet Harman, the former Labour leader, Margaret Beckett, the former foreign secretary, and Ben Bradshaw, the former culture secretary are among the 15  Labour MPs standing down.Nine SNP MPs, six independents – including former health secretary Matt Hancock – one Green and one Plaid Cymru have also decided to call it a day. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailLabour will cap corporation tax at 25 per cent during the next parliament under a raft of new measures designed to kickstart the UK economy.Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said on Thursday that the current level “strikes the correct balance” but hinted that she could even cut it if the UK’s “competitiveness comes under threat”.The announcement came in front of gathering of business leaders at a sold-out event in London designed to win over executives ahead of a general election later this year.The event is the latest bid by Labour to woo top firms and City of London executives ahead of the next election, with Ms Reeves introduced on Thursday by the boss of HSBC’s innovation banking arm before taking part in a Q&A with Aviva chief executive Amanda Blanc.Labour did not give any clarity on the circumstances or criteria under which corporation tax could fall, but Ms Reeves was clear to business leaders it would be kept under review.“The next Labour government will make the pro-business choice and the pro-growth choice: We will cap the headline rate of corporation tax at its current rate of 25 per cent for the next parliament. And should our competitiveness come under threat, if necessary we will act.”Ms Reeves’ announcement follows a week of discussion and disagreement about Labour’s fiscal policies. The shadow chancellor made headlines when she said Labour would not reverse the removal of the cap on banker’s bonuses.She told the BBC that the party “does not have any intention of bringing that back” and that while the cap on bonuses was “the right thing to do to rebuild the public finances […] that has gone now and we don’t have any intention of bringing that back.”Her comments sparked a backlash from some on the left of the party and trade union figures, who called on Labour to rethink its decision.As chancellor, Rishi Sunak announced a rise in corporation tax from 19 per cent to the current 25 per cent rate for companies with profits over £250,000 – a move that came into force in April last year.That move had provoked the ire of some free marketeer Tories, with Liz Truss pledging but ultimately failing to scrap the rise during her short-lived premiership.Jeremy Corbyn’s left-wing manifesto for Labour in the 2019 election had included a hike in corporation tax to 26 per cent. The decision to cap corporate tax at 25 per cent is a significant climbdown from the 2019 manifesto commitment, which pledged to raise corporation tax to 26 per cent.Jonathan Reynolds labelled Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s discussion of further tax cuts in the coming months as ‘a scorched earth policy’ But today Ms Reeves said that capping the figure means “businesses can plan investment projects today, with the confidence of knowing how their returns will be taxed for the rest of this decade.”She said: “To those you in this room who might be wondering – do we really mean what we say? Has Labour really changed? Will warm words today be matched by action in government?“Be in no doubt. We will campaign as a pro-business party – and we will govern as a pro-business party.”Left-wing grassroots organisation Momentum – who backed former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn – have criticised the policy, stating that Starmer and Reeves’ “cosying up to big business” is “bad policy and bad politics.”They added: “The Labour Leadership’s priorities are deeply out of touch with the labour movement and the public at large.Voters want higher wages, more money in public services and free school meals, not bungs for bankers & gifts to the City.”Meanwhile, the British Chamber of Commerce has welcomed the announcement. Shevaun Haviland, the director general, said:“Businesses will also welcome a cap of 25% corporation tax over the life of the next parliament. This commitment will give both UK firms and global companies looking to invest here – the confidence to help the economy get back to sustainable growth.”The party have also been under fire for its gradual retreat from the £28bn green prosperity pledge, with shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds’ giving the strongest hint yet that the party may drop the £28bn figure entirely.The MP for Stalybridge and Hyde, in Greater Manchester, said it was Labour’s “ambition” to carry out the multi-billion pound investment but warned that “sometimes circumstances change”.Sir Keir Starmer is taking a much more fiscally restrained approach to Labour’s spending Sir Keir Starmer and his colleagues have been sounding warnings about the state of public finances and have suggested that the Tories may “salt the earth” to make it harder for Labour to make good on spending commitments.The party have been preoccupied with trying to re-build their fiscal reputation, following a long-held attack line by the Conservatives that they are irresponsible with public money.As a result, Sir Keir and Ms Reeves have been operating under an ethos of fiscal conservatism, with the shadow cabinet told not to make any pledges unless they are fully funded.Labour have come under fire from the Conservatives who have said their promise “isn’t worth the paper it’s written on”. Business and Trade Secretary, Kemi Badenoch MP said:“With Labour’s consistent track record of saying one thing but doing another, this is another Labour promise that isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.“Labour cannot say how they will pay for their £28 billion spending spree because they do not have a plan. That will just end up meaning higher taxes on businesses and working people.She added: “By sticking to our plan, Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives are strengthening the economy and the plan is working – with inflation more than halved and taxes cut for businesses and families.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailChancellor Jeremy Hunt has dampened hopes of tax cuts as he has admitted that there is less room in the spring budget than he had previously hoped.Mr Hunt has confirmed he has warned the cabinet there is less scope for tax reductions on 6 March, despite clamour within the Tory ranks for cuts to try to woo voters ahead of the looming general election.“It doesn’t look to me like we will have the same scope for cutting taxes in the spring budget that we had in the autumn statement,” Mr Hunt told BBC’s Political Thinking podcast. “And so I need to set people’s expectations about the scale of what I’m doing because people need to know that when a Conservative government cuts taxes we will do so in a responsible and sensible way. But we also want to be clear that the direction of travel we want to go in is to lighten the tax burden.”The comments come after warnings from financial institutions the government would be unwise to implement large tax cuts at a time of high debt and low public spending. In last year’s autumn statement, the government announced a national insurance cut from 12 per cent to 10 per cent, which is estimated to cost the Treasury around £9.76 billion in the 2028 tax year.The Chancellor has rowed back on plans for tax cuts following bleak warnings from the IMF and IFS But on Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said further tax cuts could risk the government’s ability to invest money in the NHS and other vital services.Mr Hunt told ITV’s Peston on Wednesday evening: “We go through a process ahead of every budget and autumn statement where you don’t actually know the final numbers until a couple of weeks before. And we’re still in the middle of that process.“As things stand at the moment – things can change – it doesn’t look like I’ll have the kind of room that I had for those very big tax cuts in the autumn. And I did mention that to the cabinet, yes.”Mr Hunt is under a great deal of pressure from colleagues to cut taxes further if he can, as the party continues to struggle in the polls. The Conservatives are currently trailing behind Labour by as much as 20-points.Rishi Sunak’s party has fallen far behind Keir Starmer’s Labour party in the polls Speaking earlier this month during a visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the chancellor said “the direction of travel” is for the UK to emulate successful low-tax economies.But the economic picture means this looks increasingly difficult for the chancellor. The IMF has downgraded the UK’s growth forecast for next year, expected to reach 0.6% this year, and 1.6% next.This would make the UK economy the second-worst performer in the G7 this year and the joint third-worst performer in 2025.Mr Hunt’s climb down follows a bleak warning from Paul Johnson, director for the Institute for Fiscal Studies, who said that promised tax cuts will need to be quickly reversed, as the increasing cost of debt will make them harder to fund.Mr Johnson has since said that Mr Hunt could only pay for tax cuts in March by public spending cuts. Tax could not be reduced “without a significant effect on public services” Mr Johnson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, suggesting that the chancellor show where cuts in public services would have to fall in order to fund tax reductions.Responding to the IMF’s briefing on Tuesday, Mr Hunt said it was “too early to know whether further reductions in tax will be affordable in the Budget”.The director of the IFS has urged Mr Hunt to show where cuts in public services will fall to fund tax reductions Mr Hunt told the BBC that he agreed with the IMF that “untargeted tax cuts that are just crowd pleasers” are not a good idea.“But if they are strategic, smart tax cuts then that is a very important part of the strategy to grow the economy,” he added.Pressure for the chancellor to ignore the economic forecasts and proceed with tax cuts from his colleagues is ramping up, as former cabinet minister Sir David Davis told LBC’s Andrew Marr that the IMF should “go get lost” over its tax warning.“We should stop listening to financial forecasts that are based on the prejudices of the people who write them,” he said.The ex-Brexit secretary also said that “there will be tax cuts, the question is the size”.Speaking on LBC, treasury minister Laura Trott set the Conservatives would aim to cut taxes in a “sustainable and responsible way”:“We spent £400 billion during COVID. We spent £100 billion on protecting people’s energy prices during the energy crisis caused by Putin. “I think those were the right decisions. We’ve got to pay that back. And a Conservative government will always be responsible with people’s finances. And so we took some difficult decisions.”She added: “What the IMF are talking about was the balance of public spending versus tax cuts. And this is a really important debate that we should be having in this country.”Labour said the IMF warning was “yet more evidence of 14 years of Conservative economic failure”.Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones said: “The Tories have left Britain with high debt, flatlining growth, high taxes and working people worse off.”And the Liberal Democrats said the “damning” IMF verdict showed the government’s “failure on the economy”.Lib Dem Treasury spokesman Sarah Olney said: “This Conservative Government is a disaster for our economy and needs to leave Downing Street before even more damage is done.” More

Stormont powersharing set to return after DUP executive backs dealSign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UKSign up to our Brexit email for the latest insightBoris Johnson has attacked Rishi Sunak’s new Brexit deal with the DUP – warning that it could tie the UK to EU trade rules in future.Mr Sunak’s government revealed new arrangements to remove routine checks on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland in a bid to restore power-sharing at Stormont.Checks required under the previous so-called “green lane” will be further reduced – a tweak aimed at fixing some of the unresolved mess left by Mr Johnson’s Brexit deal.The former PM – who has repeatedly criticised Mr Sunak since he was kicked out of No 10 – called on his successor to have the “courage” to ditch more Brussels regulations.“We must retain the appetite and the courage to diverge from the low-growth high-regulation European model,” said Mr Johnson on X, formerly Twitter.Last night Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, said his party was not split on the new deal and that support for it was “absolutely decisive”.Later, MPs will pass statutory instruments that pave the way for Stormont to finally get a functioning government after nearly two years of impasse over the post-Brexit arrangements.Show latest update 1706797641EU will have ‘some questions’ on government deal with DUP on post-Brexit tradeThe EU has “some questions” about a UK government deal to restore powersharing in Northern Ireland that pledges significant changes to post-Brexit trading arrangements, Ireland’s premier has said.Leo Varadkar said that while the European Commission would have queries about the command paper, there were no suggestions on an initial assessment that it contained any “red flags”.Full report: Matt Mathers1 February 2024 14:271706793321Tory MP hits out at ‘overzealous French officials’ over export issuesA Tory MP has hit out at “overzealous French officials” and called for an improved arbitration process to challenge “ridiculous” export issues.Conservative MP Anthony Mangnall said one of his Totnes constituents found himself in a “completely ridiculous situation” when his shipment was seized after he missed out one word on a certificate.Environment Secretary Steve Barclay said a “proportionate approach” should be taken on these issues.Speaking in the Commons, Mr Mangnall said: “A constituent of mine had his entire shipment seized in France for missing a single word on the export health certificate by overzealous French officials.“Can the Secretary of State please reassure me that we are going to find arbitration methods to actually speed up the process to challenge these completely ridiculous situations?”Mr Barclay said the MP had raised the issue with the farming minister (Mark Spencer) who he said is “actively engaged”, adding: “Of course, a proportionate approach should always be taken on these issues.”Matt Mathers1 February 2024 13:151706787428Full report: Government to fast-track legislation through Commons to deliver on Stormont dealThe government aims to fast-track two pieces of legislation through parliament on Thursday to deliver on the commitments made in its package aimed at restoring powersharing at Stormont.It comes a day after the publication of measures that would end routine post-Brexit checks on goods shipped from Great Britain to final destinations in Northern Ireland.Full report: Matt Mathers1 February 2024 11:371706783188I wouldn’t change ‘anything’ about Brexit, says Priti PatelPriti Patel has said she wouldn’t change “anything” about Brexit despite studies showing it has damaged the economy.”I wouldn’t change anything around Brexit,”  the former home secretary told Nigel Farage’s GB News show. “The campaigns we held. And the case that we made”She added: “You’ve asked four years on, where are we. If you look at the health and wellbeing of our economy: highest levels of employment. We’re doing trade outside of the EU”“The world is also changing. It’s important we can stand on our own two feet. And I think we are doing that”.Matt Mathers1 February 2024 10:261706781223ICYMI: Tory Brexiteer dismisses cost of new food checks as ‘price you pay’ for BrexitThe leading Brexiteer defended the “friction” in the new system for physical checks at the border – describing it as “the costs of doing business”.Full report: Matt Mathers1 February 2024 09:531706778467MPs to pass statutory instruments to pave way for Stormont returnMPs will later today pass two statutory instruments that will pave the way for Stormont to return.Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland secretary and Steve Baker, the NI minister, will lead two 90-minute debates on tweaks to the Windsor Framework.These concern good moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland and were scheduled to start at around 11.30am. Matt Mathers1 February 2024 09:071706777852Recap: DUP agrees deal to end boycott of Northern Ireland government and restore powersharingNorthern Ireland’s top unionist party have announced they will end their boycott of the government after more than 700 days following a mammoth overnight meeting.Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, emerged after 1am this morning to announce he had secured the “decisive” backing of his executive to resume power sharing with the nationalists.Full report: Matt Mathers1 February 2024 08:571706777785Full report: Now Boris tries to sabotage his own bungled Brexit deal with new attack on SunakMr Johnson’s former Brexit negotiator Lord David Frost – believed to be part of a small cabal of right-wing MPs and ex-advisers plotting to bring down Mr Sunak – said he agreed with the former PM.The trouble-making Tory peer warned that the new agreement with the DUP should not “slow” the push to diverge from the EU.Under the new deal set out in Mr Sunak’s “Safeguarding the Union” paper, the “red lane” for transporting goods from GB to NI, and then on into the EU single market in the Republic of Ireland, will remain.Full report: Matt Mathers1 February 2024 08:561706777722Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s rolling Brexit coverage.MP will today pave the way for Stormont to return after the DUP agreed a new Brexit deal.Stay tuned for the latest updates.Matt Mathers1 February 2024 08:55 More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailShadow Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has refused to confirm whether Labour will stick to its pledge of investing £28 billion in green energy.The MP for Stalybridge and Hyde, in Greater Manchester, said it was Labour’s “ambition” to carry out the multi-billion pound investment but warned that “sometimes circumstances change”.The row-back from Rachel Reeves’ 2021 green prosperity plan has been trailed heavily over the last few months, following reported infighting within the shadow cabinet over the funding of the pledge.Mr Reynolds told Radio 4’s Today programme that the future of the plan depends on the state of the nation’s finances if they win power.Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves will address business leaders at an event on Thursday Asked if the party was still committed to the plan, Mr Reynolds said it was merely ‘an ambition.’Asked directly if Labour was still committed to its pledge, Mr Reynolds, a key ally of Sir Keir Starmer, said: ‘That is our level of ambition but how quickly we get there and if we can get there has to have respect to and heed to the overall position of the economy.’Pressed by interviewer Nick Robinson, Mr Reynolds declined to commit to a figure in the event of Labour rowing back on the full sum.Shadow treasury minister Tulip Siddiq made a strange comparison on LBC yesterday when trying to explain away the £28bn row back His comments follow an equally difficult media performance by his front bench colleague, Tulip Siddiq, who left radio listeners baffled after she compared her party’s economic policies to child murder.Yesterday, Ms Siddiq said: “It is a commitment depending on the fact it abides by our fiscal rules – everything has to depend on external circumstances.“It’s like saying to your partner ‘I will marry you but if I suddenly find out you murdered a two-year-old last year, you might not want to’.“I think that’s what we are saying. If there’s a global financial crisis we need to review our commitments that that time.”The further watering down of the costly commitment came as Sir Keir hosted a conference for business leaders in the latest part of his campaign to show the party has turned its back on the anti-City rhetoric of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.It also comes days after Labour said it would not reimpose the cap on bankers bonuses scrapped by Liz Truss.But the party’s commitment to green investment is likely to come under fire as recent polling by the Labour Climate and Environment Forum found that global investors overwhelmingly back the plans.The survey showed that 78 per cent of global investors think Labour’s Green Prosperity Plan would bring more opportunities to UK businesses than risk, and 73 per cent say government-led investment in renewable resources will spur the same or more private sector investment.There have been internal disputes within the shadow cabinet over the funding of the green prosperity pledge The party is now said to be withdrawing from its spending commitment due to concerns over how it will fund the pledge as the cost of borrowing has increased. While the Labour frontbench continues to publicly defend the ambition, internal party sources admit there is discussion around scrapping the figure, but that Labour is still committed to investing in green growth and jobs.Commenting on Tuliq Sidiq’s comments on LBC yesterday, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Laura Trott MP said:“Labour’s Shadow Treasury Minister has confirmed Labour’s £28 billion is a ‘commitment’, however Labour are saying they will scrap the borrowing but keep the spending. That means thousands of pounds of higher taxes on working people because they don’t have a plan to pay for it.” More