'Starmer is the jellyfish of British politics': Michael Gove hits out at Labour leader after u-turn on green spending
11 February 2024, 12:44 | Updated: 11 February 2024, 13:12
Michael Gove: 'Keir Starmer is the jellyfish of British politics'
Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove has labelled Sir Keir Starmer the "jellyfish of British politics" after he u-turned on Labour's green spending pledge.
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Speaking to LBC's Matthew Wright, Mr Gove likened Sir Keir to a jellyfish, claiming he is "transparent, spineless and swept along by the tide".
It comes after Sir Keir dropped Labour's pledge to spend £28 billion every year on getting to clear energy by 2030.
Mr Gove said: "The key thing is that the Conservative Party has lots of talent and there are ideas bubbling up at the moment about what we might want to do in the future.
"I like those conversations but the most important thing is to deliver and we have a plan.
"Just this week we discovered that Labour don’t and that they had to abandon the one policy that people associated with them.
"It just reinforced the fact that Keir Starmer is the jellyfish of British politics: transparent, spineless and swept along by the tide."
Read more: Keir Starmer slashes Labour's £28bn green spending pledge in major U-turn
Labour's Pat McFadden praises Keir Starmer's row back on green pledge
Sir Keir Starmer announced on Thursday the amount spent per year on green projects would be drastically scaled back to £23.7 billion over the course of the next parliament if his party wins the next election.
He insisted the ambitions behind Labour's flagship green prosperity plan remain the same, and recommitted to his mission to achieve clean power by 2030.
But the party's plan to insulate homes is set to be one casualty of the climbdown, with five million expected to be completed in the first five years rather than the 19 million initially promised.
The party has faced widespread criticism for the controversial move.
But shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves blamed the Conservatives' mishandling of the economy, citing Liz Truss' mini-budget fiasco, as she warned Labour would face a "bleak inheritance" if it wins power at the next general election.
