Labour’s green plans will create 650,000 jobs, says Rachel Reeves

Labour will create more than 650,000 jobs with its green investment plans, Rachel Reeves has said, as the party kickstarts a week of campaigning on the economy.

The UK shadow chancellor has revealed new details about the £7.3bn green investment vehicle that Labour intends to create after the election, saying it will help create hundreds of thousands of new industrial jobs.

Labour is planning to focus on the economy this week, as the campaign passes the halfway point with polls continuing to show the party heading for a landslide victory.

Reeves said: “Labour’s plan for growth is about making Britain better off, with good jobs paying a decent wage being created right across the United Kingdom.

“The election on 4 July is a chance to deliver on that plan and to turn our economy around after 14 years of Conservative decline. The next Labour government will work hand in hand with the private sector to bring investment to Britain’s industrial heartlands and I have been clear that our National Wealth Fund will be a crucial tool in the armoury to deliver on this ambition.”

The National Wealth Fund is one of the biggest single items in Labour’s pledge to stimulate the economy and boost efforts to tackle climate change, alongside Great British Energy, its planned energy generation company.

The fund will invest £7.3bn over the course of the parliament, with £1.8bn going to ports, £1.5bn to gigafactories, £2.5bn to clean steel, £1bn to carbon capture and £500m to green hydrogen. It will be given a target of attracting three times as much private capital as it invests.

Labour says that alongside its home insulation plans, the fund will help create 656,500 jobs in sectors such as electricals, plumbing and engineering.

Reeves will announce on Monday that it expects to receive a report on how to run the fund from its advisory taskforce, which includes the former Bank of England governor Mark Carney, shortly after the election.

While Labour plans to focus on its investment plans this week, contrasting them with the Conservatives’ promise of £17bn-worth of tax cuts, the party is coming under pressure to say whether it will raise taxes to help pay for them.

Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, on Sunday refused to deny that the party would raise council tax after the election, while Reeves is under pressure from frontbench colleagues to increase capital gains tax.