Rachel Reeves will address the global elite in Davos this afternoon as Labour faces questions over its commitment to its flagship environmental pledge.
The shadow chancellor will take part in a discussion at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland this afternoon as the opposition tries to cement its position as a government in waiting.
Ms Reeves will address bosses at a private event sponsored by US banking giant JP Morgan, using her speech to accuse the Tories of presiding over ‘fourteen years of stagnant economic growth and political uncertainty’.
But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is under pressure over the launch of a party ‘campaign bible’ that fails to mention one of its most expensive proposals for government.
The 24-page blueprint for power fails to mention Labour’s commitment to invest £28billion annually into green projects for the rest of the decade.
The pledge has come under scrutiny in recent months, with the Tories regularly attacking the expenditure pledge, branding it unaffordable. Last year Ms Reeves said it would instead be a target to work towards in the second half of a first parliament, if Labour wins an election.
Writing the forward to the document, Sir Keir says that ‘front and centre of everything we do will be economic stability’ and that ‘every one of our commitments are fully costed and fully funded’. Party sources said he remained committed to the green spending plan.
Last night Tory Party chairman Richard Holden told the Mail: ‘Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour Party cannot say how they would fund their £28billion a year spending spree because they don’t have a plan to pay for it.’
Ms Reeves is attending the conference with Labour business spokesman Jonathan Reynolds but not Sir Keir. The Government is being represented by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron and investment minister Lord Johnson.
Ms Reeves is expected to say political turmoil ‘has left Britain weaker’ and, if elected, Labour ‘will restore Britain’s reputation as a place to do business – we will be a trusted partner with business in delivering the change our country and our economy needs’.
Shadow Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden wrote to all Labour election candidates on Tuesday to ‘gear them up for the next phase’ of preparations for the contest, party officials said.
In the document’s foreword, Sir Keir Starmer said it will be up to campaigners and MPs to convince traditional Conservative voters to back Labour.
‘With people losing faith in the Tories, the responsibility will fall to the Labour Party to show people how we have changed and what we now offer,’ said the party leader.
Andy Burnham, the Labour mayor for Greater Manchester, has urged Sir Keir to ‘stick to your guns’ on the green policy to invest in the future.
Sir Keir told the BBC on Sunday that he stands by the policy, but added numerous caveats, saying it is ‘subject to what the Government has already assigned’ for environmental projects and needs to be ‘within our fiscal rules’.
Pressed if the policy will be in the manifesto, he said: ‘In the way I’ve just described, then yes, of course.’
He has previously told the Tories to ‘bring it on’ if they want to ‘weaponise’ the pledge during an election that is expected in the second half of 2024.
But the lack of mention in the document for campaigners suggests Labour could look to limit the focus on the commitment ahead of polling day.
The briefing pack does mention the ambition to achieve clean power by 2030, saying that will be done through a number of measures, including getting the Hinckley and Sizewell nuclear projects ‘over the line’ and doubling the country’s onshore wind capacity.
Publication of the campaign aid comes after a major opinion poll, reported by the Daily Telegraph on Monday, predicted doom for Rishi Sunak, with the Tories on course for a 1997-style wipeout.
The YouGov survey of 14,000 people indicated that the Prime Minister’s party could hold on to as few as 169 seats, with Sir Keir entering Downing Street with 385 Labour seats.
Announcing the document’s release, Mr McFadden said: ‘While Tory MPs are jumping ship, many Tory voters are asking what the point of a Tory Party is if it can no longer run the economy or deliver on its promises.
‘Time after time, the Prime Minister’s pledges have failed and this isn’t just a pattern for this Prime Minister – it goes back over the Tories’ 14 years in power.’