Davos, Switzerland, January 19, 2010 (FBC) British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak criticized British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for not attending the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting as Keir Starmer, the leader of the British Labor Party, presented his green development plan in Davos on Thursday.
Starmer, whose left-wing opposition is riding high in polls ahead of elections in the next two years, told an audience at a Swiss resort that a future Labor government would be a “proactive government” ready to partner with business.
He said Britain, which is struggling with the cost of living, would benefit from a clean energy plan that would reduce fuel costs, create jobs and tackle the climate crisis, despite widespread strikes.
“There’s huge potential for this in terms of wind and offshore wind in the UK,” Starmer told the WEF panel.
Starmer said the Davos meeting was an opportunity to talk to CEOs and investors who could work with a future Labor government to push through the party’s Green Prosperity plan, which would include setting up a new vehicle called Great British Energy.
Sunak’s absence from the meeting was noted by some people he spoke to, a criticism leveled at his party colleague Rachel Reeves, who is likely to fill the role of finance minister in a future Labor government.
“Somebody has to be the British ambassador and the prime minister and chancellor are not here,” she told a separate audience, referring to the finance minister, Jeremy Hutt.
“We are here to send a message that at the next election … the British economy will be open for business again.”
Although Sunak did not attend the event, the British government sent Commerce Minister Kimi Badenoch and Business Minister Grant Shapps to Davos.
And former prime minister Boris Johnson also made an appearance, which he used to urge Britain’s allies to double down on sending military equipment to Ukraine.
Renewable energy
Labour’s economic credibility with financial institutions and markets has been popular with voters under Starmer’s more radical predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn, who has been wary of some of his policies in the past but failed to oust the ruling Conservative Party at the polls. .
The Leader of the Opposition said it was important to tell a clear story about stability and economic growth, adding that Britain had the right qualities for investment but needed to create the right conditions and conditions.
Starmer said Labor wanted to establish a new role for fossil fuel companies in the energy transition and there would be no new investment in oil and gas fields under a Labor government.
“The transition we talked about about oil and gas is needed. It’s clear that it will play a role in the transition, but not new investment, not new fields in the North Sea, because we have to go to the grid. We have to make sure that zero, renewable energy is where we’re going next,” he said.
Britain has held a new round of licensing in the North Sea under the Conservatives and has avoided joining international clubs that ban new oil and gas field development.
For daily Davos updates in your inbox, sign up for the Reuters Daily Brief here.
Reporting by Brenda Dawn; Writing by Mark John; Edited by Alexander Smith
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
