Ed Miliband said he is “not anticipating” cuts to GB Energy ahead of the chancellor announcing the biggest spending squeeze on Whitehall in years.
The energy secretary told Sky News Breakfast with Anna Jones that his department got the largest funding settlement in the October budget because Rachel Reeves knows clean power “is the root to grow our economy”.
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He also accused Tory leader Kemi Badenoch of starting a “culture war on climate” with her recent claim that reaching net zero by 2050 is “impossible” without a decline in living standards.
“She’s completely wrong and I think she’s way out of step with the British people,” said Mr Miliband.
“I don’t think the British people want a culture war on climate, which I think is what she wants.”
Ms Badenoch’s comment creates a big dividing line with Labour, who made setting up a state-owned clean energy company, GB Energy, a flagship promise in their manifesto.
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It has been promised £8.3bn of capital over this parliament, with the money to be invested in clean power projects that the government hopes will bring household energy bills down by £300 annually by 2030.
Only £125m was allocated for the project in the October budget for 2025-26 and there has been speculation that the overall funding promised could be cut as Ms Reeves needs to balance the books in her spring statement on Wednesday.
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But Mr Miliband told Sky News: “I’m certainly not anticipating cuts in Great British Energy. We made a manifesto commitment of around £8.3bn investment in GB Energy. The plan is to stick to that.”
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He said clean energy was important for economic growth and security – highlighting GB Energy’s first project to put rooftop solar panels on around 200 schools and 200 NHS sites.
Announced by the government on Friday morning, it is hoped this will save schools up to £25,000 per year and NHS sites up to £45,000 per year.
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Any climbdown on GB Energy would risk causing another row within Labour on climate. While in opposition last year, Sir Keir Starmer ditched a flagship pledge to invest £28bn a year into clean projects, blaming the Tories for “crashing the economy”.
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At the time, the party insisted its commitment to becoming a clean superpower by 2030 remained unchanged, and that is one of their main pledges in the 2024 manifesto.
However Ms Reeves is under pressure as new figures reveal the budget deficit she was looking to make up in her spring statement is even higher than expected, and the UK is set for a major downgrade in growth forecasts.
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Ms Reeves is not expected to make tax changes in the spring statement, with a large package of spending cuts on the cards instead.
Despite Labour’s pledge not to return to austerity, this could amount to the biggest spending squeeze on Whitehall in years, putting it on a collision course with its backbenchers.
There has already been a backlash over the £5bn cut to the welfare bill, with ministers forced to deny they are now a “centre-right government” and “turning into the Tories”.
