Labour is going to be more radical than you think it is
iandunt.substack.com
Underneath all the trembling half-arsed conservatism, there's something genuinely exciting about the Labour policy agenda

Petrified fucking terror. That’s the first thing you think when you look at Labour. A barely-concealed, buttoned-up, can’t-sleep-at-night anxiety, lurking just behind the eyes. They’re scared they’ll fluff it. They’re scared that in the white heat of the election campaign, the Tories will find some policy in their manifesto to weaponise against them and the whole thing will come crashing down.

  • frankPodmoreEnglish
    4·
    9 months ago

    I found this bit striking:

    The ultimate plan is to fully decarbonise the grid by 2030. The previous target was 2035 and most people in the sector thought it would be very challenging. 2030 is close to impossible. It suggests that Labour is going to put the country on a war footing.

    So, even with what many people, me included, think is an overly cautious programme, Labour are promising something that… might be physically impossible.

    Really good point here, though [emphasis mine]:

    Similarly, tearing up the planning system is free. If you are heavily constrained in one area but have set yourself a requirement to achieve a very ambitious target in another, you are likely to opt for the options still available to you. Increased prices at subsidised auctions, on the other hand, cost money. But they fall within the fiscal rule, which allows borrowing to invest.

    It’s why spending isn’t everything. Labour always get hammered for suggesting spending money, so they need to be radical elsewhere. This sounds promising.