Five pledges Labour has already backtracked on

Labour’s U-turn on its flagship green investment plan is the latest in a string of broken promises from Sir Keir Starmer.

It will undermine confidence in the Opposition leader’s commitment to his principles as he seeks to capitalise on Tory turbulence and transform a double digit lead in the polls into success at the next election.

Here The Telegraph takes a look at some of the pledges Labour has thrown on the scrapheap.

Green investment

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has today ditched Labour’s flagship plan to spend £28 billion a year on new green jobs and technology, claiming the party can no longer commit to the figure because of economic uncertainty.

She said a Labour government would instead look to “ramp up” green investment every year with the aim of eventually hitting the promised sum.

Ms Reeves sought to blame the about-turn on the Tories and last October’s mini-Budget as she said she “didn’t foresee what the Conservatives would do to our economy”.

Tuition fees

Sir Keir Starmer confirmed last month he was set to U-turn on his pledge to abolish university tuition fees.

The Labour leader made 10 commitments when he stood to replace Jeremy Corbyn in early 2020.

His second pledge, titled “social justice”, contained plans to “support the abolition of tuition fees and invest in lifelong learning”.

But he admitted in May he was “likely to move on from that commitment”, arguing it was now unaffordable because of the economic situation.

Free movement

Sir Keir said when he ran for the Labour leadership that he would “defend free movement” as Britain left the EU.

But he confirmed he had abandoned this pledge last year, telling the Mail on Sunday: “A Swiss deal simply wouldn’t work for Britain. Freedom of movement is a red line for me.

“It was part of the deal of being in the EU but since we left I’ve been clear it won’t come back under my government.”

He added: “Ripping up the Brexit deal would lead to years more wrangling and arguing when we should be facing the future.

“Let’s get on with what the country wants - face the future, seize the opportunities Britain has and make Brexit work.”

Renationalisation

Ms Reeves confirmed last year that Labour had ditched its commitment to renationalisation.

She said the Corbyn-era pledge to bring rail, mail, energy and water back into public ownership - endorsed by Sir Keir during his own leadership campaign - was now unaffordable.

Confusion then reigned as a party spokesman contradicted the shadow chancellor, insisting there was a “positive role for rail in public ownership”.

But asked what he thought, Sir Keir said he agreed with Ms Reeves.

“Whether it comes to rail or anything else, I want to be pragmatic about this rather than ideological,” he said.

“Having come through the pandemic it’s very important we have very, very clear priorities. That’s why we have set out fiscal rules.”

The shadow chancellor went on to suggest in March this year that there is a role for nationalisation in the rail network.

“I think with trains it’s a different point, because as those contracts come up for renewal I think the Government have got every right to bring those into national control given the mess that some of our train operators have made of our transport infrastructure,” she said.

“But we would not be looking to nationalise a whole swathe of industries.”

Income tax

Sir Keir has suggested he will row back on his promise to increase income tax for the highest earners.

When he ran to replace Mr Corbyn, his first commitment was for “economic justice”, which would involve raising the levy for the top 5pc.

But he said last summer that all 10 of his old promises had been formally scrapped, along with the pledges in the party’s disastrous 2019 manifesto.

He told the BBC: “A lot has happened in the last two years. We’ve been through Covid, we have debt on a scale we’ve not seen for a long, long time, if ever before.

“We have to go into the next election making choices, where we have to say we will do X because we can afford it but we might not be able to do Y and to be open and transparent about it.”

Asked if that meant his 10 leadership pledges were now dead in the water, he replied: “Yes. The financial situation has changed, the debt situation has changed.”

Pressed last month on why he did not want to increase income tax for the top 5 pc of earners, he said: “We have the highest tax burden since the Second World War. What we have had from the Government is tax rise upon tax rise upon tax rise.

“If they have proved one thing it is that their high tax, low growth economy doesn’t work.”