Activists call for ‘no more U-turns’ as they confront Starmer on green pledge

Climate activists interrupted an education speech by Sir Keir Starmer to attack Labour for backtracking on its £28billion green plan. Two young people standing behind the party leader during his address in Gillingham, Kent, yesterday pulled out a banner and accused him of watering down his climate ambitions. ‘No more U-turns – green new deal now,’ said the activists from the Green New Deal Rising group. They urged him not to scale down plans to borrow £28billion a year to invest in green jobs and industry. Sir Keir asked them to ‘let me finish’ and said he would speak to them after his speech. The pair were led away by security. Fatima Ibrahim, co-director of the campaign, said: ‘If you’re going to use young people as props you should be interested to hear what they have to say.’ Student environmental protesters interrupt Starmer’s speech (Image: Getty) Labour last month scaled back a flagship pledge to invest £28billion a year in a green energy transition. It said that it would increase spending rather than hit the sum in its first year in government. Meanwhile, Sir Keir criticised Just Stop Oil campaigners for their ‘huge arrogance’ in ‘interfering with other people’s lives’ with tactics such as gluing themselves to pavements or disrupting ‘iconic events’. They ‘need to just stop’, he said. ‘When I put what they’re doing against what we set out in our mission about clean energy, about net zero, you can see the difference between…protest and power,’ he added. His speech focused on the last of Labour’s five missions for if it wins power – a pledge to ‘break down barriers to opportunity’. Sir Keir set out measures including teaching speaking skills, boosting vocational training and more teachers in shortage subjects. He said decisions over gender-neutral school toilets and whether to tell parents if their child questions their gender identity would be ‘subject to guidance’. He declined to commit to a 6.5 percent pay rise for teachers until the pay review body reports.