Keir Starmer is heading for a collision with Labour’s trade union backers after ruling out the re-nationalisation of public utilities.
The Labour leader said his plans for economic partnerships between the state, private sector and workers would form a “modern industrial strategy” focused on growth.
But Labour's growth plan flew into immediate criticism from the TUC when shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves formally ditched Corbyn-era commitments to the nationalisation of energy supplies and rail services.
The trade union organisation stated: “We are now calling for public ownership of energy companies. The energy cap is expected to increase to £3,200, up over 150% in just a year."
"Public ownership would reduce bills, peed up energy efficiency improvements to homes and cut carbon emissions faster.”
The statement added: “Taking the Big Five energy retail firms into public ownership would cost just £2.85 billion. Since June 2021, the UK government has spent £2.7 billion bailing out 28 energy companies that collapsed.
"It’s time to lift the burden of failed privatisation off families.”
The Scottish Greens piled in with Ross Greer MSP demanding that Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar confirm if his party now proposed privatising Scottish Water and ScotRail, which are already in public ownership.
Greer said: “Water, energy, railways, and telecommunications are basic public services that should be operated in the public interest. Running these essential services in the public sector ensures that profits can be reinvested in improving services, not funnelled away to line the pockets of company shareholders.”
Speaking after delivering a major speech on Labour’s plans for economic growth, Starmer said he took a “pragmatic” approach on public ownership of rail, energy and water companies, insisting his focus was on economic growth rather than ideology.
He told reporters in Liverpool: “ I agree with what Rachel Reeves said this morning. The mission of the next Labour government will be growth”.
But he added: "Rail is probably different from the others because so much of our rail is already in public ownership.
"That is what I mean about not being ideological about it."
Starmer vowed a Labour government would be “financially responsible” as he attacked the “Conservative competition to waste more of your money”.
In a speech in Liverpool, the Labour leader said: “The risk of rising inflation could not be clearer so we will not announce a single penny of day-to-day spending without saying how we would pay for it.
“We will only borrow to invest to meet the challenges of the future, that’s what our Climate Investment Pledge is all about. And we will set a target to reduce debt as an overall share of our economy, that’s the responsible thing to do.
“And the contrast with the Conservative competition to waste more of your money could not be starker.'
He added: “With me, with Rachel Reeves, you will always get sound finances, careful spending, strong, secure and fair growth."
“There will be no magic money tree economics with us.”
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