Keir Starmer’s government has shown a lack of confidence that it has the answers to the country’s problems, the mayor of London has said, as he called on the chancellor to back green investment in this month’s budget.
Speaking on the eve of a summit of world mayors in Rio de Janeiro, Sadiq Khan said the Treasury should be more supportive of the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, in his pursuit of the government’s target of an 81% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2035.
The public would reward the government for facing down those who claim net zero policies are adding to the cost of living, the London mayor said, as he argued that cabinet ministers should be true to their beliefs.
“I can’t understand how we’ve lost the art and ability to explain to people what we’re doing,” he added.
Khan, who is co-chairing the C40 World Mayors Summit with the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, said: “[The public] can smell somebody who’s inauthentic. And I think you should be authentic. People respect somebody if you’re authentic.
“There are people who voted for me in the last mayoral election who may not agree with Ulez but they respect the fact that I have got good intentions, but I also explained to them why we’re doing the ultra low emissions zone, the fact that in London we’ve got thousands of premature deaths.
“We’ve got children with stunted lungs forever, adults with a whole host of health issues, from asthma to cancer to heart disease to dementia. And we showed this policy works, and so people who are originally offside then became on side.
“It’s not about out-reforming Reform, or out-greening the Greens. It’s about understanding what our north star is and then delivering and being, you know, true to who we are.”
Khan, who won a historic third term as mayor last May, said that Starmer’s government was never going to turn the country around after just 15 months in power, but he suggested that there was a lack of clarity about its purpose.
“I said this privately, I’m saying it publicly: we don’t appear to have the confidence of showing the public that we’ve got the solution to the challenges they are facing,” he said. “And when people say ‘out-Reform Reform’ it is code for giving the impression of being something that we’re not really and people can smell that.”
Khan said the Treasury machine could be “behind the curve” and that the cabinet needed to be speaking as one over the green agenda.
He said: “It can’t just be the Ed Miliband show. I think the whole of the government’s going to be behind this in terms of turning our country into a leader in terms of tackling this issue.
“I think the Treasury should understand why this is important. You know why? Actually, we can get good growth from attacking the climate emergency.
“We can get good jobs from this. And that’s why I think the prime minister coming to [the Cop30 climate summit in Brazil] sends a message not just to the rest of the cabinet, but also to the private sector, to those across the globe that we take this seriously and don’t underestimate the global role we can play.”
Khan has been lobbying for investment to fund big Transport for London projects, including the proposed Docklands Light Railway extension to Thamesmead.
Asked whether Rachel Reeves, who will give her budget later this month, needed to do more to support Miliband, he said: “Well, I think that’s a whole government endeavour.
“I think what we’re going to see in the upcoming budget is support for green jobs. Now people think, what is a green job? A green job is somebody who, yes, is a great plumber, but also has got the skills to install heat pumps. A green job is somebody that is a great electrician, but also can support net zero.
“A green job is somebody that knows how to install triple-glazing insulation, help make electric buses. These are jobs that that should be supported.
“How? We’ve got a big issue in relation to the welfare bill. Why don’t we use the crisis caused by climate change to train people up for these green jobs in London?
“In London we are, by the way; we’ve got schools, boot camps, construction academies and so forth. But do it with one hand tied behind our back because there’s not enough investment going into this area.”
Khan said he hoped that Starmer’s appearance with Miliband at the Cop30 summit would be a turning point.
He said: “I’m hoping it leads to us having greater confidence to tackle this issue. That would mean, by the way, saying that we think President Trump is wrong.
“We think his speech at the United Nations was a disgrace, not just because he had a pop at me and London – because he called the climate emergency a scam, he said that coal is a wonderful thing. We shouldn’t be afraid to call him out that was, that’s just wrong. And it’s the opposite of the evidence that science provides.”
Asked whether Starmer had been too fawning to Donald Trump, who was recently given a historic second state visit to the UK, Khan said that the closest allies were frank with each other.
“It’s not for me to say whether the [Canadian prime minister] Mark Carney school of governance or the Keir Starmer school of governance is the right one,” Khan said, with reference to the Canadian government’s bullish approach to the White House.
“I can understand why it’s in the UK’s national interest to have good relations with the United States in terms of how we deal with Putin, in terms of tariffs, in terms of the Middle East, but I think there are some times when you’ve got a special relationship – and I compare a special relationship to a best mate – you should be honest and candid.
“Expectations should be higher from a best mate than they are from an ordinary acquaintance. And I think people need to decide themselves whether the Carney or Starmer approach is the better one. I know my view … the Sadiq Khan is the best one.”
