Jeff Smith, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Manchester Withington, has pledged his backing for Labour’s manifesto policies to tackle the climate crisis.

Bringing about a Green Industrial Revolution is at the heart of Labour’s plans for the country; the first time one of the UK’s two major parties has chosen to place so much importance on addressing climate change in their manifesto.

Rejecting the idea that climate action has to be a burden for industry, Labour have promised to work in partnership with workers and unions to lead transition in industries, creating new, good-quality jobs and making sure that new skills are passed on to the next generation of workers.

Labour have said they will upgrade almost all of the UK’s 27 million homes to the highest energy-efficiency standards, bringing down costs for households by an average of £417 per year by 2030.

The proposals also include plans for a ‘Green New Deal’ under which Labour will achieve the substantial majority of the UK’s emissions reductions by 2030.

The manifesto pledges a new clean air act to improve pollution levels, including a vehicle scrapping scheme, something Jeff has been calling for.

In addition, Labour have pledged an extra £5.6 billion for flood defences.

You can read the full manifesto here, with plans for the environment running from pages 11 to 25. A full costing document for Labour’s plans is available here.

Jeff said:

“There are many crucial issues at stake this election, but none more important than tackling the climate crisis before it is too late.

“While serving as Manchester Withington’s MP I was pleased to be part of the call for Parliament to declare a climate and environmental emergency and have consistently supported plans for ambitious action.

“We have got to act urgently at every level, whether it’s preventing local children growing up breathing in polluted air, or ending the international injustice of poor countries being hit by the impacts of climate change disproportionately caused by the rich. I’m pleased that Labour have plans to meet the scale of the challenge while creating jobs and opportunities across the whole of the UK.”