Jacob Rees-Mogg has praised Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer for “wisely” delaying the green jobs initiative. 

Writing in a column for the Daily Express, the Conservative politician said Sir Keir was “making some worryingly clever moves” in the run-up to the general election next year. 

His comments followed a Labour backlash against Mayor of London Sadiq Khan for compromising what many leftists had seen as a sure-fire victory in the by-election for Boris Johnson’s old seat Uxbridge and South Ruislip. 

Danny Beales, Labour’s defeated candidate in Uxbridge, blamed his defeat to the Conservatives on a “single policy”,  namely Mr Khan’s decision to extend the ultra-low emissions zone (ULEZ) to the outer areas of London, including Mr Johnon’s former constituency. 

In further signs of prioritising electability over green goals, Sir Keir said on Saturday (July 22) that he had spoken to Mr Khan and called for reflection on “how” the expansion plans were being carried out.

READ MORE Chris Packham says Labour should ‘stick to their guns’ on ULEZ debate

Mr Rees-Mogg wrote: “Sir Keir Starmer is not a fool and is making some worryingly clever moves to give himself electoral credibility and appeal beyond Islington.

“The cancellation of the £28billion green fandango is wise. It is not affordable and moving away from the fanatical green agenda is prudent.

“Similarly, keeping the two-child limit for parents on benefits helps keep spending under control but also appeals to taxpayers, who feel that the benefits system is unfair to them.”

He concluded his brief paragraph on the Labour leader saying that Sir Keir was “taking the barnacles off the boat”. 

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In June, Labour scaled back its plans to borrow £28billion a year to invest in green jobs and industry as the party’s leadership looked to review its spending in an attempt to prove its fiscal credibility.

Ms Reeves announced that their borrowing scheme would no longer begin in the first year of a Labour Government but would “ramp up” by the middle of their stint. 

She said the decision had to be taken as a result of the poor economic backdrop and rising interest rates, after Liz Truss’s short premiership crashed the markets last autumn.

“No plan can be built that is not a rock of economic and fiscal responsibility … I will never play fast and loose with the public finances,” she said. 

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And in further evidence that Labour are cognisant of a need not to strong-arm their green policies at the expense of electability, Sir Keir said he had called upon Mr Khan to reassess how he rolls out the ULEZ. 

Labour saw success in Thursday’s three by-elections, overturning a huge 20,000 Conservative majority in Selby and Ainsty.

The swing of almost 24 percentage points was the second largest produced by Labour at a by-election since 1945 and ranks on a scale similar to those seen under Sir Tony Blair’s leadership ahead of his 1997 landslide victory.

But its failure to overturn a 7,000 majority in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, Mr Johnson’s former seat, has seen Labour publicly question Mr Khan’s proposals to extend ULEZ to all London boroughs.

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