Labour has lost the art and ability to explain what it is doing, says Khan

Keir Starmer’s government has shown a lack of confidence around having the answers to the country’s problems, the mayor of London has said, as he called on the chancellor to back green investment in the upcoming budget.

- Daniel Boffey

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 that net zero policies are adding to the cost of living, Khan said, as he argued that the government should be true to its beliefs. “I can’t understand how we have lost the art and ability to explain to people what we're doing,” he said.

Khan, who is co-chairing the C40 World Mayors Summit with the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, added: “[The public] can smell somebody who’s inauthentic. 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... 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. And we showed this policy works, and so people who are originally offside then became onside.