Oh, Labour. We thought we knew you. We thought, after 14 years of relentless Tory destruction, that you might at least be marginally better. That you would pick up the broken pieces of our environment, cradle them with some level of care, and whisper sweet nothings about sustainability and a green future. Instead, you’ve taken a sledgehammer to what remains, all in the name of the insatiable god of GDP.
It was bad enough watching Liz Truss crash the economy while dismissing environmentalists as an “anti-growth coalition,” but Keir Starmer? He’s taken her playbook, laminated it, and added his own annotations. Those objecting to Heathrow’s expansion? “Time-wasting nimbys.” People who challenge Labour’s self-destructive obsession with economic growth at all costs? “Zealots.” We’re not just fighting for the environment now; we’re fighting against a government that actively mocks us for doing so.
The Hypocrisy Olympics: Keir Starmer’s Gold Medal Performance
Do you remember, back in the hazy days of 2020, when Starmer was railing against Heathrow’s third runway? When he solemnly declared that “there is no more important challenge than the climate emergency”? Adorable. Fast forward to 2025, and he’s singing a very different tune—one that sounds suspiciously like an airport tannoy announcement.
It’s not just Heathrow. Labour’s environmental betrayal extends to a laundry list of disasters. They’ve pledged to bulldoze ahead with airport expansions at Gatwick, Luton, and Doncaster Sheffield. Because nothing says “climate leadership” quite like a plan to increase aviation emissions in the middle of a climate crisis.
Rachel Reeves, Starmer’s chancellor and apparent devotee of the 1980s neoliberal cult of infinite growth, insists that economic expansion “trumps other things.” The choice of words is unfortunate, but the message is clear: climate action is a footnote, an inconvenience, a problem to be brushed aside in pursuit of the great god GDP.
The Party of Growth… But at What Cost?
Fine. Let’s play along. Let’s pretend, for a moment, that economic growth is the only metric that matters. Even on those terms, Labour’s policies make no sense.
Expanding Heathrow might—might—add a tiny bump to GDP in 20 years. But by then, if climate warnings hold true, we’ll be looking at economic collapse. The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries recently warned that climate breakdown could shrink the global economy by 50% between 2070 and 2090. That’s not a blip. That’s not a recession. That’s an implosion.
And yet, when people point this out, when they dare to suggest that maybe prioritising short-term airport expansion over long-term planetary survival is a bad idea, they are dismissed as self-righteous virtue-signallers.
The Death of Our Rivers? Labour’s Just Fine with That
Let’s talk about our rivers. You know, those lovely, shimmering bodies of water that have been turned into open sewers by years of deregulation, corporate greed, and governmental indifference? Under Labour, the destruction continues.
Chicken factories—giant industrial sheds packed with tens of thousands of birds—are killing the River Wye, dumping vast amounts of nitrates and phosphates into the water, choking out wildlife, and poisoning local communities. Instead of stopping the madness, Labour’s Environment Secretary Steve Reed is making it easier to get planning permission for more of these monstrosities. Because when faced with a choice between clean water and corporate profits, Labour knows exactly where it stands.
And it’s not just chicken factories. Labour’s general approach to environmental regulation appears to be “burn it all down and call it progress.” Agencies like the Environment Agency, Natural England, and the Health and Safety Executive—already hollowed-out shells after years of Tory underfunding—are now being actively pressured to prioritise economic growth over their actual job: protecting people and nature.
The Great Climate Bill Betrayal
For a brief, shining moment, there was hope. A climate and nature bill was put forward to bring the UK’s policies in line with its international commitments. It would have forced Labour to walk the talk, to back up its vague environmental platitudes with real, binding action.
So what did they do? They ordered their MPs to talk the bill out of time—a parliamentary dirty trick so blatant it would make even the Tories blush. MPs who dared to support it were threatened with having the whip withdrawn.
And just like that, Labour’s commitment to climate action was exposed for what it truly is: a PR stunt, a marketing exercise, a hollow, meaningless facade.
Is This What You Voted For?
It’s been six months. Six months of watching Starmer’s government dismantle environmental protections, insult climate activists, and prioritise the demands of lobbyists over the survival of the planet.
The excuse from some corners is that Labour is simply being pragmatic. That they need to prove their economic credentials before they can get around to the whole “saving the world” thing. But that’s nonsense. Because the economic argument for climate action is stronger than ever—and the government’s refusal to acknowledge that reality isn’t pragmatism. It’s cowardice.
What we’re witnessing isn’t just a failure of leadership. It’s a betrayal. Labour has taken the votes of people who wanted change, who wanted something better, and used them to double down on the very policies that brought us to the brink of disaster.
So the question remains: did you vote for this? Because if you did, Labour is making damn sure you regret it.
