Labour in major Brexit U-turn as Angela Rayner ditches plan to back scrapping EU rules

She said "housebuilders should not be asked to cover for [the Government's] abject failure" on the environment.

But Nandy's replacement, Angela Rayner is now changing Labour Policy, with the party preparing to vote against the amendment to abolish nutrient neutrality in the House of Lords tomorrow.

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has hit out at Labour for "attempting to end the dream of homeownership for thousands of families and young people with his political game-playing" over the issue.

He said in a statement: "Today Labour claimed to be the party of homeownership yet tomorrow they plan to vote against new laws that would unlock 100,000 new homes and enhance the environment."

Whereas Sir Keir Starmer had said only months ago that "When it comes to new housing, Labour will choose the builders not the blockers", now Gove has turned Starmer's phrase around on him, decrying "Labour are the party of the blockers not the builders."

However, this isn't the first time planning reform has been attempted.

Liz Truss tried to push through major reform by announcing investment zones which were then scrapped.

Similarly, Boris Johnson tried it with his Planning For the Future white paper, which was withdrawn after significant cross-party opposition following the Chesham and Amersham by-election. The Labour Party opposed that reform as a "developer's charter".

David Cameron's attempt to reform the planning system was defeated too, with Nick Boles' reforms being watered down and withering away over the course of the coalition Government.

When asked how he will deliver his housing growth plan, Starmer has previously replied by citing his agenda for planning reform, declaring he will "bulldoze through planning laws" to get more houses built.

However Former Housing Secretary Simon Clarke believes the U-turn suggests Starmer can’t commit to making "difficult decisions".

He told GB News: "This (sadly, and frustratingly) makes an utter mockery of Keir Starmer’s commitments if he backs off at the first difficult decision."

ANALYSIS by TOM HARWOOD

This apparent U-turn from Labour highlights two important elements of the party's strategy.

First, that following on from the leftwards shift announced by Angela Rayner at the TUC Congress today, the new Shadow Housing Secretary is more comfortable with restrictive rules and regulations than her predecessor.

Just as the Labour Party has committed to putting more rules on companies to expand union activity, Rayner appears determined to maintain EU rules that block new homes being built.

And secondly, this reveals how precarious Keir Starmer's 'growth mission' really is.

The Labour Leader has said that the way he will pay for new commitments is through growth growth growth rather than new taxes, in what some commentators have described as a 'Trussian' growth agenda.

When asked how he will deliver this growth plan, Starmer always replies citing his agenda for planning reform, declaring he will "bulldoze through planning laws" to get more houses built and grow the economy.

Yet today it seems that the Labour Leader may not be as bold as he has claimed.

This could be taken as a sign that Labour will commit to pro-growth policy in the abstract, but when it comes to the detail, when it comes to the crunch, they will duck the tough decisions.

Perhaps today the Labour Party is learning that planning reform is far more difficult to achieve than it first appears, and that the groups that oppose it hold much sway and power across the country.

If Keir Starmer can't stand up for housebuilding by removing the European Court's 2018 reinterpretation of the 1992 EU Habitats Directive from the UK rulebook, it's hard to see how he will succeed in reforming planning when three Prime Ministers before him failed.