At one point it was suggested that Labour MPs who voted for the bill would lose the whip, but a deal was struck late on Thursday and the bill’s Lib Dem and Labour sponsors agreed there would be no vote.
Ministers have seen off a bill that would have made the UK’s climate and environment targets legally binding, after promising Labour backbenchers that they would have input into environmental legislation.
These included making a statement on government progress towards international climate and nature targets within six months, a consultation with the bill’s supporters about forthcoming environmental legislation, and more meetings between Miliband and MPs who are concerned about the climate crisis.
There is consternation among some in the Labour party about the chancellor Rachel Reeves’s recent comments that she would prioritise economic growth over net zero, with one Labour MP saying during the debate that “there is no growth on a dead planet”.
A Labour source said the bill as it stood would have forced the government to renegotiate its international climate change agreements.
