UK Liberal Democrats enter election spending race with big pledges on climate

LONDON, Nov 14 (Reuters) – EMBARGOED 2230 GMT Britain’s anti-Brexit Liberal Democrats will promise on Friday to spend 100 billion pounds ($128 billion) on tackling climate change if they win a Dec. 12 election.

The Liberal Democrats trail Boris Johnson’s Conservatives and the opposition Labour Party in opinion polls and are expected to fall a long way short of winning the election outright.

But they could have an important role if neither the Conservatives nor Labour win a majority and have to find a partner in order to form a government.

Deputy leader Ed Davey will say in a speech on Friday that the 100 billion pound commitment would supplement a 50 billion pound dividend which the party says would result from cancelling Brexit. The 50 billion would be invested in public services.

Last week, Labour and the Conservatives both set out large increases in infrastructure spending – a sign that whoever wins the election, borrowing is likely to increase. Labour’s plans were the larger at 400 billion over 10 years. (Reporting by William James; editing by Stephen Addison)