Sir Keir Starmer told to come clean on whether he lied over £28billion eco-pledge
SIR Keir Starmer has been told to come clean over whether he lied to Brits over his £28 billion green pledge bungle.
The Labour leader went on radio last Tuesday to declare the massive eco investment was “desperately needed”.
But just 24 hours news emerged that he was dumping the pledge, with a formal announcement made on Thursday.
It comes as Treasury analysis reveals an £8billion black hole in Labour’s green budget despite their U-turn.
Top Tory Bob Seely has written to Sir Keir demanding answers, declaring: “He owes us the truth.”
In the letter, seen by this newspaper, he wrote: “I am writing about your commitment to honesty with the British people and the astonishing number of U-turns you have committed since becoming leader of the Labour Party.
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“You have been careful recently not to pledge to keep Labour’s £28 billion green investment plan in Parliament, presumably because you knew the policy would be scrapped and you didn’t want to be caught misleading the House. This would put you at risk of being found in contempt.”
He added: “Were you being truthful with Times Radio?”
Speaking to The Sun on Sunday, he added: “Sir Keir Starmer has serious questions to answer.
“When did he decide to ditch the £28bn? Did he know on Tuesday when he told the public on live radio he was sticking to it? Was he fibbing to us?
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“This is a man who wants to lead our country - he owes us the truth.”
If an MP is found to have misled Parliament they can be found in contempt.
This is a serious charge which could pave the way for them to be suspended or expelled from parliament - although that is extremely rare.
Sir Keir said a new windfall tax on oil and gas companies would raise a whopping £10.8bn to bankroll his eco plans.
But No11 analysis suggests it would raise just £2.8bn and leave an £8bn black hole in their finances.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said Labour just “can’t get their sums to add up”.
But Labour hit back: “This is yet another nonsense costing.”
Labour has been plunged into crisis with its green U-turn.
Ed Miliband is understood to have been unhappy at the decision to tear up their flagship policy.
But he was overruled by Sir Keir and Labour’s ‘iron shadow chancellor’ Rachel Reeves.
'Like a cold turd'
The trio were having meetings “the whole week” to thrash out how to dump the pledge, sources said.
A Labour insider said: “We have known for some time that we needed to make this move”.
It was always expected to be dumped this week because it was deadline week for manifesto ideas.
Shadow cabinet ministers have been secretly chucking cold water over the £28bn pledge for many months.
But the move, when it finally came, sparked a furious backlash from members, trade unions who were not consulted, and some MPs.
One senior figure said the U-turn “landed like a cold turd”.
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A Labour MP said they have “no idea” what a Starmer government would look like.
A Labour spokesman said they would “take no lectures” from Mr Seely.