Still think you are a safe pair of hands, Sir Keir?
WITH his regular flip-flopping on policies, he’s used to scoring political own goals.
And Sir Keir Starmer’s real football skills left a lot to be desired as his north London Sunday league team Homerton Academicals were thrashed 14-8 yesterday.
The Arsenal- supporting Labour leader could be seen throwing his hands into the air after letting two balls slip past him as goalie.
It came as he yesterday defended his pledge to splurge £28 billion a year on ‘green’ initiatives but failed to say how he’d pay for it.
The Labour leader squirmed as he was repeatedly asked about the promise to decarbonise Britain’s electricity network by 2030.
The Tories argue that Labour would be unable to deliver the pledge without stoking inflation or hiking taxes.
Appearing on Sky News, Sir Keir said he wanted to pay for the initiative by growing the economy. But he couldn’t say how he’ll pay for it if Labour fails to grow it enough.
He said: ‘What matters is clean power by 2030, keeping to those targets. I’m not prepared to move that date. So people keep saying to me,
“Are you moving back on your goal?” No we’re not.’
He said investing £28 billion a year by 2030 could come from borrowing, but that this would be subject to ‘the fiscal rules’.
These ensure debt must fall as a percentage of GDP.
But he couldn’t explain just how it would be funded in the event the rules do not allow this. On the green cash pledge, Sir Keir added: ‘It’s a fight I want to have, if we can have a fight going into the election between an incoming Labour government that wants to invest in the future long-term strategy that will lower our bills and give us energy independence, versus stagnation, more of the same under this government.
‘If they want that fight on borrow to invest, I’m absolutely up for that.’
But Tory party chairman Richard Holden said last night: ‘This morning Sir Keir Starmer recommitted to his 2030 energy promise and acknowledged it requires government spending to deliver. Labour’s own costing of this promise is £28 billion every year.
‘Sir Keir Starmer was, again, not clear at all how he will pay for it given he also says he wants to keep debt falling – that can only mean thousands of pounds of higher taxes for every Briton.’
Labour’s 2030 zero-carbon electricity plan is a bid to bring down bills and reduce reliance on overseas fuels.
Sir Keir also told the BBC that he worries about the impact of his job on his wife Victoria and two children aged 13 and 15, saying he ‘desperately’ tries to protect them, calling it ‘the only thing that keeps me up at night’.