Starmer called ‘hypocrite’ over £25k private jet to Cop28

SIR KEIR STARMER has been branded a “hypocrite” after it emerged he took a £25,000 private jet while at a climate summit in the Middle East.

The Labour leader used a plane provided by the government of oil rich Qatar to fly to and from the Cop28 summit in Dubai last month.

He was whisked from the conference to neighbouring Doha for talks with the country’s leader, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Sir Keir has repeatedly attacked Rishi Sunak over his use of private planes and helicopters, including at this week’s Prime Minister’s Questions.

He controversially said Mr Sunak “doesn’t get” how many Britons feel because “the view on the ground is very different to that from his private jet”.

The Labour leader made a similar jibe last June when he told the MPs: “I’m sure from the vantage point of his helicopter, everything might look fine”.

Lee Anderson, the Tory deputy chairman, said: “Starmer is a hypocrite. He is winging it and taking the British public for a ride. Whether it’s his £28 billion spending spree or countless U-turns, he is stuck in a holding pattern of hypocrisy.”

Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, has also attacked the Tories over their use of private jets and said Labour ministers would fly commercial.

Last year she pledged to show more “respect” for taxpayers’ money by stopping “ministers going around on private jets rather than on normal flights”.

Sir Keir had also previously promised to boycott Qatar over its human rights record, insisting that he would not visit the Middle Eastern nation.