ED Miliband has been slammed for “astounding hypocrisy” after his department splurged more than £40,000 on UK flights in Labour’s first six months.

The Energy and Net Zero Secretary spent more on domestic travel than his Tory predecessor – despite urging Brits to fly less while in opposition.

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New figures show his department racked up a £43,644 bill for internal flights between July and December last year - eclipsing the £40,279 spent under the Conservatives in the first half of 2024.

Shadow Energy Secretary Andrew Bowie raged: “The hypocrisy from ‘eco zealot’ Ed Miliband and his Labour chums is astounding.

“In opposition, Miliband was all too happy to lecture the rest of us — but now in government, it’s one rule for him and another for everyone else.

"Worse still, he’s forcing the country to suffer under his sanctimonious eco agenda.”

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A spokesman for the energy department defended ministers and officials using domestic flights, saying: “Ministers and civil servants are required to travel for government business, and while most journeys are by train, flights are sometimes necessary to ensure ministerial and officials’ time is used as efficiently as possible.”

Last year, Keir Starmer was accused of U-turning on his flagship green energy pledge.

At a speech in Buckinghamshire's Pinewood Studios, the PM declared he wanted to put the UK on track "to at least 95 per cent clean power" by 2030.

But in Labour's manifesto, Sir Keir was definitive that his party would enforce a zero-carbon power system in six years' time.

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The PM denied any watering down or policy change,
insisting "the clean energy pledge is today exactly what it was in the
election; that has always been central to our mission".