Starmer risks chop from voters for being such a green meanie

The Labour leader is treading a dangerous eco path with his ‘love trees, hate tree huggers’ mantra, writes Katie Edwards. It could prove decisive at the ballot box

This looks less like articulation and a lot more like self-sabotage (PA Wire)

You might be forgiven for thinking Keir Starmer’s latest clanger was a joke. How else to explain the leader of the Labour party apparently proclaiming publicly that he “hates tree huggers”?

His alleged outburst followed a presentation from climate and net zero spokesman Ed Miliband, who is said to have told his colleagues of the “hope and change” his policies would bring, receiving only a lukewarm reception from Starmer.

At which point Starmer is said to have “exploded”, according to an onlooker. The source told The Sunday Times: “He said he was not interested in tree huggers, before adding to everyone’s surprise, ‘In fact, I hate tree huggers’.”