Claire Coutinho was mocked in the Commons today after advising Labour not to use numbers “for which you have no basis” while in government.
The former net zero and energy security secretary, who now serves in the shadow cabinet, was trying to call Labour out over its supposed claim that each household would see its energy bills cut by £300 by 2030.
She claimed Labour had been advertising that number everywhere in their election campaign, but now they are in power, their ministers have barely mentioned it.
Coutinho said: “When you get into government, and you speak in the House, you cannot use numbers for which you have no basis.
“They will learn this. They will learn this.”
The top Tory seemed to forget that her own party was widely accused of dishonesty when in government.
The Conservatives failed repeatedly to live up to their own pledges, whether that was to build 40 hospitals or to reduce migration.
The party also drew a lot of heat during their recent election campaign for claiming a Labour government would mean a £2,000 tax rise for every working family in the country – a claim widely debunked, and based on multiple assumptions.
And when it comes to dishonesty in the House, former Conservative leader and ex-PM Boris Johnson was found to have deliberately misled his colleagues over partygate by the parliamentary privileges committee last year.
But back in the Commons, Coutinho ignored the laughter coming from all of the other parties.
She said: “But, madame deputy speaker, their voters – they laugh, but their voters won’t forget that they made them that promise.
“Their online clips and their social media accounts won’t go away. They all know that their leadership have sold them down the river on this one.”
“That’s not us being ‘evil Tories’ on this side of the house,” she claimed.
She even claimed the government’s GB Energy plan will “add huge costs to people’s bills”, pointing to worries from the GMB union about future blackouts over the switch to renewable energy.
While Labour did use talk about savings on energy bills, they promised to save households “up to £300” – although some top figures in the party did forget to say “up to” during their election campaigns.
