SIR KEIR STARMER must think again on dropping Labour’s £28 billion so-called green new deal, Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney said today.

Citing the “terrible damage done to the economy” by the Tory government, Sir Keir dropped Labour’s flagship proposals in February.

He instead opted for the establishment of GB Energy as an “investment vehicle” for clean energy rather than as a generator, and a much slimmed-down commitment £8.3bn in green investment over the lifetime of the next parliament.

Calling for Labour to readopt the plan, the SNP leader, whose government has missed nine of its own 13 climate targets, said: “I am making a genuine and direct appeal to Sir Keir Starmer to think again and commit again to £28bn of investment to achieve green growth and reach net zero.

“We believe that anything that falls below that level of ambition and investment will fail to meet the scale of this challenge and fail to grasp the opportunity of the emerging green economy.

“It is bigger than any political party, bigger than any one nation and it will remain the biggest issue facing every generation on this planet for decades, if not centuries to come.”