David Lammy said the prime minister is not called out for his lying often enough during an interview on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday.
The shadow justice secretary was responding to criticism Labour leader Keir Starmer has received for flip-flopping between policies.
ITV’s Good Morning Britain host Susanna Reid pointed out: “When Boris Johnson reneges on things that he has promised, he’s called a liar.
“When Keir Starmer reneges on things that he has promised, that’s simply being flexible.”
She asked: ”Can we trust Keir Starmer?”
Lammy replied: “I don’t think we call Boris Johnson a liar enough!
“He made all sorts of promises to the British people and they’re now unravelling, that’s why we have shortages across the country.”
Johnson has infamously changed his mind on many national policies during his time in office, from his pledge to save Christmas last year, to his refusal to impose a two-week circuit breaker last October – only to then introduce a nationwide lockdown for the entire of November.
Starmer has been accused of changing his mind on matters including the introduction of a £15 minimum wage, having supported it in 2019 before backtracking this year.
Starmer has also been criticised for breaking his promise to put companies into “common ownership” in the debate over energy nationalisation.
Directed to discuss the public’s concerns surrounding Starmer, Lammy added: “Let’s be clear about Keir – Keir has been absolutely clear, this is not about ideology.
“If the British people are saying to us yes, we’d like to see the railways nationalised.
“If they’re saying to us there’s a problem with energy, then we’re responsive to that.
“We’re not just going to say we want common ownership for the sake of it.”
Reid then pressed Lammy on whether Starmer does actually see common ownership as a “value he holds dear”.
Lammy said: “Of course it’s a value – but that doesn’t mean you want a wholesale re-nationalisation of every single industry in the country, because you’ve got to be responsive to what we could afford for starters!”
