Labour are accused of ‘helicopter hypocrisy’ for condemning how often the Tories took taxpayer- funded flights but hiding when Sir Keir Starmer and his team will.

The Government faces claims that it had signed a new VIP ‘copter contract’ that is more secretive and would make some flights more expensive than under the previous Tory government.

The row comes after Labour made repeated attacks on former PM Rishi Sunak for his use of RAF aircraft and helicopters, claiming it was a ‘grossly wasteful’ symbol of how the Tories were out of touch with the country at large.

And last summer, Sir Keir’s party made great play over how it was cancelling the old £40 million government helicopter contract.

But last night the Tories claimed that, far from cracking down on the flights, Labour had set up a new ‘on demand’ booking service that would be less transparent than the previous longstanding contract.

Based on parliamentary answers, they claimed that the new system – run from the Cabinet Office – would lead to less, not more, information on how often ministers travelled by helicopter.

They said that was because in future, there would be no central publication of helicopter costs, with individual departments responsible for paying for flights.

And using multiple contractors would likely be more expensive than the previous system of a unified contract with just one provider.

Labour are accused of ‘helicopter hypocrisy’ for condemning how often the Tories took taxpayer- funded flights but hiding when Sir Keir Starmer and his team will use them

The row comes after Labour made repeated attacks on former PM Rishi Sunak (pictured) for his use of RAF aircraft and helicopters

Before the election, Keir Starmer cancelled a £40million contract for what party sources branded his predecessor’s ‘grossly wasteful’ ‘VIP helicopter service’

Shadow Cabinet Minister Alex Burghart also said that the decision to require the Royal Household to have their own independent contract would push up costs as well.

Last night, he told The Mail on Sunday: ‘There are often legitimate reasons for the Prime Minister and the most senior officials to travel across the country at pace.

‘But Labour’s new contract is the worst of all worlds – hypocritical, secretive and more expensive.’