Keir Starmer addressed the backlash he has been facing over his recent holiday, pointing out that he does also have a family.
The Labour leader, who was criticised for not coming forward with a proposed plan for the cost of living crisis last week when forecasts suggested the average energy bill will rise to a staggering £3,582 per year.
Presenting his new plan on Monday, Starmer explained that his party plans to call for the energy cap to be frozen at its current level of £1,971.
But, he was soon pressed over why former prime minister Gordon Brown and MoneySavingExpert’s Martin Lewis seemed to be at the forefront of the opposition last week, while Starmer was on holiday.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, he began: ”I think it was the beginning of July I said to my team I want a fully costed, comprehensive plan, and I want to see if it’s possible for us to freeze energy prices.
“We’ve been working on that for six or seven weeks.”
Starmer continued: “I’ve got a very important job as leader of the Labour Party, as leader of the opposition, but I’ve also got another job that’s very important – I’m a dad.
“And I’m not going to apologise for going on holiday with my wife and kids.
“It’s the first time we’ve had a real holiday in about three years.
“I’ve been working on this for the best part of two months, including actually when I was on holiday.
“But as I say, I’m also a dad. And I’m not going to apologise for going on holiday with my wife and kids.”
He also pointed out that in September last year, he had argued in favour of insulating homes to cut energy costs. In January, Labour also proposed the windfall tax, which the government later imposed, along with VAT cuts for energy bills.
“And now, we’ve come up with a comprehensive package, so for 12 months, we’ve been talking about energy bills.
“I don’t think anyone can say Labour has been doing anything other than leading on this and putting ideas on the table.”
The Labour leader also claimed the government “eventually” catches up with his party’s ideas and does what they have been proposing.
“It’s taken you until the middle of August to come up with a plan,” BBC Breakfast’s Sally Nugent pointed out.
Starmer replied: ”Well, we wanted to make sure we had the forecast for the figures which are actually going to come in in October, the credible forecasts were – I think – Tuesday last week.”
He claimed that he would have been questioned over the costs of plans if he had not already prepared them.