Sir Keir Starmer has insisted he “knew nothing” about the trials of sub-postmasters when he was England’s chief prosecutor.
It comes as a former cabinet minister has called for an investigation into his role as Director of Public Prosecutions in the scandal.
The row over the worst miscarriage of justice in modern history threatened to overshadow the Labour leader’s launch of his new Mission Tour which began this week with a trip.
Every other week Sir Keir will be travelling to a different part of the country as he gears up for the election.
But questions are being asked about why as Director of Public Prosecutions he did not intervene over the prosecutions of sub-postmasters mostly carried out by the Post Office.
Some of the prosecutions were also done by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), when Sir Keir was in charge.
Asked if he was aware of the prosecutions, Sir Keir said: “No, I wasn’t aware of any of them. I think it was a small number within a 20-year window. That’s all I know. I don’t even know how many [the CPS] were involved in. I think CPS is helping.”
Former Brexit minister David Jones intervened in the Commons yesterday to ask whether the 11 prosecutions, including three under Sir Keir’s leadership. by the Crown Prosecution Service of postmasters, would be included in a new Bill to exonerate them all.
He also requested that the Ministry of Justice carry out “an investigation into the CPS decision-making”.
Mr Jones told Express.co.uk: “For part of that period Starmer was in charge and we need to know how involved he was in the decisions to prosecute because as DPP he should have been.”
It came on a day when it was revealed Labour Hull East MP Karl Turner had suggested as a defence lawyer for one sub-postmistress that she plead guilty even though she knew she was innocent.
Mr Turner has said that at the time he was giving advice as a defence lawyer trying to get a reduced sentence.
Sir Keir also used his briefing to insist that he is “not pushing for a nanny state” as he launches a new plan to make Britain’s children the healthiest they have been in history.
He promised that the plan would make Britain’s children “taller” and “happier” claiming that malnutrition is causing a reduction in the average height.
The plan also proposes helping children clean their teeth at school although Sir Keir insisted that it was first and foremost a parental responsibility.
The height of the average British five-year old girl has fallen by 27 places in international rankings over the last three decades, with the average British five-year-old boy has fallen by 33 places on the height league table.
Labour also claims British children today are smaller than Haitian children, fatter than the French, and less happy than the Turks.
The plan will involve banning junk food advertising before 9pm on TV and introducing breakfast clubs for all primary schools.
Labour claim they can get an extra 700,000 dental appointments for children.
Sir Keir said: “Healthy, happy children is not a nice to have, it’s a basic right, with economic urgency. We want the next generation to be chasing their dreams, not a dentist appointment. They should be aspiring to reach their potential, not reach a doctor.”
