Sir Keir Starmer has doubled down on a controversial attack on Rishi Sunak’s record on crime, saying “I stand by every word”. A Labour advert claimed the PM did not think adults convicted of sex assaults on children should go to prison. The Labour leader said he is backing his party’s position “no matter how squeamish it might make some feel”. In response, a Tory source accused Sir Keir of failing to prosecute some of the “worst people in Britain”.
“[Sir Keir] thinks the rights of criminals trump those of the law-abiding majority,” they added. It comes amid reports Labour will publish further attack adverts this week on other issues as part of the build up to local elections in England, which will take place on 4 May. The Times says the attack ads will blame the prime minister “personally” for “crashing the economy and for soaring mortgage and council tax rates”. Other adverts already published as part of the series have focused on theft and gun crime, also featuring the image and signature of Rishi Sunak.
Writing in the Daily Mail, Sir Keir blames the government for a number of failures on crime, highlighting low prosecution rates for rape and burglary. He writes other issues the government has not dealt with include the court backlog, fraud against older people, and fly-tipping – which has turned “neighbourhoods into junkyards”.
“Rishi Sunak and successive Tory governments have let criminals get away with it because they don’t get it,” he writes. “They have never lived in those neighbourhoods, they don’t understand people’s lives, they have never walked in those shoes.” Highlighting his former role as the director of public prosecutions (DPP) in England and Wales – the person who leads the Crown Prosecution Service and one of the country’s leading legal officials, a role he held from 2008 to 2013 – Sir Keir writes his life’s work has “been about making our country safer and more secure”.
He said he would make “zero apologies” for “being blunt and that when 4,500 abusers aren’t sent to prison, people want answers rather than excuses from politicians”. The party is keen to turn Sir Keir’s time as director of public prosecutions into an asset, but the Conservatives are determined to make it a liability. A Tory source accused Sir Keir of failing to prosecute some of the “worst people in Britain” and indicated that they were just getting started on scrutinizing his record while DPP.
Labour sources said the party will now be turning its attention this week to the cost of living – though Mr Sunak himself will remain in their firing line. The advert about jailing those who sexually assault children has drawn criticism by politicians from all major parties – and caused an internal row within Labour. It was reported at the weekend by the Observer that shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, was not told about it ahead of its release.
Lord David Blunkett, who served as home secretary under Tony Blair and has sat in the House of Lords since 2015, said it was “deeply offensive to get down in the gutter to fight politics in this way”. Calling for the advert to be withdrawn, he said it was “grotesque and offensive”, and it was “absurd” to argue that the prime minister should “take personal responsibility for the sentencing policies of judges”.
Lib Dem MP Munira Wilson said: “I was pretty disgusted by it when I saw it last night. This is not an attack ad my party would use.” Scottish National Party MP John Nicolson said the post was “nauseating” and that it “cheapened and debased” politics. Judges and magistrates, rather than the prime minister of the day, are responsible for handing out sentences.
The figures Labour highlighted cover the period since 2010, five years before Mr. Sunak entered Parliament. He did not become prime minister until October last year. Sir Keir was DPP from 2008 to 2013, meaning the figures also cover three of the years he was in the post.
