Labour’s Sunak attack ad backfires after Starmer sentencing revelation

A Labour attack on Rishi Sunak’s record of jailing child sex abusers has appeared to backfire as it emerged that Sir Keir Starmer helped decide sentencing guidelines for the crime.

Sir Keir, now the Labour leader, sat on the Sentencing Council in 2012 when it was agreed the crime should not get an automatic prison sentence, although a maximum of 14 years behind bars was set.

His involvement in setting the guidelines undermines the party’s attack on the Tories for being too soft on criminals convicted of child sexual abuse.

Sir Keir was the director of public prosecutions from 2008 to 2013 and became an MP in 2015. The sentencing guidelines adopted in 2012 remain to this day.

A Labour advert accusing Mr Sunak of not wanting to jail child sex offenders was posted online on Thursday, triggering a fierce backlash from a number of high-profile politicians.

On Friday, the party published a second crime advert online, similar in format to the first. The new advert criticised Mr Sunak over the crime statistics for people possessing guns going to prison.

The decision to double down suggests Labour sees advantages in forcing the focus onto the Conservatives’ record on crime, despite a backlash over the party’s tactics.

Next to an image of Mr Sunak, the advert posted on Thursday says: “Do you think adults convicted of sexually assaulting children should go to prison? Rishi Sunak doesn’t.”

It notes that, under the Tory government, 4,500 adults convicted of sexually assaulting children aged under 16 served no prison time.

The advert has been condemned as “dog whistle” and “gutter” politics, with criticism from both Tory and Labour figures since it was posted, but it remained online on Friday afternoon.

A Twitter explanatory note has been attached to the tweet with context, noting that the current sentencing guidelines for this crime have a maximum of 14 years imprisonment.

Lucy Powell, Labour’s shadow culture secretary, repeatedly distanced herself from the tweet, posted on the party’s official Twitter account during a TV interview round on Friday morning.

Asked on BBC Breakfast whether she stood by the post’s core claim, Ms Powell said: “What I stand by is what that graphic is trying to show, which is that the prime minister of our country is responsible for the criminal justice system of our country – and currently that criminal justice system is not working.”

Asked whether she stood by the message, she said: “I stand by what this tweet and this campaign is trying to highlight. The graphic itself, obviously, is a skit based on his own graphics that he [Mr Sunak] extensively uses. I can see it’s not to everybody’s taste and some people won’t like it.

“I didn’t design the graphic but I’m here to explain what lies beneath it, which is a very serious point about what is happening to our criminal justice system – which is pretty shocking.”

There were similar exchanges in an interview with GB News, when Ms Powell said: “It’s a digital campaigning graphic. I didn’t design it. I didn’t put it up there.”

Political backlash over the advert has continued to build. John McDonnell, the Labour MP and former shadow chancellor, said: “This is not the sort of politics a Labour Party confident of its own values and preparing to govern should be engaged in.

“I say to the people who have taken the decision to publish this ad, please withdraw it. We, the Labour Party, are better than this.”

Lee Anderson, the Tory deputy chairman, called it “vile and desperate”, while Rory Stewart, a former Tory justice minister, described it as “bile”, adding: “It’s bad policy and nasty politics.”

A Labour spokesman said: “The Government sets the statutory framework for sentencing. In March, Dominic Raab amended the rules to decrease maximum sentences in magistrates’ courts. But the current situation isn’t the Conservative’s fault and they can’t possibly do anything about it?

“The Tories have been in charge for 13 years, and their record is appalling. They broke the criminal justice system, left our prisons overcrowded, and our courts with the largest backlog on record. The result is a direction to judges to be lenient with custodial sentences.

“Every denial they issue on this is an insult to victims and their families.”