Labour is facing backlash from within its own party ranks over a social media advert stating Prime Minister Rishi Sunak does not believe child sex abusers should be jailed.
The post pitches Labour as “the party of law and order” alongside the words: “Do you think adults convicted of sexually assaulting children should go to prison? Rishi Sunak doesn’t.”
Politicians—including Labour MPs Diane Abbott and John McDonnell—have slammed the post, which appears to have received mostly negative feedback on social media.
On Friday, shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell refused to endorse her party’s ad, but did state that it was part of the “cut and thrust” of political debate which sought to highlight the Tories’ record on law and order.
Judges and magistrates, rather than the prime minister, are responsible for handing out sentences.
The figures Labour highlighted cover the period since 2010. Sunak only entered Parliament in 2015 and did not become prime minister until October last year.
Labour was accused of a “vile and desperate” campaign strategy by Tory Deputy Chairman Lee Anderson and “cheapened and debased” politics by SNP MP John Nicolson after posting the advert on Twitter.
Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell urged his party to climb down, saying: “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.”
Describing the post as “horrible,” former shadow home secretary Diane Abbot wrote: “Sunak is responsible for lots of things.
“But sentencing is the responsibility of the judiciary.
“You would think a former DPP [Director of Public Prosecutions] would know that.”
Twitter Warning
Appearing on “BBC Breakfast” on Friday, Powell suggested her party’s post was a “skit” based on Sunak’s own promotional material.Asked if she stood by the post, she 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 again whether she stood by the message, Powell replied, “I stand by what this tweet and this campaign is trying to highlight.”
She added, “The graphic itself, obviously, is a skit based on his own graphics that he extensively uses.”
In response to McDonnell’s criticism, Powell said that she could see the advert was “not to everybody’s taste.”
“Clearly, John McDonnell is one of those,” she added.
“But that is the cut and thrust nature of politics.
“I didn’t design the graphic, it’s not my graphic.”
Asked if the Twitter post should be removed, Powell later told Times Radio, “I don’t think it should be deleted.”
The post, which highlights Labour analysis of Ministry of Justice data, said: “Under the Tories, 4,500 adults convicted of sexually assaulting children under-16 served no prison time. Labour will lock up dangerous child abusers.”
Twitter has since added a “context” label to the political party’s post, which is used when a post “may contain disputed or misleading information.”
It states that the current sentencing guidelines for “this crime” have a maximum sentence of 14 years.
Crime-Fighting Policies
In a statement on Thursday evening defending the post, a Labour spokesperson said the Conservatives “have left dangerous convicted criminals free to roam the streets.”“Labour is the party of law and order, and we will implement tougher sentences for dangerous criminals,” the spokesperson added.
The Epoch Times has contacted 10 Downing Street for comment.
Both main parties have put crime-fighting plans at the heart of their campaigns to snap up votes on May 4.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer repeated his promise to halve levels of violence against women and girls as he met with charities supporting victims in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, earlier on Thursday.
At a meeting in Greater Manchester with police and other agencies involved in tackling grooming gang abuse, Sunak said “cultural sensitivity and political correctness” had previously stopped abusers being brought to justice.
The prime minister stopped short of repeating Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s comments made in a series of media interviews over the weekend surrounding British Pakistani men.
Braverman pointed to a “predominance of certain ethnic groups—and I say British Pakistani males—who hold cultural values totally at odds with British values, who see women in a demeaned and illegitimate way and pursue an outdated and frankly heinous approach in terms of the way they behave.”
Her language was criticised by some campaigners, with the NSPCC emphasising that just considering race could create new “blind spots.”
Asked on Monday if the focus on British–Asian grooming gangs was appropriate, Sunak said that “all forms of child sexual exploitation carried out by whomever are horrific.”
He then referred to several independent inquiries that looked at grooming gang abuse in Rochdale, Rotherham, and Telford.
