Backlash over Labour ad claiming PM doesn't think paedophiles should be jailed

07 April 2023 , 06:54

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The advert has sparked a huge backlash and calls for Labour to be 'better than this'

Labour has sparked a backlash over a "debased" advert suggesting Rishi Sunak doesn't think adults who sexually assault children should be locked up.

The advert, which was shared yesterday, shows a picture of the Prime Minister alongside the words: "Do you think adults convicted of sexually assaulting children should go to prison? Rishi Sunak doesn't."

It comes after Labour accused the Tories of allowing dangerous criminals to walk free, after it emerged 4,000 were given community sentences or suspended sentences after child sex abuse cases.

The ad sparked a furious response from inside and outside the party.

Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell fumed: "This is not the sort of politics a Labour Party, confident of its own values and preparing to govern, should be engaged in.

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"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."

Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell voiced his anger at the ad (Getty Images)

Shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell this morning declined to say she stood by the tweet.

Asked on BBC Breakfast if she stood by Labour's Twitter post, 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 again whether she stood by the message, she said: "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."

Senior Tory MP Tobias Ellwood branded the ad as "appalling" and claimed it threatened to undermine the democratic process.

He posted on Twitter : "We should be better than this. I've called it out on my own side for stooping low and do so again now."

SNP MP John Nicolson said: "This is absolutely nauseating. Politics cheapened and debased. The Labour Party wants to win, of course, but like this?"

And Scottish Labour MSP Monica Lennon wrote: "Survivors of childhood sexual abuse deserve better from the criminal justice system and from their elected representatives.

" This ad is ill-judged. Those of us who want a Labour government deserve campaign materials we can be proud to take into our communities."

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Former Tory leadership candidate Rory Stewart weighed in, writing: "I saw, as a Justice Minister, the horror and damage created in the criminal justice system by this kind of bile.

Former Conservative Cabinet member Rory Stewart said it was 'nasty politics' (PA)

" It’s bad policy and nasty politics. Labour can and must do much better than this."

But Labour stood firm following the backlash, with a spokesperson responding later on Thursday saying: "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."

By this morning the post had a "reader added context" box inserted beneath it - a tool which often appears under misleading tweets.

It says: "Tweet implies that the PM, Rishi Sunak, doesn't support prison sentences for sexual assaults against children. The current sentencing guidelines for this crime has a maximum sentence of 14 years imprisonment

"There is no Conservative Party policy that plans to remove this."

Nina Lloyd