'Misjudged Sunak assault should serve as a reminder to refocus on Labour values'

09 April 2023 , 22:02

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Screaming Tories chuck enough similarly indefensible, nasty rocks at Labour

Labour is right to go in hard on crime against the failing, inept and distrusted Conservatives.

Yet the party is stupid to roll in the gutter, abandoning ­principles to fight dirty.

If the General Election becomes a mud wrestle, the no-holds-barred Tories will be the ones cheering.

The revolting Labour advert asserting that Rishi Sunak doesn’t think adults convicted of sexually assaulting children should go to prison was a mistake.

Screaming Tories chuck enough similarly indefensible, nasty rocks at Labour so they can drop the confected outrage.

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Conservatives regularly lie filthily about Labour and its leader Keir Starmer on everything from crime and migration to the economy, while Jeremy Corbyn was a victim of vile terrorism smears.

But I bet Starmer, who justifiably complained when Boris Johnson falsely accused him of failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile when Director of Public Prosecutions, doesn’t relish answering detailed questions about Labour’s charge against Sunak.

The fact that nobody is taking direct responsibility for the attack is telling in itself.

We’re told Starmer was unaware, as was Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper. What I do know from numerous conversations is that many of Starmer’s biggest fans are appalled.

Many on Parliament’s front and back benches are despondent, as the party is knocking on the door of Downing Street after recovering spectacularly from 2019’s drubbing.

MPs in and out of Starmer’s circle worry about strategy, fret there is no clear vision and are terrified that Labour is up primarily because the Conservatives are down.

Harold Wilson, Starmer’s favourite Labour former Prime Minister, said the party was a crusade or it was nothing.

The misjudged Sunak assault should serve as a moment to refocus on Labour values.

Play hard, win fair and avoid scoring own goals.

Or many Labour MPs fear those big poll leads could dwindle to nothing.

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Peace remains fragile

Tony Blair and Irish PM Bertie Ahern announcing the landmark Good Friday Agreemen (Press Association)

Northern Ireland has come a long way since I stood during a hail storm – hungry, thirsty, dirty, cold and knackered after covering the long days and nights of tense negotiations at Stormont – to report on Tony Blair and Irish PM Bertie Ahern announcing the landmark Good Friday Agreement.

Yet it also remains a prisoner of division and sectarianism.

Dissident republicans are threatening to unleash violence, and the DUP, who 25 years ago opposed the peace deal itself, continue to block power-sharing to avoid an elected Sinn Fein First Minister.

Joe Biden’s visit lacks the huge significance of Bill Clinton’s, when the then-US President campaigned alongside Blair in a confirmatory referendum.

But it is nevertheless important, a reminder that the world is involved, as it is over Brexit arrangements.

The hand of history on Blair’s shoulder pushed the whole of Ireland two steps forward. The challenge now is to stop the North’s six counties taking one step back.

30p Lee

Tory MP Lee Anderson (Andy Stenning/Daily Express)

I’ve yet to agree with Lee Anderson.

So the crackpot Tory tweeting that he agreed with me for the first time – after my criticism of that controversial Labour crime advert – is an Easter cross I’ll bear with the usual bravery.

You can agree with me again, Lee, if you accept you’re a stinking hypocrite for lecturing the poor to eat 30p meals then taking £100,000 on the side for a TV show, after advising MPs who couldn’t live on Westminster’s £84,000 salary to jog on.

Kevin Maguire