Labour Party – latest: Starmer defends Sunak ad attack as leader faces backlash from own MPs
Opposition leader makes ‘absolutely zero apologies for being blunt’
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Sir Keir Starmer has defended Labour’s controversial adverts attacking Rishi Sunak over the party’s stance on child sexual assaults.
The Labour leader said he will “make absolutely zero apologies for being blunt” following ads that claim the prime minister does not think child sex abusers should go to prison.
Mr Starmer said he would continue to criticise the Conservative’s record on crime “no matter how squeamish it might make some feel,” in an article published for the Daily Mail.
It comes as Labour MPs told The Independent they had personally complained to their leader about the Twitter ads – warning him that it will damage the party’s standing in “blue wall” seats in the south of England.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper distanced herself from the Twitter graphic on child sex abusers – with her team making clear she was not consulted about the ad devised by Labour strategists.
Starmer’s team remains unrepentant, however – and is preparing to go further by accusing Mr Sunak of effectively “decriminalising” rape in a new online ad in the coming days.
India ‘stops talks on UK trade deal’ after attacks on its embassy in London – report
India has reportedly halted trade negotiations with Britain in response to a perceived lack of action from Rishi Sunak’s government following protests at India’s embassy in London last month.
The Indian government was said to have “disengaged” from talks on a post-Brexit free trade agreement, which are at an advanced stage, until the British government issues a public condemnation of the Sikh separatist movement whose members vandalised the High Commission of India on Aldwych.
An unnamed UK government source was quoted by The Times as saying India “[have] said they don’t want to speak about trade, they don’t want to do trade negotiations because they think it’s part of a wider problem of us not taking the attack against the Indian high commission and the wider Sikh separatist movement seriously”.
India ‘stops talks on UK trade deal’ after attacks on its embassy in London – report
Report claims India is refusing to re-engage in talks until Rishi Sunak’s government condemns a Sikh separatist movement
Labour shadow minister left floundered after tense exchange over attack ads
A Labour shadow minister was left floundering after being challenged over Sir Keir Starmer’s controversial attack on Rishi Sunak over child sex abusers.
In tense exchanges on BBC Radio 4 Today shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry was told Mr Starmer had been a member of the body that set the existing rules that say not all such offenders should be locked up.
Pressed three times to say if Mr Starmer had objected when the decision was made she said she didn’t know.
Interviewer Justin Webb pointed out that former director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Starmer, was a member of the “sentencing council” that set the guidelines in 2012 that he is now attacking Mr Sunak for.
After repeatedly trying to avoid answering Ms Thornberry said: “I wasn’t at the meeting and I don’t know what you are talking about.”
Labour shadow minister left floundered after tense exchange over attack ads
Emily Thornberry was pressed three times on Sir Keir Starmer’s record in the Crown Prosecution Service
Voters want more compassionate politicians, survey finds as Labour attack ad draws criticism
The majority of voters believe political leaders do not display enough compassion, research has suggested as Labour comes under criticism for its attack advert on Rishi Sunak.
Some 57 per cent believe leading politicians should show more compassion, compared with 9 per cent who say they are already too compassionate, according to a survey.
It comes as Sir Keir Starmer defied calls to withdraw Labour’s campaign accusing the prime minister of not thinking child sex abusers should go to prison.
Labour voters are far more likely to think political leaders in Britain do not show sufficient compassion, according to the research commissioned by the Global Compassion Coalition.
The YouGov survey had 83 per cent of them responding that there was too little compassion, compared with 37 per cent of Conservative voters at the last general election.
Voters want more compassionate politicians, survey suggests amid Labour ad row
There has been unease on the Labour frontbench about the attacks on Rishi Sunak over the Conservative Government’s track record on crime.
We’re pausing our live coverage of the backlash over Labour’s attack ads but keep checking independent.co.uk for the latest updates.
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