Labour attack ad about Rishi Sunak's views on sex offenders as bad as Boris Johnson's Jimmy Saville slur about Keir Starmer – Scotsman comment

In January last year, when the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson, under attack from Keir Starmer over Partygate, accused the Labour leader of “failing to prosecute Jimmy Saville”, it backfired badly.

While Starmer was the director of public prosecutions when police investigated Saville – later revealed, after his death, as one of the UK’s worst-ever paedophiles – he played no part in the decision not to prosecute. Johnson was widely and rightly condemned for a disgraceful attempt to deflect criticism.

Little over a year later, Labour has claimed that Rishi Sunak – who publicly criticised Johnson’s remark, saying that he “wouldn’t have said it”, despite being in the Cabinet at the time – does not think adults convicted of sexually assaulting children should go to prison in a social media attack ad. This is simply untrue.

The ad said that “under the Tories, 4,500 adults convicted of sexually assaulting children under 16 served no prison time”. If accurate, that is a serious issue. But to suggest this is what Sunak, Prime Minister for six months, actually wants to happen is a gross and unwarranted slur, every bit as bad as Johnson’s.

It has also backfired. Instead of talking about the real issue, shadow Culture Secretary Lucy Powell found herself under pressure over the advert’s claim. She avoided saying whether she stood by it, instead commenting that “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”. But Labour MP John McDonnell urged a rethink, saying “this is not the sort of politics a Labour party, confident of its own values and preparing to govern, should be engaged in”.

Ahead of the 1997 general election, Labour managed to appear more competent, statesmanlike and high-minded than the struggling Conservatives. They may be ahead in the polls now, but their confidence before the 1992 defeat should serve as a warning. Elections are a time when a party’s failings can be brutally exposed for all to see. Resorting to dirty tactics like this is deeply disappointing and a sign that Labour has a considerable amount of work to do to demonstrate they are truly ready and fit to govern.