What goes around, comes around. In producing their latest attack ad, it seems Kemi Badenoch’s Conservative crowd has taken inspiration from their very own political opponents. Back in 2023, Sir Keir Starmer’s lefty lot conjured up a campaign poster in the run-up to that year’s local elections which showed then-Tory PM Rishi Sunak grinning cheerfully next to the words: ‘Do you think adults convicted of sexually assaulting children should go to prison? Rishi Sunak doesn’t.’ Ouch.
The image prompted widespread outrage, with former Tory MP Tobias Ellwood calling the attack ‘appalling’ while former Labour home secretary David Blunkett slammed it as ‘deeply offensive’. Despite the backlash, Starmer stood firm – insisting he supported its message ‘no matter how squeamish it might make some feel’, while Labour strategists vowed at the time to press on with similar hits over the campaign period. Well, now the tables have turned.
In their latest attack ad, the Tories have overlaid an image of a rather bemused looking Starmer with the words: ‘Do you think there should be an inquiry into rape gangs? Keir Starmer doesn’t.’ (For its part, No. 10 has said there is no need for a new probe because an independent inquiry has already been carried out in 2022 by Professor Alexis Jay – not that this has satisfied Labour’s political opponents.)
More text reads:
Not only are the Labour party blocking an inquiry but Keir Starmer thinks you are far-right if you want justice for the victims of rape gangs. Labour won’t stand up to dangerous child abusers.
Oo er. Starmer’s defence of the Sunak attack makes it rather difficult for the PM to now complain about the Tories’ latest tactics. Talk about being played at your own game, eh?
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