Keir Starmer has broken his silence on Labour's controversial attacks on Rishi Sunak following a massive backlash, saying he makes "zero apologies" despite making supporters "squeamish".
The party has been accused of gutter politics after a series of adverts were shared on Twitter, starting with one claiming the PM doesn't think paedophiles should be locked up.
It's made many within the party uncomfortable, with MPs publicly criticising the campaign and shadow cabinet members distancing themselves.
But Mr Starmer defended the attacks, saying he stands "by every word" Labour has said.
Three adverts published so far claim that Mr Sunak doesn't believe paedophiles, people who possess a gun with intent and thieves should go unpunished.
They claim that Labour would take a tougher stance on crime, but the singling out of the Prime Minister - who has only been in post for six months and in Parliament since 2015 - has upset many.
Writing in The Daily Mail, Mr Starmer said: "I make absolutely zero apologies for being blunt about this.
"I stand by every word Labour has said on the subject, no matter how squeamish it might make some feel.
"When 4,500 child abusers avoid prison, people don’t want more excuses from politicians – they want answers."
In the piece he claims the Tories "have let criminals get away with it because they don’t get it", and said communities have suffered because the Government is "soft on crime".
Critics have not held back in recent days.
David Blunkett, former Home Secretary under Tony Blair wrote in The Daily Mail: "First of all, it’s deeply offensive to get down in the gutter to fight politics in this way.
"And second, once you resort to personal abuse, you create the risk that Britain’s public discourse will degenerate even further – to the levels that we have seen recently in the US.
"When baseless allegations and spurious slurs replace fair and robust political debate, not only is the standing of our leaders undermined, the very foundations of our democracy are compromised."
And Diane Abbott, former shadow Home Secretary, wrote on Twitter: "Legitimate questions are one thing. But claiming Rishi Sunak is personally responsible for the sentencing decisions of individual judges is nonsense."
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Following the publication of the first ad, claiming Mr Sunak doesn't think those who sexually abuse children should be locked up, 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.
"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."
By Friday 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."
The Observer reported that shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper was not consulted about the ads, with an insider stating: "My understanding is that there was a big row about before it came out involving the leader’s office and the communications team.
"And so there should have been: if you are going to put out this sort of divisive material it needed to be widely debated."
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."
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.
"It’s bad policy and nasty politics. Labour can and must do much better than this."
