Sir Keir Starmer is the “wettest Labour leader” on crime in history, a Tory minister has claimed. Chris Philp said Sir Keir’s record on crime is “absolutely appalling”. The policing minister added that his record is worse than his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn, who the Conservatives also described as “soft on crime”.
Mr Philp said: “When you look at how Keir Starmer has behaved and how his Labour party has voted in parliament that’s why I say he’s the wettest Labour leader on crime we’ve seen.”
His comments came a week after the Labour party sparked a controversy with a series of attack adverts targeting Rishi Sunak’s record on crime.
One ad claimed Mr Sunak does not think child sex abusers should go to prison, while another poster said he believes adults convicted of possessing a gun with intent to harm should also avoid jail. Labour also shared a graphic claiming the PM does not believe thieves should be punished.
And in a poster this week the party took aim at Mr Sunak’s wife after The Independent revealed she avoided tax by claiming non-dom status. The ad said: “Do you think it’s right to raise taxes for working people when your family benefitted from a tax loophole? Rishi Sunak does.”
Mr Philp said attacks on politicians’ spouses were “a sign of desperation”. The Labour leader has denied attacking Mr Sunak’s wife and said he will “make no apologies” for the controversial campaign.
Labour accused Mr Philp of being “the minister that crashed the economy” for his tenure as chief secretary to the treasury during last September’s disastrous mini-Budget. A party spokesperson said: “On Rishi Sunak’s watch, over 90 per cent of crimes are going unsolved. Criminals are getting away scot-free, and over a million victims every year are being let down.
“The Tories are all bluster. Labour has made it our mission to make Britain’s streets safe, starting with getting 13,000 more neighbourhood police & PCSOs on the beat – funded through reforming police procurement.
“Labour is the true party of law and order."
In an interview with ConservativeHome, Mr Sunak refused to say whether the Tories would retaliate with personalised attacks on the Labour leader.
Asked about the controversial Labour attack ad on child sex abuse and whether his party would respond in the general election campaign, Mr Sunak said he was “focused on delivering our priorities” and was “proud of our record” on crime.
Pressed again whether he would attack the Labour leader’s record as head of the Crown Prosecution Service, the PM said: “People have pointed out his [Sir Keir] record on these things.”
Mr Sunak added: “We passed a new law to toughen up sentencing. They did not support our sentencing bill which toughened up sentencing for violent offenders.”
Labour said it opposed the government’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill because it “completely failed” to tackle violence against women and girls.
While the bill increased the maximum prison penalty from 12 months to two years for anyone who assaults an emergency worker, it was mainly focusing on giving the police the power to tackle disruptive protests.
Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, Labour’s previous shadow home secretary, said at the time that the legislation “pushes through higher sentences for damaging a statue than the minimum sentence for rape”.
