LABOUR are under pressure to retract and apologise after they used a "dishonest" edited down clip of Rishi Sunak using a hammer to attack the Tory leader.
A short video showing the Prime Minister using a hammer on its side quickly went viral on social media on Friday afternoon, with people mocking Sunak for his apparent inability to correctly use the simple tool.
Labour were among those to attack the top Tory. Referencing Keir Starmer’s father’s trade, the Labour party’s official account on Twitter/X wrote: “Rishi Sunak: not the son of a toolmaker.”
It shared the widely mocked clip of the Prime Minister using the hammer on its side, along with the caption: “Man who hammers working people can’t work a hammer.”
Rishi Sunak: not the son of a toolmaker pic.twitter.com/zFwCFTf6rU
— The Labour Party (@UKLabour) November 24, 2023
But journalists and other social media users pointed out that in the full ITV clip, Sunak had been explicitly told to use the hammer on its side.
Tory party chair Richard Holden hit out at Labour writing: “100%. He’s the son of a pharmacist and a GP.
“And if Labour listened to working people, rather than assuming they knew what was best from their inner-London ivory towers, then they wouldn’t keep making stupid mistakes like this tweet.”
The SNP’s John Nicolson also commented, writing: “Labour mocking Rishi Sunak for using the side of the hammer. Audio reveals he was told to use the side of the hammer by the instructor.
“There’s so much to attack him and the awful Tory Government for, that’s legitimate. But this just makes Labour look dishonest. Again.”
Labour mocking Rishi Sunak for using the side of the hammer. Audio reveals he was told to use the side of the hammer by the instructor. There’s so much to attack him and the awful Tory Government for that’s legitimate. But this just makes Labour look dishonest. Again. pic.twitter.com/iNJRyuhYMY
— JOHN NICOLSON M.P. (@MrJohnNicolson) November 24, 2023
Responding to Holden, the Labour press office account wrote: “URGENT CORRECTION: MAN WHO HAMMERS WORKING PEOPLE USES HAMMER AS INSTRUCTED.”
Holden replied: “You can do better than that @labourpress – your full caps ‘look’ feels like the emails your Corbynite membership send me.”
The Labour Party were asked if it plans to delete the attack on Sunak. Responding, they directed this paper to the all-caps social media post from their press office.
