LABOUR frontbencher Emily Thornberry has defended a party attack advert which claims Rishi Sunak does not think child sex abusers should go to prison.
Although the shadow attorney general acknowledged there has been a lot of criticism, she said the critics are “wrong”.
This comes after The National told how a Labour MSP called for the party to be big enough to “apologise”.
The first post was followed up by a second claiming the Prime Minister is soft on gun laws.
Labour have declinded they will delite either advert.
13 years of Tory failure has broken our justice system. Victims wait months if not years for justice, while dangerous criminals avoid prison. Labour will prevent crime, punish criminals, and protect communities. pic.twitter.com/gSBv5oyO0Q
— The Labour Party (@UKLabour) April 7, 2023
Both have drawn criticism from across the political spectrum. Thornberry told BBC Radio 4’s Any Questions: “I heard a lot of people criticising it, and a lot of people who I like and respect criticising it and saying they felt very uncomfortable about it. Some people said they thought it was racist.
“I have to say, I think they’re wrong. I just disagree with that. I think the truth is we do need to have a debate in this country, and Rishi Sunak is the Prime Minister and he is responsible for a broken justice system.”
Asked if she genuinely thinks Sunak held these views, Thornberry responded: “If he believes that everyone responsible for child abuse should get a custodial sentence, why are so many not getting a custodial sentence?
“He is the Prime Minister and that is a legitimate question for the Opposition to ask.”
Tory MP Laura Trott hit out at the “desperate stunt” as she questioned Keir Starmer’s “integrity”, calling him a “political opportunist who’s just not fit to lead the country”.
Liberal Democrat MP Munira Wilson said she was “pretty disgusted” by the campaign, saying: “This is not an attack ad my party would use.”
The under-fire Twitter post highlights Labour analysis of Ministry of Justice data and says that under the Tories “4500 adults convicted of sexually assaulting children under-16 served no prison time”.
The figures Labour highlighted cover the period since 2010, five years before Sunak entered Parliament.
Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell has urged his party to climb down, saying: “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.”
