Rishi Sunak has called for “less talk, more action” from politicians as he hit back at Labour’s controversial attack adverts against him.
The Prime Minister on Wednesday said he was “focused on delivering for the British people” when asked about the opposition party’s widely criticised claim that he did not want child sex abusers to be jailed.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer continued to defend the campaign despite accusations of “gutter politics” from some senior figures in his own party.
Behind these adverts is a basic truth - that they have broken our criminal justice system, broken our NHS, and broken our economy— Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer
The Labour leader said “nobody is targeting the Prime Minister’s wife”, after the latest ad focused on the non-dom tax status previously held by Mr Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty.
The biggest outcry was sparked by the first ad in the campaign, which featured a photo of the Prime Minister alongside the words: “Do you think adults convicted of sexually assaulting children should go to prison? Rishi Sunak doesn’t.”
The Twitter post highlighted analysis of official data and said that, under the Tories, “4,500 adults convicted of sexually assaulting children under-16 served no prison time”.
Asked about the claim during a visit to Northern Ireland, Mr Sunak told broadcasters: “I said at the beginning of this year I was focused on delivering for the British people.
“There were five things I said I wanted to do, which was to halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce debt, cut waiting lists and stop the boats.
“And that’s what I’m focused on, day in, day out, delivering for people.
“And I think that’s what the British people want to see from their politicians: less talk, more action, making a difference on the things that matter.”
Earlier, Sir Keir defied critics by arguing the campaign was “highlighting the failures” of the Tory Government.
The most recent ad, posted on Tuesday, said: “Do you think it’s right to raise taxes for working people when your family benefitted from a tax loophole? Rishi Sunak does.”
It said the Conservatives “have raised taxes 24 times since 2019” while refusing to “close the non-dom tax loophole” for foreign residents in the UK.
Ms Murty was revealed last year to hold the special tax status, reportedly saving her millions, but has since said she will pay UK taxes on all her worldwide income.
During a visit to Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, the Labour leader said: “I make no apologies for highlighting the failures of this Government.
“They’ve broken our NHS, they’ve broken our economy. And this argument that because they’ve changed prime minister five times, that somehow the Prime Minister doesn’t bear responsibility for 13 years of grief for many, many people, I just don’t think stacks up.”
Pressed on the latest post, he said: “Nobody is targeting the Prime Minister’s wife.
“Behind these adverts is a basic truth – that they have broken our criminal justice system, broken our NHS, and broken our economy.”
