Sir Keir Starmer: 'I stand by every word' says Labour leader on Rishi Sunak attack ad

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has doubled down on a controversial attack on Rishi Sunak's record on crime, saying "I stand by every word".

A Labour advert claimed Mr Sunak did not think adults convicted of child sex assaults should go to prison.

Writing in the Daily Mail, Sir Keir backed his party's position "no matter how squeamish it might make some feel".

In response, a Tory source accused Sir Keir of failing to prosecute some of the "worst people in Britain".

"[Sir Keir] thinks the rights of criminals trump those of the law-abiding majority," they added.

Shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry was asked on BBC Radio 4's Today programme whether Labour could criticise the fact some adults convicted of child sexual abuse had not gone to prison, as Sir Keir had sat on the Sentencing Council in 2012 when the relevant guidelines were produced.

Ms Thornberry said she "wasn't in the meeting" when the guidelines were set and did not know if Sir Keir had objected at the time, but insisted that Labour's default position was that anyone convicted of such crimes should go to prison.

"I don't know the details of what the exact guidance is in relation to the Sentencing Council, but it is open to Parliament to set minimum and maximum sentences," she said.

Sentencing guidelines for courts in England and Wales allow for community sentences as an alternative to prison in cases of sexual activity with a child over 13. The guidelines say community orders "can fulfil all of the purposes of sentencing".

Ms Thornberry also defended the advert, saying the government needed to address issues within the criminal justice system such as the backlog in courts hampering convictions and prison overcrowding.

The advert has attracted cross-party criticism, and comes amid reports Labour will publish further attack adverts this week on other issues as part of the build-up to local elections in England, which will take place on 4 May.

The Times says the attack ads will blame the prime minister "personally" for "crashing the economy and for soaring mortgage and council tax rates".

On Monday Labour published another attack advert on Twitter, criticising Mr Sunak for raising taxes on working people when his family benefitted from "a tax loophole".

The ad makes reference to Labour's pledge to scrap non-dom tax status, which allows people to avoid paying UK tax on earnings from outside the country.

Last year it emerged that Mr Sunak's wife had non-dom status, although she later said should would start paying UK tax on her overseas income.

Other adverts already published as part of the series have focused on theft and gun crime, also featuring the image and signature of Mr Sunak.

In his Daily Mail piece, Sir Keir blames the government for a number of failures on crime, highlighting low prosecution rates for rape and burglary.

Highlighting his former role as the director of public prosecutions in England and Wales between 2008 to 2013 - the person who leads the Crown Prosecution Service and one of the country's leading legal officials - Sir Keir writes his life's work has "been about making our country safer and more secure".

He said he would make "zero apologies" for "being blunt and that when 4,500 abusers aren't sent to prison, people want answers rather than excuses from politicians".

Labour told the BBC that the statistic featured in the original advert - "4,500 adults convicted or sexually assaulting children under 16 who served no prison time" - came from Ministry of Justice statistics for England and Wales from 2010 to 2022.

Those figures are accurate for adults who were convicted but received a community sentence or a suspended sentence, rather than being sent to prison.

The figure covers both sexual assault of a child and sexual activity with a child - Labour's advert says the figure relates to sexual assault only, although its press release mentions both categories.

Labour sources said the party will now be turning its attention this week to the cost of living - though Mr Sunak himself will remain in their firing line.

The advert about jailing those who sexually assault children has drawn criticism by politicians from all major parties - and caused an internal row within Labour.

It was reported at the weekend by the Observer that shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, was not told about it ahead of its release.

Lord Blunkett, who served as home secretary under Tony Blair, said it was "deeply offensive to get down in the gutter to fight politics in this way" and called for the advert to be withdrawn.

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said it was "wrong" to attack individuals personally, "particularly when it's over subjects which are so sensitive and so important to the British people".

Judges and magistrates, rather than the prime minister of the day, are responsible for handing out sentences.

The figures Labour highlighted cover the period since 2010, five years before Mr Sunak entered Parliament. He did not become prime minister until October last year.

Sir Keir was director of public prosecutions from 2008 to 2013, meaning the figures also cover three of the years he was in the post.