Labour to take aim at Sunak’s leadership on cost of living crisis

theguardian.com:

Keir Starmer will shift his aim this week on to Rishi Sunak’s role in presiding over the cost of living crisis after days of anger over Labour’s crime campaign.

The party will continue to single out the prime minister in the minds of voters, claiming “his fingerprints are all over their struggling household budgets”, as part of an attempt to hold Sunak – still seen by some as a change of the Tory old guard – personally accountable for 13 years of Conservative failures.

In a letter to his shadow cabinet, seen by the Guardian, Starmer wrote: “Rishi Sunak is the chief architect of choices prioritising the wealthiest and of the government’s failure to get a grip of the economy and get growth going.”

Labour insiders have indicated there are no plans to row back on their personal attacks against the prime minister, with the local elections campaign seen as an opportunity for a practice run of the tough general election battle ahead.

The party’s first digital attack advert of the campaign, published last week, used a picture of Sunak alongside text suggesting he “does not believe adults convicted of sexually assaulting children should go to prison” and pointed to the Tory record on offenders avoiding jail.

Judges and magistrates, rather than the prime minister of the day, are responsible for handing out sentences. The advert, which Labour claimed was a parody of Sunak’s own frequent social media ads, drew unease among some Labour MPs and campaigners who said it demonstrated “dog-whistle” politics and had “racist undertones”.

Yet senior Labour sources said the party should adopt a mindset of “no longer being afraid to be on the front foot when it comes to campaigning on the important issues”, insisting there was no room for