Rishi Sunak hits back at Labour attack adverts

Rishi Sunak has hit back at Labour attack ads accusing him of not wanting child sex abusers to be jailed.

Asked about the controversial claim, the PM said politicians should offer "less talk, more action".

Labour's decision to target Mr Sunak personally on social media has upset some in the party.

But leader Sir Keir Starmer is so far unrepentant, saying: "I make no apologies for highlighting the failures of this government".

Labour's most recent social media ad focuses on the tax affairs of Mr Sunak's family, which came under the spotlight last year when the PM's wife was revealed to have had non-dom status.

Sir Keir insisted "nobody is attacking the prime minister's wife".

Liberal Democrat Leader Sir Ed Davey said parties "should not have personal attacks on other politicians".

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The row about Labour's campaign strategy ahead of the local elections on 4 May was triggered by an ad the party released last week which claimed Mr Sunak did not think adults convicted of child sex assaults should go to prison.

The advert included the statistic that "4,500 adults convicted of sexually assaulting children under 16 served no prison time".

The figures cover the period starting in 2010 - five years before Mr Sunak became an MP and 11 years before he became prime minister - and ending in 2022.

It refers to adults who were convicted but received a community sentence or a suspended sentence, rather than being sent to prison.

Senior Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood called the attack "appalling" and said politicians "should be better than this", while former Labour Home Secretary David Blunkett said it was "deeply offensive".

But on Monday Sir Keir said he backed the message "no matter how squeamish it might make some feel".

Asked about Labour's criticism during a visit to Northern Ireland on Wednesday, Mr Sunak said he was focused on his five priorities "to halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce debt, cut waiting lists and stop the boats".

"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."

Labour has since produced more ads including one which accuses Mr Sunak of raising taxes on working people when his family benefitted from "a tax loophole".

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

Labour has promised to scrap the tax status which allows people to avoid paying UK tax on earnings from outside the country.

During a local election campaign trip to Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, Sir Keir again defended his party's approach.

"Behind the adverts is a basic truth - they have broken our criminal justice system, they have broken our NHS and they have broken the economy".

"This argument that because they've changed the prime minister five times that somehow the PM doesn't bear responsibility for 13 years of grief for many people I just don't think stacks up."