Labour takes inspiration from Australia with Sunak attack ads – but they need more to pull off a proper ousting

Published

3 years ago

April 11, 2023

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Compare and contrast the following.

Exhibit A – “over the next four weeks, this campaign will be shining a relentless spotlight on Scott Morrison‘s failures as Prime Minister”.

Exhibit B – “we are going to be ruthless in showing how 13 years of Tory government has broken our systems and held everyone back”.

Nearly half of Starmer’s top team haven’t shared controversial attack ads – politics latest

The first is an email from an Australian Labor party director during Anthony Albanese’s successful 2022 election campaign.

The second is from an e-mail sent by a UK Labour official and leaked to the Sunday Times newspaper this weekend.

So no prizes for guessing where Sir Keir Starmer’s team took inspiration from for their latest close focus attack campaign.

But after all, Labour here are trying to pull of the same trick as Labor there.

A leader generally accepted as honest, but frequently accused of being bland, trying to overturn a party whose lengthy spell in government has been beset by chaos, scandal and incompetence.

There’s one key difference though.

While Australia’s Labor party had the unpopular Scott Morrison to take chunks out of, Keir Starmer finds himself pitched against a man with similar attributes to himself whom the public like more than the Conservative Party he leads.

As Tory peer and pollster Lord Hayward puts it: “What the Labour Party seem to be trying to do is making sure that the Conservative Party is not dragged up to Rishi Sunak’s level, as he is polling better than the party.”

But while the prime minister’s poll rating and persona could be the motivation for this campaign, it may also be its undoing.

“For it to work, it’s got to be aimed at the right sort of person…Scott Morrison was a certain sort of individual who you could attack and the population wouldn’t mind, if they’d been going at Boris then people wouldn’t have reacted in the way that they have done,” said Lord Hayward.

Policy and the polls matter here too.

The coming 18 months will likely see Rishi Sunak attempt to divorce his premiership from the 13 years of preceding Conservative rule, culminating in a pitch for the British public to hand him his first full term as prime minister in next year’s general election.

There’s some evidence he is already making his way down this path, as a handful of polls throw up reduced leads for Labour following progress made by Number Ten on key policy issues.

A new poll by Redfield and Wilton puts the gap at 14 points – the narrowest since Mr Sunak became prime minister.

Other pollsters give Starmer chunkier leads, but nevertheless Labour are trying to stop Mr Sunak airbrushing away the policy unpleasantries of the last decade by pinning on him any failure they can find – including ones predating his time in politics.

The trio of Easter attack ads – created in house at Labour – attempt to do this by borrowing heavily from the Vote Leave Brexit campaign.

‘Mission accomplished’ for Labour

The strategy goes like this: put out content that is so controversial it generates coverage and carries your core message further than it would otherwise have travelled.

As one Labour source involved in the campaign says, “it’s mission accomplished – we’ve dominated the news agenda and started a serious conversation about the Tories appalling record on crime”.

The strategy doesn’t have universal shadow cabinet support though.

Several senior frontbenchers haven’t shared the attack ads on their Twitter feeds, with concern about playing fast and loose with the facts and the apparent politicisation of child sexual abuse.

Those on the left of the party have been most withering in their criticism, suggesting the strategy is a symptom of a moral and values-led vacuum at the heart of Labour right now.

But despite all that, we’re likely to see more of these ads.

Party sources confirmed the campaign would move onto the cost of living in the coming days with likely attempts to link Mr Sunak to Liz Truss’s disastrous time in office.

So the gloves have clearly come off, but most in Labour know they need to do more than poke holes to pull off an Australian-style ousting.

World

Russia hits Ukraine with massive missile and drone attack amid peace talks

Published

6 hours ago

December 6, 2025

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Russia hits Ukraine with massive missile and drone attack amid peace talks

Russia launched a massive missile and drone attack on Ukraine overnight, after US and Ukrainian officials said they would meet for a third day of talks aimed at bringing the war to an end.

The two sides said they had made progress on a security framework for post-war Ukraine, but that any “real progress toward any agreement” will depend “on Russia’s readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace.”

Russia launched 653 drones and 51 missiles in its attack on Ukraine, triggering air raid alerts across the country, Ukraine’s air force said.

Ukrainian forces shot down and neutralised 585 drones and 30 missiles, the air force said, adding that 29 locations were struck.

At least eight people were wounded in the attacks, Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs Ihor Klymenko said.

Russia conducted a “massive missile-drone attack” on power stations and other energy infrastructure in several regions, Ukraine’s national energy operator Ukrenergo said on Instagram.

Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant temporarily lost all off-site power overnight, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.

The plant is in an area that has been under Russian control since early in Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. It is not in service, but needs reliable power to cool its six shutdown reactors and spent fuel in order to avoid any catastrophic nuclear incidents.

Zelenskyy condemns ‘meaningless’ strikes

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the strikes as “meaningless” from a military point of view.

He said energy facilities were the main targets, but a drone strike had “burned down” a train station in the city of Fastiv, in the Kyiv region.

“The Russians’ goal is to hurt millions of Ukrainians, and they have sunk so low that they are launching missiles at peaceful cities on St. Nicholas Day,” he said.

“That is why additional pressure is needed. Sanctions must work, and so must our air defence, which means we must continue to support those who defend our lives.”

Ukraine strikes oil refinery

Meanwhile, Russia’s defence ministry said its air defences had shot down 116 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory overnight.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said Ukrainian forces had struck Russia’s Ryazan Oil Refinery, while Russian Telegram news channel Astra shared footage appearing to show a fire breaking out and plumes of smoke rising above the refinery.

Over the last few months, Ukraine has used long-range drones to target Russian refineries in an attempt to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to continue the war.

Meanwhile, Kyiv and its Western allies say Russia is trying to cripple Ukraine’s power grid and deny civilians access to heat, light and running water in winter, which Ukrainian officials call “weaponising” the cold.

On Monday, Mr Zelenskyy will meet Sir Keir Starmer in London to discuss the ongoing negotiations mediated by the US, along with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

World

Gaza ceasefire negotiations at ‘critical moment’, says Qatar PM

Published

6 hours ago

December 6, 2025

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Gaza ceasefire negotiations at 'critical moment', says Qatar PM

Negotiations on a lasting ceasefire deal for Gaza are at a “critical moment”, the prime minister of Qatar, which has played a key role in brokering the deal, has said.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman said a definitive ceasefire could only happen with a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from the besieged enclave.

The first stage of a ceasefire deal was agreed in October, but violence in Gaza has not stopped. On Saturday alone, seven people were reportedly killed.

Palestinian local health authorities said the victims were from Beit Lahiya, Jabalia and Zeitoun in northern Gaza and included a 70-year-old woman who was killed by a drone strike.

The Israeli military said that in two separate incidents on Saturday, forces deployed in northern Gaza behind the so-called yellow line of withdrawal agreed in the ceasefire had fired on Palestinian militants who crossed the line, killing three.

The military was unaware of any drone strike, a spokesperson said.

The long-sought ceasefire – and the second one after a first deal fell apart earlier this year – began on 11 October after Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan.

Despite accusations by both sides of violations, talks on the next phase of the ceasefire deal began almost two weeks ago, with Turkish, Qatari and Egyptian officials meeting in Cairo to discuss the second part of the agreement, including deploying a stabilisation force and body to govern Gaza and oversee reconstruction.

“We are at a critical moment. It’s not yet there. So what we have just done is a pause,” PM al-Thani said during a panel discussion at the Doha Forum conference in Qatar.

“We cannot consider it yet a ceasefire. A ceasefire cannot be completed unless there is a full withdrawal of the Israeli forces – (until) there is stability back in Gaza, people can go in and out – which is not the case today.”

On Thursday, an Israeli delegation held talks in Cairo with mediators on the return of the body of the last hostage held in Gaza, which would complete an initial part of Mr Trump’s plan to bring an end to the two-year war.

Since the truce started, Hamas has returned all 20 living hostages and 27 bodies in exchange for around 2,000 Palestinian detainees and convicted prisoners.

World

Paramilitary drone attack in southern Sudan kills at least 50 people, including 33 children

Published

9 hours ago

December 6, 2025

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Paramilitary drone attack in southern Sudan kills at least 50 people, including 33 children

At least 50 people, including 33 children, have been killed in southern Sudan after a drone attack by paramilitary forces hit a nursery in South Kordofan state.

Sudan Doctors’ Network says paramedics on the scene in the town of Kalogi were also targeted by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in a “second unexpected attack”.

Rights group Emergency Lawyers reported a “third civilian site” near the previous two attacks was also targeted.

The death toll is expected to be higher, but communication blackouts have made it difficult to confirm the full number of casualties.

Emergency Lawyers says the strikes are a “flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians, especially children, and vital civilian infrastructure.”

UNICEF has urged both parties to stop the attacks immediately and allow safe access for humanitarian aid.

“Killing children in their school is a horrific violation of children’s rights,” said UNICEF representative for Sudan Sheldon Yett.

“Children should never pay the price of conflict.”

The attack on the nursery is among the latest in the two-year conflict between the RSF and Sudan’s military, where the focus has recently shifted to the oil-rich Kordofan states.

Hundreds of civilians have been killed in the last few weeks as fighting shifted from Darfur, following the RSF’s violent takeover of the city of Al Fashir, which was marked with civilians being executed, rapes, sexual assaults and other atrocities.

Thousands managed to escape the violence, but thousands more are trapped or feared killed.

Meanwhile, Sudanese military aerial strikes last weekend killed at least 48 people, mostly civilians, in South Kordofan.

The RSF has also accused the military of carrying out a drone strike on the border with Chad, posting a video showing billowing black smoke.

The Associated Press has been unable to verify the video or whether there were any casualties, while Sudan’s military also hasn’t commented.

The RSF and the Sudanese military have been fighting for power over the country since 2023, which has seen more than 40,000 people killed, according to the World Health Organisation, although the real death toll is expected to be higher. 12 million people have been displaced.