Labour takes inspiration from Australia with Sunak attack ads – but they need more to pull off a proper ousting
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.
Former Australian PM Scott Morrison was on the receiving end of a similar 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.
One of Labour’s ads attacked the Tories’ record on jailing child sex abusers
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.
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Sky’s Rob Powell explains row over Labour tweet
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”.
Read more:
Labour’s attack ad is straight out of Vote Leave playbook
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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.
They rose to their feet in ecstatic surprise, shouting “heydar, heydar” – a Shia victory chant.
This was the first public appearance of their supreme leader since Israel began attacking their country.
He emerged during evening prayers in his private compound. He said nothing but looked stern and resolute as he waved to the crowd.
He has spent the last weeks sequestered in a bunker, it is assumed, for his safety following numerous death threats from Israel and the US.
His re-emergence suggests a return to normality and a sense of defiance that we have witnessed here on the streets of Tehran too.
Earlier, we had filmed as men in black marched through the streets of the capital to the sound of mournful chants and the slow beat of drums, whipping their backs with metal flails.
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Defiance on streets of Tehran
This weekend they mark the Shia festival of Ashura as they have for 14 centuries. But this year has poignant significance for Iranians far more than most.
The devout remember the betrayal and death of Imam Hussein as if it happened yesterday. We filmed men and women weeping as they worshipped at the Imamzadeh Saleh Shrine in northern Tehran.
The armies of the Caliph Yazid killed the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad in the seventh-century Battle of Karbala.
Shiite Muslims mark the anniversary every year and reflect on the virtue it celebrates, of resistance against oppression and injustice.
But more so than ever in the wake of Israel and America’s attacks on their country.
The story is one of prevailing over adversity and deception. A sense of betrayal is keenly felt here among people and officials.
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Many Iranians believe they were lured into pursuing diplomacy as part of a ruse by the US.
Iran believed it was making diplomatic progress in talks with America it hoped could lead to a deal. Then Israel launched its attacks and, instead of condemning them, the US joined in.
Death to Israel chants resounded outside the mosque in skies which were filled for 12 days with the sounds of Israeli jets. There is a renewed sense of defiance here.
One man told us: “The lesson to be learned from Hussein is not to give in to oppression even if it is the most powerful force in the world.”
A woman was dismissive about the US president. “I don’t think about Trump, nobody likes him. He always wants to attack too many countries.”
Pictures on billboards nearby draw a line between Imam Hussein’s story and current events. The seventh-century imam on horseback alongside images of modern missiles and drones from the present day.
Other huge signs remember the dead. Iran says almost 1,000 people were killed in the strikes, many of them women and children.
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Officially Iran is projecting defiance but not closing the door to diplomacy.
Government spokeswoman Dr Fatemeh Mohajerani told Sky News that Israel should not even think about attacking again.
“We are very strong in defence and as state officials have announced, this time Israel will receive an even stronger response compared to previous times,” she said.
“We hope that Israel will not make such a mistake.”
But there is also a hint of conciliation: Senior Iranian officials have told Sky News that back-channel efforts are under way to explore new talks with the US.
Israel had hoped its attacks could topple the Iranian leadership. That proved unfounded, the government is in control here.
For many Iranians, it seems quite the opposite happened – the 12-day war has brought them closer together.
To the sound of mournful chants and the slow beat of drums, they march, whipping their backs with metal flails.
It is an ancient ceremony going back almost 14 centuries – the Shia commemoration of Ashura.
But this year in particular has poignant significance for Iranians.
The devout remember the betrayal and death of the Imam Hussein as if it happened yesterday.
Iranians gather ahead of Ashura
We filmed men and women weep as they worshipped at the Imamzadeh Saleh Shrine in northern Tehran.
The grandson of the Prophet Muhammad was killed by the armies of the Caliph Yazid in the seventh century Battle of Karbala.
Shia Muslims mark the anniversary every year and reflect on the virtue it celebrates – of resistance against oppression and injustice. But more so than ever this year, in the wake of Israel and America’s attacks on their country.
The story is one of prevailing over adversity and deception. A sense of betrayal is keenly felt here by people and officials.
Men and women weeped as they worshipped at the Imamzadeh Saleh Shrine
Many Iranians believe they were lured into pursuing diplomacy as part of a ruse by the US.
Iran believed it was making diplomatic progress in talks with America, which it hoped could lead to a deal. Then Israel launched its attacks and, instead of condemning them, the US joined in.
“Death to Israel” chants resounded outside the mosque in skies that for 12 days were filled with the sounds of Israeli jets.
There is a renewed sense of defiance here.
One man told us: “The lesson to be learned from Hussein is not to give in to oppression, even if it is the most powerful force in the world.”
‘I don’t think about Trump. Nobody likes him,’ one woman tells Sky News
A woman was dismissive about the US president.
“I don’t think about Trump. Nobody likes him. He always wants to attack too many countries.”
Pictures on billboards nearby link Imam Hussein’s story and current events. They show the seventh century imam on horseback alongside images of modern missiles and drones from the present day.
Other huge signs remember the dead. Iran says almost 1,000 people were killed in the strikes, many of them women and children.
Officially Iran is projecting defiance, but not closing the door to diplomacy.
Government spokeswoman Dr Fatemeh Mohajerani told Sky News that Israel should not even think about attacking again.
“We are very strong in defence, and as state officials have announced, this time Israel will receive an even stronger response compared to previous times. We hope that Israel will not make such a mistake.”
Dr Fatemeh Mohajerani said it would be a mistake for Israel to attack again
But there is also a hint of conciliation. Senior Iranian officials have told Sky News back-channel efforts are under way to explore new talks with the US.
Israel had hoped its attacks could topple the Iranian leadership. Those hopes proved unfounded. The government is in control here.
For many Iranians it seems quite the opposite happened – the 12-day war has brought them closer together.
World
Two security workers injured after grenades thrown at aid site, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says
Two American security workers in Gaza were injured after grenades were thrown during food distribution in Khan Younis, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has said.
In a statement, the US and Israeli-backed aid group said a targeted terrorist attack was carried out at one of its sites in southern Gaza on Saturday morning.
The two Americans injured “are receiving medical treatment and are in stable condition,” it said, adding that the delivery of aid was “otherwise successful” and that “no local aid workers or civilians were harmed”.
GHF didn’t say exactly when the incident happened but claimed Hamas was behind the attack, adding: “GHF has repeatedly warned of credible threats from Hamas, including explicit plans to target American personnel, Palestinian aid workers, and the civilians who rely on our sites for food.
“Today’s attack tragically affirms those warnings.”
Later, the aid group posted a picture on social media, which it said showed “fragments of a grenade packed with ball bearings” that was used in the attack.
Asked by Sky’s US partner network, NBC News, whether the two injured individuals were responsible for handing out aid or were responsible for providing security, GHF said they were “American security workers” and “two American veterans.”
The aid group did not provide specific evidence that Hamas was behind the attack.
The US and Israeli-backed group has been primarily responsible for aid distribution since Israel lifted its 11-week blockade of the Gaza Strip in May.
Read more:
Hamas gives ‘positive’ response to ceasefire proposal
Outcry as Israeli strike hits school
94 killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza, health staff say
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It comes after Sky News analysis showed GHF aid distributions are associated with a significant increase in deaths in Gaza.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, 600 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid from GHF sites as of 3 July, which charities and the UN have branded “death traps”.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press has reported that Israeli-backed American contractors guarding GHF aid centres in Gaza are using live ammunition and stun grenades.
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Contractors allege colleagues ‘fired on Palestinians’
GHF has vehemently denied the accusations, adding that it investigated AP’s allegations and found them to be “categorically false”.
Israel’s military added that it fires only warning shots and is investigating reports of civilian harm.
It denies deliberately shooting at any innocent civilians and says it’s examining how to reduce “friction with the population” in the areas surrounding the distribution centres.
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