Attack ad ‘not racist’: Starmer defends claim Sunak does not want child abusers jailed
Sir Keir Starmer has denied that a Labour attack advert aimed at Rishi Sunak is racist.
A series of recent ads, which have been described as “gutter politics” and criticised by some of Labour’s own MPs, have targeted the prime minister personally.
In an interview with Sky News, Sophy Ridge questioned the party leader about one in particular.
It asks: “Do you think adults convicted of sexually assaulting children should go to prison?”
It adds, in capital letters: “Rishi Sunak doesn’t.”
Labour cited data from the Ministry of Justice showing that 4,500 adults convicted of sex acts on children had avoided a prison sentence since the Conservatives came to power in 2010.
Rishi Sunak was first elected as an MP in 2015.
Asked if the advert aligns with Sir Keir’s own view of the prime minister, he replied: “I think if he did think they should go to prison he’d do something about it.”
He added: “I stand by the advert. I think that as prime minister, you take responsibility for what happens in your criminal justice system. He is not taking responsibility for it.”
Asked whether he took personal responsibility for every child abuser who escaped prison when he was leading the Crown Prosecution Service as director of public prosecutions (DPP), he said he took “full responsibility for every decision” when he was DPP.
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Ridge went on to ask: “We know far-right groups have weaponised the sexual abuse committed by Asian grooming gangs – a very small minority of Asians.
“Your attack ad accuses the first ever British Asian prime minister of not thinking child sex abusers should go to prison. Is it racist?”
Sir Keir replied: “No. There’s a huge under analysis of the figures here, and I looked at this when I was director of public prosecutions. The vast majority of child sexual offences are not by people of Asian origin or anything else.”
Ridge responded: “Absolutely. So it’s not racist?”
“No of course it’s not. Of course it’s not,” Sir Keir replied.
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Starmer ‘utterly condemns’ Abbott’s letter
NHS ‘on its face’
In a wide-ranging conversation, Sir Keir also said the prime minister “sort of smiles his way through the cost of living crisis without understanding the real impact”.
And he said that according to his wife, who works in the NHS, the health service is not so much on its knees as “on its face”.
Regarding pensioners he has met, who Sir Keir said “can’t make ends meet”, he said: “I don’t think the prime minister understands.”
And speaking about the latest nurses’ strike, which starts later today, Sir Keir said: “I don’t want these strikes to go ahead. I don’t think anybody does. I don’t think the nurses do. But I do think the government has made a complete mess of them.”
These strikes are different from previous ones because of a lack of “derogations” – or exemptions – meaning that emergency departments, intensive care and cancer care will be affected.
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Exceptionally low staff numbers
Hospitals in some regions are bracing themselves for “exceptionally low” staff numbers and Great Ormond Street Hospital’s chief executive Matthew Shaw said he was “incredibly grateful” after staff and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) granted “safety exemptions”.
Pushed several times on whether it was right for the RCN to call a stoppage without exemptions, Sir Keir failed to answer.
Asked whether the lack of derogations was wrong, he repeated his initial answer twice, saying: “I don’t want to see the strikes go ahead.”
Turning to the local elections, Ridge said the Conservatives are predicting the loss of 1,000 seats.
Sir Keir commented: “If they are, I find that astonishing,” adding that it struck him as “just expectation management”.
You can see the whole interview on Sophy Ridge on Sunday on Sky News at 8.30am.
Bob Geldof has accused the Israeli authorities of “lying” about starvation in Gaza – after Israel’s government spokesperson claimed there was “no famine caused by Israel”.
Earlier this week, David Mencer claimed that Hamas “starves its own people” while on The News Hour with Mark Austin, denying that Israel was responsible for mass hunger in Gaza.
Appearing on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Geldof said the claims are false.
Follow latest: Gaza aid airdrops a ‘smokescreen’ and ‘distraction’, says UN agency chief
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Israel challenged on starvation in Gaza
Mr Phillips asked the Live Aid organiser: “The Israeli view is that there is no famine caused by Israel, there’s a manmade shortage, but it’s been engineered by Hamas.
“I guess the Israelis would say we don’t see much criticism from your side of Hamas.”
In response, Geldof said “that’s a false equivalence” and “the Israeli authorities are lying”.
The singer then added: “They’re lying. [Benjamin] Netanyahu lies, is a liar. The IDF are lying. They’re dangling food in front of starving, panicked, exhausted mothers.
“And while they arrive to accept the tiny amount of food that this sort of set up pantomime outfit, the Gaza Humanitarian Front, I would call it, as they dangle it, then they’re shot wantonly.
“This month, up to now, a thousand children or a thousand people have died of starvation. I’m really not interested in what either of these sides are saying.”
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Gaza: ‘This is man-made starvation’
In the interview with Mark Austin on 23 July, Mr Mencer added: “This suffering exists because Hamas made it so. Here are the facts. Aid is flowing, through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Millions of meals are being delivered directly to civilians.” He also claimed that since May more than 4,400 aid trucks had entered Gaza carrying supplies.
It comes after MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, warned 25% of young children and pregnant women in Gaza are now malnourished.
The charity said Israel’s “deliberate use of starvation as a weapon” has reached unprecedented levels, and said that at one of its clinics in Gaza City, rates of severe malnutrition in children under five have trebled over the past two weeks.
MSF then called the lack of food and water on the ground as “unconscionable”.
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Aid waiting to be distributed in Gaza
In a statement to Sky News, an Israeli security official said that “despite the false claims that are being spread, the State of Israel does not limit the number of humanitarian aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip”.
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It then blamed other groups for issues delivering aid. They said: “Over the past month, we have witnessed a significant decline in the collection of aid from the crossings into the Gaza Strip by international aid organisations.
“The delays in collection by the UN and international organisations harm the situation and the food security of Gaza’s residents.”
The IDF also told Sky News: “The IDF allows the American civilian organisation (GHF) to distribute aid to Gaza residents independently, and operates in proximity to the new distribution zones to enable the distribution alongside the continuation of IDF operational activities in the Gaza Strip.
“Following incidents in which harm to civilians who arrived at distribution facilities was reported, thorough examinations were conducted in the Southern Command and instructions were issued to forces in the field following lessons learned.
“The aforementioned incidents are under review by the competent authorities in the IDF.”
You can watch the full interview on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips at 8.30am tomorrow.
World
25% of young children and pregnant women malnourished in Gaza, charity says, as PM vows to fly critical medical cases to UK
A charity has warned 25% of young children and pregnant women in Gaza are now malnourished, with Sir Keir Starmer vowing to evacuate children who need “critical medical assistance” to the UK.
MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, said Israel’s “deliberate use of starvation as a weapon” has reached unprecedented levels – with patients and healthcare workers both fighting to survive.
It claimed that, at one of its clinics in Gaza City, rates of severe malnutrition in children under five have trebled over the past two weeks – and described the lack of food and water on the ground as “unconscionable”.
Pic: Reuters
The charity also criticised the high number of fatalities seen at aid distribution sites, with one British surgeon accusing IDF soldiers of shooting civilians “almost like a game of target practice”.
MSF’s deputy medical coordinator in Gaza, Dr Mohammed Abu Mughaisib, said: “Those who go to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s food distributions know that they have the same chance of receiving a sack of flour as they do of leaving with a bullet in their head.”
The UN also estimates that Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 people seeking food – the majority near the militarised distribution sites of the US-backed aid distribution scheme run by the GHF.
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‘Many more deaths unless Israelis allow food in’
In a statement on Friday, the IDF had said it “categorically rejects the claims of intentional harm to civilians”, and reports of incidents at aid distribution sites were “under examination”.
The GHF has also previously disputed that these deaths were connected with its organisation’s operations, with director Johnnie Moore telling Sky News: “We just want to feed Gazans. That’s the only thing that we want to do.”
Israel says it has let enough food into Gaza and has accused the UN of failing to distribute it, in what the foreign ministry has labelled as “a deliberate ploy” to defame the country.
‘Humanitarian catastrophe must end’
In a video message posted on X late last night, Sir Keir Starmer condemned the scenes in Gaza as “appalling” and “unrelenting” – and said “the images of starvation and desperation are utterly horrifying”.
The prime minister added: “The denial of aid to children and babies is completely unjustifiable, just as the continued captivity of hostages is completely unjustifiable.
“Hundreds of civilians have been killed while seeking aid – children, killed, whilst collecting water. It is a humanitarian catastrophe, and it must end.”
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Israeli military show aid waiting inside Gaza
Sir Keir confirmed that the British government is now “accelerating efforts” to evacuate children from Gaza who need critical medical assistance, so they can be brought to the UK for specialist treatment.
Israel has now said that foreign countries will be able to airdrop aid into Gaza. While the PM says the UK will now “do everything we can” to get supplies in via this route, he said this decision has come “far too late”.
Read more:
WHO: Gaza faces ‘manmade’ starvation
UN: People in Gaza ‘walking corpses’
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Last year, the RAF dropped aid into Gaza, but humanitarian organisations warned it wasn’t enough and was potentially dangerous. In March 2024, five people were killed when an aid parachute failed and supplies fell on them.
For now, Sir Keir has rejected calls to follow French President Emmanuel Macron and recognise a Palestinian state – despite more than 220 MPs signing a cross-party letter to demand he takes this step.
The prime minister is instead demanding a ceasefire and “lasting peace” – and says he will only consider an independent state as part of a negotiated peace deal.
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