It’d be a crime to blow Labour’s lead

LABOUR is right to go in hard on crime against the failing, inept and distrusted Conservatives.

Yet the party is stupid to roll in the gutter, abandoning principles to fight dirty.

If the General Election becomes a mud wrestle, the no-holds-barred Tories will be the ones cheering.

The revolting Labour advert asserting that Rishi Sunak doesn’t think adults convicted of sexually assaulting children should go to prison was a mistake.

Screaming Tories chuck enough similarly indefensible, nasty rocks at Labour so they can drop the confected outrage.

Conservatives regularly lie filthily about Labour and its leader Keir Starmer on everything from crime and migration to the economy, while Jeremy Corbyn was a victim of vile terrorism smears.

But I bet Starmer, who justifiably complained when Boris Johnson falsely accused him of failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile when Director of Public Prosecutions, doesn’t relish answering detailed questions about Labour’s charge against Sunak.

The fact that nobody is taking direct responsibility for the attack is telling in itself.

We’re told Starmer was unaware, as was Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper. What I do know from numerous conversations is that many of Starmer’s biggest fans are appalled.

Many on Parliament’s front and back benches are despondent, as the party is knocking on the door of Downing Street after recovering spectacularly from 2019’s drubbing.

MPs in and out of Starmer’s circle worry about strategy, fret there is no clear vision and are terrified that Labour is up primarily because the Conservatives are down. Harold Wilson, Starmer’s favourite Labour former Prime Minister, said the party was a crusade or it was nothing.

The misjudged Sunak assault should serve as a moment to refocus on Labour values.

Play hard, win fair and avoid scoring own goals.

Or many Labour MPs fear those big poll leads could dwindle to nothing.