Since 2010, Rishi Sunak told the Commons in April, “there are 20,000 more police officers, we have given them more powers, and we have toughened up sentencing – all opposed by Sir Softie over there”. It was an unusually childish and Boris-like attack on Keir Starmer by the prime minister, which tells us something about how the election campaign will be fought.
The Conservatives are desperate to portray the Labour leader as a hand-wringing north London liberal, soft on crime, weak on immigration and spineless generally. Which is why we can expect to hear more about the letter Starmer signed just before he became leader of the opposition, calling for the suspension of deportation flights for criminals.
