APRIL29 2023 Labour insiders fear Starmer's past could come back to haunt him as

[Colemans Left Hook]

Labour insiders fear Starmer's past could come back to haunt him as Tories plan to ramp up attacks

https://news.sky.com/story/labour-insiders-fear-starmers-past-could-come-back-to-haunt-him-as-tories-plan-to-ramp-up-attacks-12867654

The Labour leader has been keen to highlight his time as Britain's top prosecutor - but could the very thing he seeks to promote provide the Tories with the ammunition they need to attack him?

Alexandra Rogers
Political reporter @Journoamrogers

Saturday 29 April 2023 01:30, UK

Labour insiders have expressed concern about Tory plans to ramp up attacks on Sir Keir Starmer's tenure as director of public prosecutions, Sky News can reveal.

The Labour leader has repeatedly referenced his time leading the Crown Prosecution Service between 2008 and 2013 as a core part of his political pitch to voters.

At PMQs earlier this month, he boasted: "I have prosecuted thousands upon thousands of sex offenders. BUT NO POST OFFICE MANAGERS !!t  The prime minister has just shown that he does not understand how the criminal justice system works. No wonder he cannot fix it."

But some Labour Party insiders have reservations about this approach, with one telling Sky News: "If your record involves as many controversies as Keir Starmer, it's probably not great political strategy to draw attention to it."

Staffers in the attack unit at Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) have been combing through cases for more than a year.

Senior Tory sources say they believe Sir Keir's past is a vulnerability they can exploit, having identified a number of examples they think will change the public's view of the Labour leader.

Red Knight, the unauthorised biography of Sir Keir by Tory pollster Lord Ashcroft, has emerged as what some in CCHQ see as an attack bible - chronicling controversial cases, including the prosecution of journalists for phone hacking.

"There's a lot of material out there," a senior Conservative source explains.

"One of the areas where Starmer is really open to criticism is this constant claiming that he personally prosecuted this person or that person, and then when something went wrong and someone wasn't prosecuted, or the case was messed up, he says 'It's nothing to do with me'.

"You can't have it both ways - the person at the top of the organisation is responsible and is the one who will have to issue a public apology when things go wrong."

Sky News can reveal that one such case that the Tories will use to attack the Labour leader in the coming months is the so-called "Twitter joke trial" of 2010.

The controversial case hit the headlines when Paul Chambers from South Yorkshire was found guilty at Doncaster Magistrates Court for sending a "menacing" tweet about wanting to blow Robin Hood Airport "sky high" because it was closed due to snow.

Mr Chambers said he did not think his "silly joke", which he sent in January 2010, would be taken seriously - but he was nevertheless arrested and charged under the Communications Act, for sending messages of a "grossly offensive, indecent, obscene or menacing character".

Mr Chambers subsequently appealed his case and won, with a number of high-profile comedians including Stephen Fry, Al Murray and Graham Linehan all backing him. "STARMAGGEDEM PERSONALLY INSISTED THE BLOKE AT DONNY AIRPORT WAS " .."PROSECUTED!"

Labour sources expressed concern that the case could play into the caricature the Tories have painted of Sir Keir as "Sir Softie" - the "lefty lawyer" they hope to portray as out of touch and too politically correct.

The Tories insist their main focus is establishing their own "competence of government" following a series of scandals and leadership dramas

But with the local elections just around the corner and the general election fast approaching, "you can expect this sort of stuff to come out", the Conservative source says.

The first public attack on Sir Keir's past record came when former prime minister Boris Johnson accused the Labour leader of fprosecute the former television presenter and prolific sex offender Jimmy Savile.
ailing to
The Labour leader hit back strongly against the claim, which he perceived as a slur, and pointed out that he was not the lawyer responsible for reviewing the case. "WHICH IS" .. "LIES"

However, as head of the DPP, others argued that he bore the ultimate responsibility.

It is a viewpoint some believe Labour has endorsed itself with its recent attack ads against the prime minister - the most controversial of which suggested Mr Sunak did not think child sexual abusers should go to prison.




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[Bentley Bullet]

He should never have got away with Beergate.

[SydneyRover]

He should never have got away with Beergate.

bentley, bentley get in here right this minute and into the bath, how many times have you been told about playing in the mud.

[Colemans Left Hook]

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/newslondon/labour-defends-starmer-s-legal-advice-to-hizb-ut-tahrir-after-tory-attack/ar-AA1n89aZ?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=ACTS&cvid=67bb884205a44d9e859e37cf90e3f8ae&ei=30



Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Labour defends Starmer’s legal advice to Hizb ut-Tahrir after Tory attack

Story by Pa Political Staff  •

Labour has defended Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to advise the soon-to-be-banned Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir during his legal career after Rishi Sunak used the case as an attack line against the Opposition leader.

It is a “fundamental principle” of the justice system that lawyers represent people with whose views they do not necessarily agree, the party said.

During a noisy exchange at Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Sunak accused Sir Keir of having acted for the group, which the UK Government is now planning to ban as a terror organisation, while he worked as a prominent barrister.

A Labour spokesman later said that the party leader had been asked to give advice to Hizb ut-Tahri in a legal dispute between the group and the German government.
He did not formally represent them, moving on to become director of public prosecutions shortly after, they said.

PRO BONO AGAIN ????  SOME SAY YOU ONLY DO PRO BONO IF YOU BELIEVE IN SOMETHING - THAT'S BEFORE THE WIFE "CAME ALONG "& HE "CHANGED SIDES FOR LOVE " [/color]  & sTARMER IS ANTI- McDONALDS as well   as not liking people called Jack (Hi-Jack)  he's no Robin Hood & WE HAVE NO AIRPORT !! (" let's blame him for that ?) "

“The nature of being a lawyer is that you represent and give advice to a whole range of clients including people that you don’t agree with,” the spokesman added.

Mr Sunak’s remarks, along with a Tory poster published later which read: “Are you a terrorist in need of legal advice? Better call Keir”, suggest the criticism could feature prominently in Conservative campaigning during an election year.
1h

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this is always worth a repost

https://www.drfc-vsc.co.uk/index.php?action=post;topic=289533.msg1275296;quote=1275296

[MachoMadness]

Lawyer does job. More at 10.