Steve Reed last night spoke out on Labour’s discredited attack ad – claiming Rishi Sunak does not want to lock up convicted paedophiles – on the News Agents podcast. He confirmed that he and his team provided the figures used and saw it before it went out, though the actual ad was created by Labour’s central office. He also said that Sir Keir was aware it was going out. When probed on the merits of the campaign, Steve said:

“I think it’s wholly legitimate. I think it’s part of politics to hold leaders to account for what they’ve done. The leader of the Conservative Party is accountable for the behaviour of the Conservative government that’s been in power for 13 years. I think it’s important that we explain to voters – to the public – what the government is doing wrong”.

Guido isn’t so sure he would consider blaming a person who was, at the time, working in a California hedge fund, over someone responsible for the sentencing decisions in question is “wholly legitimate”…

Lewis Goodall then asked if former Director of Public Prosecutions Starmer was more responsible for the justice system than Sunak – Steve insisted Rishi was. Leftie Lewis’s bemusement says it all.

Steve’s defence of his ads comes as today’s papers report on Labour’s internal delight at their descent into “gutter politics” – to quote Lord Blunkett. The i runs with a Labour source praising the impact of the ads, whilst The Times quotes a senior Labour source calling the campaign a “triumph” as “we’ve spent a week not talking about boats, not talking about trans”. Just don’t ask Yvette…