RISHI Sunak will declare war on Sir Keir Starmer’s “soft” record on crime as the battle for No10 heats up.
Downing Street insiders said “the gloves will come off” and they will attack the Labour leader’s personal record in the wake of their double byelection defeat.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (left) and newly elected Conservative MP Steve Tuckwell
The PM’s most trusted lieutenants are expected to savage Sir Keir for failing to boot foreign criminals out of Britain when he was chief prosecutor.
They will also slam Sir Keir – dubbed “Sir Softie” – for campaigning against the deportation of convicted foreign thugs while in Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet.
A source said: “The gloves are coming off.
“There will be a focus on his record as Director of Public Prosecutions and his campaigning against the deportation of foreign offenders.”
Determined to turn the page on a bruising few months, No10 have also drawn up a packed policy blitz over the summer months to show they still have fuel in the tank and fresh ideas.
A source said: “We have held back policy to drip out over the summer months. It is a busy grid to show we are still the party of ideas.”
Crime, anti-social behaviour and illegal migration will be focused on as key dividing line issues.
Earlier this year, Trending In The News on Sunday revealed that a thug battered an emergency worker after Sir Keir campaigned against his deportation.
Damian Morgan, 41, attacked a 999 staffer after being hailed off a deportation flight to Jamaica in February 2020.
At the time Labour said it was rubbish to suggest MPs questioning deportation flights “led to dangerous criminals going on to commit crime”.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer
Rishi is gearing up to go on the attack after a bruising week which saw him lose two former safe seats – Selby & Ainsty and Somerton & Frome – in byelections.
Although he defied the odds to hang on to Boris Johnson’s old seat of Uxbridge – aided by drivers furious at Labour London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s ULEZ car charge.
The results have engulfed Westminster in a fresh row ovcer the crippling costs of Net Zero.
Privately, spooked Cabinet ministers said Rishi should “ditch the green crap” before the next election – expected next year.
They want the PM to launch an all-out assault to tackle the cost of living crisis.
One told Trending In The News on Sunday: “Uxbridge shows that the public are getting fed up with green taxes.
“We need to think long and hard about how we proceed from here.
“Ramping up the cost of people’s heating by banning gas boilers, or banning new petrol and diesel cars – they need to be thought about.
“We are moving too quickly and we need to take people with us.”
The PM is expected to dump the £120 green hydrogen levy when the Energy Bill comes back to Parliament in September.
But he is being urged by senior Tories to go further.
They want him to delay the ban on new gas boilers – coming into force in 2035 – and the ban on new petrol and diesel cars which kicks in in 2030.
Other Cabinet ministers think the result in Uxbridge shows there is a “good opportunity” to make eco policies a key dividing line at the next election.
They want the PM to go hard on Labour’s links with Just Stop Oil – they are both partly bankrolled by the same donor, Dale Vince.
Labour’s “irresponsible” plan to splurge £28 billion a year on green policies should also be hammered, senior ministers believe.
Meanwhile, experts said the disgruntled driver could end up swinging the election in some seats.
Polling guru Lord Robert Hayward said ULEZ combined with high petrol costs could be a major factor when the nation next goes to the polls.
He told Trending In The News on Sunday: “There is no doubt that car ownership and the financial burden of running a car – whether it be the price of petrol or ULEZ – will have an impact on people in terms of how they vote.”
He said ULEZ is felt beyond just the big cities of London and Manchester, and “ is why the Labour Party did less well – and the Tories did less badly – in places like Dartford and Thurrock at the local elections in May”.
It will have an impact in a string of key target areas for Labour at the next election – including Thurrock, Stevenage, Harlow, Dartford, Gravesend and Rochester – he said.
Dillon Smith, a researcher at the centre-right CPS think-tank, also warned that a mutiny of motorists could be a decisive factor in some seats at the next election.
He said: “People really care about driving and often form a strong bond with their cars.
“That means when motorists feel like they’re getting a raw deal from the Government or politicians are seen to be ‘anti-car’, that can have a real impact on how they vote.”
He added: “If drivers feel ripped off or hard done by, that will feed through to the ballot box.
“We are a nation of drivers. You may find that policies around cars – ULEZ, road charging etc – are one of the factors that determines how people vote at the next election.”
