Labour’s attack ad on the budget is giving people nightmares

The Labour Party has come under fire for its choice of attack ads before – namely in the form of a series of “gutter politics” graphics claiming Rishi Sunak doesn’t support jailing child abusers or those in possession of a gun with an intent to harm, or that schools should be safe – but now one post shared following this week’s Budget has been branded “scary” and “horrific”.

One of the headline measures announced by Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, on Wednesday was a 2p cut to national insurance – a move Labour’s analysis says will cost £46 billion a year.

In a tweet shared to Twitter on Thursday, Labour wrote: “The Tories have revealed they are planning a £46 billion unfunded tax cut. Rishi Sunak can’t say how he’s paying for it.

“Now where have we heard that before?”

Accompanying the text is a half-and-half blended image of Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss’s faces, along with a caption which reads: “Rishi Sunak is planning unfunded tax cuts bigger than Liz Truss’.

“You know, the ones that crashed the economy and left you paying more on your mortgage.”

That is, of course, in reference to Truss’s disastrous mini-Budget, which spooked the markets and caused the pound to plummet, culminating in the sacking of Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng and Truss’s eventual resignation, which made her the shortest-serving prime minister in UK political history.

Yet it wasn’t so much that comparison which has got people talking in the replies, but rather the troubling edit creating a character one tweeter branded “Lishi Trunak”:

It’s not the first time that an amalgamation of Tory prime ministers has horrified the public, as back in September 2022 the Daily Mirror published a front page blending the portraits of David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, complete with the headline: “Same old Tories”.

On the other side of the political spectrum, the Conservatives have launched a giveaway of Keir Starmer-branded flip flops, and have come under fire for releasing an edited clip of London mayor Sadiq Khan saying Labour is “proud to be anti-racist and antisemitic”, before the Labour politician immediately corrected himself.

We simply cannot wait for the general election, where we definitely won’t see more cursed and ethically questionable campaign materials released by both parties…

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