That bastion of right-wing shithousery the Sun has finally begun its character assassination of Labour leader Keir Starmer. It’s published an article accusing him of saving “baby-killers and axe murderers” when he was a lawyer. Oh, and the Sun also claims he did it for free. Predictably, we’re in an election year. Of course the story has been twisted to suit the tabloid shitrag’s agenda. Moreover, if the Sun wanted to call Starmer out for anything, there’s a whole heap of other misdemeanors it could have listed.
However, the paper behaving like this is hardly new, either – just ask Jeremy Corbyn.
Gammon-in-Chief: Starmer supports baby-killers or something
As ‘Gammon-in-Chief’ of the Sun Harry Cole tweeted:
Starmer worked for free as a lawyer to help scores of twisted killers around the world — including a monster who buried his two-year-old stepchild alive.
Represented Jamaican who stabbed a 9 month year old baby — pro bono.
No cab rank rule here https://t.co/KvRzHZYhF6 pic.twitter.com/C4U2HEIxu8
— Harry Cole (@MrHarryCole) January 9, 2024
The right-wing shitrag says that:
Keir was part of a team that launched several bids to scrap the death sentence for serious crimes in countries across Africa and the Caribbean.
His interventions took place from 2002 to 2014 — covering his ascent from junior lawyer to Director of Public Prosecutions.
It documents several cases where defendants in countries like Jamaica appealed to the UK’s Privy Council to quash their death penalty sentence. Here, the defendant’s appeal also led to a law change in Jamaica – meaning judges could only apply the death penalty in certain, very specific, cases.
The Sun then goes further – dedicating its print editorial to the matter. It said that:
Many oppose the death penalty in the UK. The Sun does. There is a difference between that and flying to Africa or the Caribbean to get baby-killers off the hook.
More drivel from the Sun
Of course, the paper’s argument is utter drivel – as people were pointing out on what the Canary still calls Twitter:
Name one criminal defence barrister in the history of the English legal system who hasn’t represented terrible people.
Starmer “saved” these people from the death penalty, not from justice.
These articles reflect on The Sun’s desperation, not Starmer’s morality or integrity. https://t.co/QXBrZ5E1Oa
— Adam Schwarz (@AdamJSchwarz) January 9, 2024
Quite aside from its feverish tone and irrational content, this is above all a comically profound misunderstanding of how the British system of adversarial justice works.
Perhaps The Sun wants to campaign for the alternative: an inquisitorial system *like the French have*.😉~AA pic.twitter.com/f4YMbSa0qS
— Best for Britain (@BestForBritain) January 9, 2024
Aside from the obvious desperation of the Sun in palming off this nonsense as ‘news’ to its readers, there’s a healthy dose of racism in its framing of the story too:
The implication here is that the Sun fully backs the death penalty in countries where it can be close to guaranteed it'll only take out black Caribbeans. https://t.co/sR7w2pryiO pic.twitter.com/p6qBnWISmk
— tyron (@thetyronwilson) January 9, 2024
Plus, using people’s murders to try and score political points is a little bit sick:
These crimes shouldn’t be used as political attack lines.
I know one of these families very well & they too opposed the death penalty- even when their loved ones were killed.
The Sun says it opposes the death penalty. & then attacks Starmer for trying to prevent it. Just wrong. https://t.co/JYntxUJGZm
— Brendan Cox (@MrBrendanCox) January 9, 2024
So, the Sun ran a vexatious and wholly inaccurate story on the leader of the Labour Party. Ring any bells to anyone?
Throughout his leadership, the shitrag repeatedly attacked Corbyn with smears and falsehoods – much like the rest of the corporate media did. Starmer now bearing the brunt of the Sun‘s mendacious agenda is hardly surprising.
The Sun Starmer smear: plenty else to bash him with
Of course, in a parallel (and functioning) universe, the Sun wouldn’t need to print nonsense about Starmer – because there’s plenty of bad news about the Labour leader it could have run with, like:
- He’s a serial liar who, as one example, made ten pledges during his leadership campaign, and then deleted them. Here’s a load more:
Keir Starmer will say some stuff today. Heres some stuff he's said previously.pic.twitter.com/mUOtQ2C1Tg
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) January 4, 2024
- His backsliding on climate, biodiversity, and environmental pledges.
- The fact he’s as much of a racist nationalist as many right wingers.
Scrub that last one. It’s probably endearing to the Sun.
If you happen to support Starmer and/or Labour, then the Sun‘s attack on him must be piss-boiling. It is, of course, unacceptable – hence the Canary is calling it out. However, none of this makes Starmer any better than the Tories – but it perhaps shows that when it comes to the corporate media, nothing really changes.
Featured image via the Sun – screengrab
