The UK’s Labour party is looking to capitalise on the government crisis with a series of new adverts as it gears up for the next general election.
The scathing posters, seen by the PA news agency, attack the Conservatives for damaging Britain’s standing on the world stage, hiking mortgages and crashing the economy.
It comes after a disastrous week for the prime minister, Liz Truss, whose authority has been left severely damaged by her decision to sack the chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, and U-turn on planned tax cuts.
The new posters, first reported by the Sun, have been drawn up by Labour’s advertising agency, Lucky Generals.
One accuses the government of leaving “Britain’s reputation in tatters” alongside a picture of a shredded union jack.
Another has the slogan “Your mortgage is going through the roof” incorporated into an image of a huge hole in a roof.
A third poster shows Truss and the new chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, dressed up as clowns, alongside the message: “Send off the clowns.”
The heads of Truss and Kwarteng have been edited on to dummies in a fourth poster, which says: “These dummies have crashed the economy.”
A Labour source said: “As the old saying goes: if you don’t laugh, you cry.
“The fact the Tories have crashed the economy is deadly serious. Just look at the way the Tories have pushed up mortgage rates.
“We love these ideas from Lucky Generals that show only Labour can be trusted with the economy these days.”
Labour’s leader, Sir Keir Starmer, has been taking advantage of the political chaos in recent weeks as the party looks to defeat the Tories in the next general election, likely to be in December 2024.
On Friday, Starmer tweeted: “The Tories no longer have a mandate from the British people.
“After 12 years of stagnation, excuses are all they have left. The change this country needs is a Labour government.”
