Starmer accused of stealing grassroots left branding in latest (dreary) ad

A sharp-eyed left-winger has accused Keir Starmer and the Labour party of pinching the colours and styles used by grassroots left group Ordinary Left in his latest ad. X account @LeftMosaic noticed the eerie similarity in an awful, jingoistic video Starmer posted on X with the comment “Defence is an engine for growth across our country”, demanded to know why Starmer had ‘stolen’ the group’s graphic style and accused him and his party of being “charlatans and absolutely nowhere near left”:

Left Mosaic went on to post a pointed follow-up containing four images, none of them complimentary, targeting Starmer’s support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza – the RAF continues to run spy and supply flights for the Israeli military – with the first pointing out that “Genocide may be an Israeli value but it’s certainly not a British one!”:

The punchy white and dark red theme was not enough to make Starmer’s video any less awful – and others agreed in responses to Starmer’s heavily ‘ratioed’ post, which at the time of writing had almost twice as many replies as shares, considered a sign of a disastrous post. Just a few typical replies out of well over a thousand are below:

Furious graphic designer Edward Torsney, who created the style for Ordinary Left, told Skwawkbox that Labour’s mimicry only confirmed the group’s influence and strengthened its determination:

We built a strong visual identity which has become synonymous with the strength, resilience and voice of the British left. This attempt by the Labour Party to co-opt our movement only serves to affirm our influence and strengthen our resolve.