Boris Johnson's 'deliberate slur' about Jimmy Savile influenced abusive mob, Keir Starmer claims

Keir Starmer believes there is a direct link between Boris Johnson's "deliberate slur" about Jimmy Savile and the abusive mob which targeted him in London this week.

The Labour leader told The Times the group of anti-vaccine protesters had been influenced by the Prime Minister's remarks.

“I have never been called a paedophile protector before," he said.

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"That happened for the first time in my life. If others want to argue that this is unconnected with precisely what the PM said one week before then let them make that case. But they’ll never persuade me that there is no link.”

Police assist Sir Keir Starmer after an abusive mob surrounded him in LondonPolice assist Sir Keir Starmer after an abusive mob surrounded him in London
Police assist Sir Keir Starmer after an abusive mob surrounded him in London

The protests earlier this week followed Mr Johnson accusing Sir Keir of spending "most of his time... failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile" when he was director of public prosecutions. The situation led to the Prime Minister's policy chief Munira Mirza resigning in protest at Mr Johnson's claim and failure to apologise for it.

Mr Johnson has refused to apologise for it despite eventually accepting that Sir Keir "had nothing to do personally" with the decision. The Prime Minister claims he was referring to Sir Keir's wider responsibility for Crown Prosecution Service decisions.

Sir Keir told the Times that he believed the allegations from the Prime Minister went beyond what Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab termed the "cut and thrust of political debate".

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He said: “It was a deliberate slur without any basis in fact."

“The PM knew exactly what he was doing. It is a conspiracy theory of violent fascists that has been doing the rounds for some time. I don’t think he will apologise. It’s not about me, it’s the way we conduct our politics. I don’t want to see us go down the route that this potentially takes us down.”

Sir Keir said he was "heartened" by the support of many Tory MPs over the issue and credited cabinet ministers Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid for their refusal to endorse Mr Johnson's remarks.

The Labour leader said the killings of MPs Jo Cox and Sir David Amess highlights the need for politicians to choose what they say with care.

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“We’ve had two murders in the last seven years,” he said. “We all have a responsibility to ensure that we conduct ourselves in a way which minimises the risk to all politicians.”

Sir Keir said he only became aware of the decision not to prosecute Savile until after the celebrity's death.

“I wasn’t involved in the decision. I knew nothing about the decision. When Savile died I instigated a review to audit whether any cases had come across the desk of any CPS officers and discovered at that stage decisions had been made.

“I was flagging what I wanted to see change in the criminal justice system and I changed it. I knew nothing about the decisions at the time.”

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