Keir Starmer confirms he has received death threats after Boris Johnson Jimmy Savile slur

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has confirmed that he has received death threats since Boris Johnson falsely accused him of failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer during a visit to the Beacon of Light , a community and education facility, in Sunderland (PA)Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer during a visit to the Beacon of Light , a community and education facility, in Sunderland (PA)
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer during a visit to the Beacon of Light , a community and education facility, in Sunderland (PA)

The revelations follow reports over the weekend that police have launched an investigation into online threats made against the former Director of Public Prosecutions.

Sir Keir was asked this morning whether he had received threats following the Prime Minister’s comments in the Commons a fortnight ago and he said: “Yes, I do not like talking about this because I have got young children.”

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He told BBC Radio Newcastle: “It’s very important for me to say that what the Prime Minister said was wrong, it was very wrong. He knew exactly what he was doing.

“There has been a right-wing conspiracy theory for some time that’s a complete fabrication.

“He fed into that, and that has caused difficulty, but my preference, if I may, is not to talk about that because, as I say, I have got young children and I don’t particularly want them to hear too much of what may or may not be said about me.”

The Metropolitan Police have said an investigation is ongoing after officers “received a third party report relating to allegations of malicious communications made against a serving Member of Parliament”.

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Documents, including a batch of messages from users of the Telegram app who appear to be identifiable, were sent to Scotland Yard by the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) on Friday.

The Observer reported they include calls for Sir Keir, who along with shadow foreign secretary David Lammy were confronted by a mob in Whitehall last week shouting “paedophile protector”, to be executed.

Although Sir Keir was head of the Crown Prosecution Service in 2009 when a decision was taken not to prosecute Savile, he had no personal involvement in the deliberations.

In an interview with The Times this week, Sir Keir said he had never been called a “paedophile protector” before.

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He added: “If others want to argue that this is unconnected with precisely what the Prime Minister said one week before then let them make that case. But they’ll never persuade me that there is no link.”

Mr Johnson tweeted on Monday evening that the “behaviour directed” at the Labour leader was “absolutely disgraceful”.