Starmer Blames PM’s Savile Slur for Inciting Mob that Accosted Him

THE GUARDIAN: Labour leader says he was never accused in public of being ‘paedophile protector’ before Johnson remark

Starmer told the Times Johnson used a ‘deliberate slur without any basis in fact’. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images
Keir Starmer has blamed Boris Johnson’s slur about Jimmy Savile for inciting a mob that accosted him outside parliament on Monday.

The Labour leader said he had never before been accused in public of being a “paedophile protector” until the prime minister falsely accused him, a week before the attack, of failing to prosecute Savile when he was director of public prosecutions (DPP).

In an interview with the Times, Starmer said Johnson had used a “deliberate slur without any basis in fact”. He added: “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.” With video » | Matthew Weaver | Thursday, February 10, 2022