Boris Johnson Should Be Ashamed of Savile Slur, Says Bishop

THE GUARDIAN: Paul Bayes, retiring bishop of Liverpool, calls for an end to ‘rancid and dangerous’ political culture in Britain

Paul Bayes, the bishop of Liverpool, said Boris Johnson should take ‘serious stock of his position’ after what he said about the Labour leader Keir Starmer. Photograph: Rebecca Lupton/The Guardian
Today’s political culture is “rancid and dangerous” and Boris Johnson should be ashamed of telling a lie that led to street violence, a senior Church of England bishop has said.

Paul Bayes, the bishop of Liverpool, said the UK was facing a “struggle between those in whose interest it is to fragment society and those who want to sustain the common good”.

Speaking on the eve of his retirement, Bayes also said church law should change to define marriage as between two people regardless of gender – a highly controversial move that would overturn centuries of traditional biblical teaching.

Bayes said Johnson should take “serious stock of his position” after he told parliament that Keir Starmer had failed to prosecute the paedophile Jimmy Savile. Two days later, Starmer had to seek refuge from a mob accusing him of being a “paedophile protector”.

Bayes said: “I do not believe that was an honest statement, and I think [Johnson] should be ashamed of it. And the folks who trotted out to say ‘it’s not really a problem, it’s all part of the rough and tumble of politics’ should share that shame …

“The parallel in my mind is Donald Trump. [Johnson] is showing us who he is, and people seem to want that in politics. And I regret that. We need a politics that doesn’t have room for lies told in the House of Commons that might produce street violence two days afterwards.” » | Harriet Sherwood | Saturday, February 12, 2022

C of E bishop backs prosecution of those who defy ‘gay conversion’ ban: David Walker says faith leaders should face full force of law if they don’t comply with proposed ban »

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

Boris Johnson Faces Heat ahead of 'Partygate' Report | DW News

Jan 26, 2022 • British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced heated opposition in Parliament on Wednesday, and was urged to step down as the backlash over the "Partygate" scandal grows

. A much-anticipated report is also expected to be released on shortly that will determine whether the prime minister or members of his staff broke rules during coronavirus lockdowns. It's thought the conclusions about potentially illegal parties at

Johnson's Downing Street offices could determine the prime minister's political fate.

Starmer Tells Boris Johnson to Resign Immediately for Misleading Parliament

THE GUARDIAN: PM’s attempt to save career causing ‘immense damage to public trust’, says Labour leader

Keir Starmer at PMQs on Wednesday, when he called for Boris Johnson’s to resign. Photograph: House of Commons/PA
Keir Starmer has called in parliament for Boris Johnson to resign immediately for misleading MPs over Downing Street parties, saying the prime minister’s continued attempts to save his career were causing “immense damage to public trust”.

During a prime minister’s questions so unruly that at one point the Speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, warned shouting MPs that they may be removed from the Commons, Starmer said the decision of police to launch an investigation meant the weight of evidence about the parties was now clear.

While Johnson refused to discuss either the police inquiry, or the imminent civil service report on the alleged lockdown-breaching gatherings, he agreed with Starmer’s question that under the ministerial code, if it were found he had misled parliament he should resign. » | Peter Walker, Political correspondent |Wednesday, January 26, 2022

'He's Got to Go': Keir Starmer Says Boris Johnson Is Unfit as Leader

Jan 15, 2022 • Keir Starmer has ramped up the pressure on Boris Johnson as the prime minister fights to save his job, arguing that the stream of explosive allegations of Downing Street parties has left him 'unable to lead'.

In a speech to the Fabian Society conference, the Labour leader accused the Conservatives of running the NHS into the ground Boris Johnson is ‘mired in deceit’ and is unable to lead, says Keir Starmer

Boris Johnson Must Resign in National Interest, Says Keir Starmer

THE GUARDIAN: Labour leader increases pressure on PM as more Tory politicians join calls for him to quit

Keir Starmer said ‘self-indulgent’ Tories were ‘having a fight about a leader who they should have known from the start is not fit for office’. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA
Keir Starmer has ramped up the pressure on Boris Johnson as the prime minister fights to save his job, arguing that it is in the “national interest” that he steps down as he is “unable to lead”.

In a speech to the Fabian Society conference, the Labour leader accused the Conservatives of running the NHS into the ground because they are “too preoccupied defending his rule breaking”. Stressing that “waiting times were the shortest on record” when Labour left government 12 years ago, he said: “Rather than concentrating on getting through the pandemic and bringing down waiting lists, this self-indulgent Tory party is instead having a fight about a leader who they should have known from the start is not fit for office.”

“We are witnessing the broken spectacle of a prime minister mired in deceit and deception, unable to lead,” Starmer said, adding that it was “very important that the Tory party does what it needs to do and gets rid of him”. » | Clea Skopeliti | Saturday, January 15, 2022

'Covid Coalition' Government Considered by Senior Conservatives

THE GUARDIAN: George Freeman says Keir Starmer should join ‘unavoidable’ cross-party government if elected

Senior Conservatives are questioning whether Boris Johnson will need a national unity government or emergency cross-party council to share responsibility for the coronavirus crisis if the situation worsens.

George Freeman, a former minister in Johnson’s government, was the first to break cover to say a “Covid coalition” government may be “unavoidable” and some other Tory MPs privately believe the prime minister will need cross-party governing consensus if emergency measures are to continue for months.

Freeman told the Guardian: “The scale of this national emergency – the suspension of usual freedoms and democracy, the economic consequences and the likely loss of tens of thousands of lives – demands a suspension of politics as usual. » | Rowena Mason, Peter Walker and Kate Proctor | Wednesday, March 25, 2020 (?)