Johnson told to 'apologise unreservedly' for Savile comments after mob targets Starmer

Boris Johnson is coming under pressure to “apologise unreservedly” to Keir Starmer after the Labour leader was targetted by protesters who accused him of protecting Jimmy Savile.

The politician was in Whitehall yesterday evening walking to parliament when he was surrounded by a mob who called him a “traitor” and a “paedo protector”.

He was bundled into a police car for his own protection. The Metropolitan Police said it had made two arrests after a police officer was allegedly assaulted.

Just over a week ago, Johnson accused Starmer of failing to prosecute Savile during his time as Director of Public Prosecutions. 

Starmer was not personally involved in the decision but apologised in 2013 on behalf of the Crown Prosecution Service.

He accused the Prime Minister of parroting far-right conspiracy theories. Politicians from all parties - including a number of Tories - have directly linked the attack on Starmer to Johnson's comments. 

Julian Smith, a former Northern Ireland secretary, said: “It is really important for our democracy and for [Starmer’s] security that the false Savile slurs . . . are withdrawn in full.”

Tory MP Tobias Ellwood tweeted: “PM — Apologise please. We claim to be the Mother of all Parliaments. Let’s stop this drift towards a Trumpian style of politics from becoming the norm.”

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: “Any politician choosing to weaponise online conspiracy theories against opponents knows fine well that they risk stirring up the kind of hate and abuse that Keir Starmer experienced today. If he has any decency at all, the PM will now apologise unreservedly.”

Labour MP Chris Bryant, who chairs the Commons standards committee, said: “This was incited by the prime minister. It was the inevitable conclusion of his deliberate lies . . . This is what happens when a prime minister descends into the gutter and recycles lies from hard-right conspiracy theorists. Political poison has an effect. Johnson has no moral compass.”

Johnson later condemned the incident but stopped short of apologising: “The behaviour directed at the leader of the opposition is absolutely disgraceful. All forms of harassment of our elected representatives are completely unacceptable.”

Priti Patel, the home secretary, said: “All members of parliament must be able to go about their lives without fear of threats or intimidation. The scenes outside parliament of people accosting Keir Starmer and David Lammy were completely unacceptable. I am in contact with the police about the incident.”

The crowd had initially gathered to protest Covid vaccinations.