Boris Johnson has said he “stands by” false comments he made about Sir Keir Starmer’s involvement in the prosecution of Jimmy Savile in the House of Commons yesterday.
The prime minister used parliamentary privilege to accuse the Labour leader of failing to prosecute Savile when he was director of public prosecutions (DPP), even though the conspiracy theory, which has spread online in recent years, has been found to be baseless.
At a Downing Street briefing with journalists today, the prime minister’s official spokesman was asked if Johnson would withdraw the claims, which have been disproven multiple times by independent fact-checking organisations.
The spokesman said: “The prime minister stands by what he said in the House.”
Invited to repeat the comments without the protection of parliamentary privilege, however, the spokesman refused, saying it was a political matter that he could not comment on as a civil servant.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons Speaker, said he was “far from satisfied” with the prime minister’s comments.
In a statement, Hoyle said Johnson’s remarks had not breached any specific rules on parliamentary language, but he told MPs that they needed to show each other “respect as well as tolerance”.
“While they may not have been disorderly, I am far from satisfied that the comments in question were appropriate on this occasion,” he said. “I want to see more compassionate, reasonable politics in this house, and that sort of comment can only inflame opinions and generate disregard for this house … please, let us show each other respect as well as tolerance.”
In a heated Commons session yesterday Johnson drew attention to Starmer’s legal career as he attempted to deflect criticism about Downing Street parties. He said that when Starmer was DPP he had “used his time prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile”.
Reuters Fact Check, an independent fact-checking organisation, investigated the claims last year and concluded they were false.
Fact Check UK, another independent organisation, also found that Starmer was not involved in the failure to prosecute Savile. The television personality, who died in 2011 at the age of 84, was not brought to justice for his sex abuse crimes.
However, the claims have been widely repeated on the internet on right-wing forums and among critics of the Labour leader.
Asked about Johnson’s remarks today, Starmer claimed that even Tory MPs had been “disgusted” by them. “They knew that he was going so low with that slur, with that lie … because he doesn’t understand what honesty and integrity means,” he told Sky News. “He does what he always does which is to try and drag everyone into the gutter with him.”
Dominic Raab, the justice secretary, was later challenged on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 to repeat Johnson’s allegation outside the Commons — where claims made cannot be challenged in the courts — but declined to do so. He admitted he could not substantiate the claim. However he told Times Radio it was “part of the cut and thrust in the chamber”.
The online conspiracy theory concerns a decision by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) not to prosecute Savile in 2009 because of “insufficient evidence”. Starmer was head of the CPS at the time, but was not involved in the case. Starmer later commissioned a review, which was highly critical of the CPS’s handling of the case.
Johnson’s claims drew fire from some of his Tory critics. Julian Smith, the former chief whip, said: “The smear made against Keir Starmer relating to Jimmy Savile yesterday is wrong and cannot be defended. It should be withdrawn. False and baseless personal slurs are dangerous, corrode trust and can’t just be accepted as part of the cut and thrust of parliamentary debate.”
Nazir Afzal, the former chief crown prosecutor of the CPS in the northwest, said it was “not true”. He added: “[The] reference to Jimmy Savile by Boris Johnson was a disgrace to parliament and [the] office of prime minister.
“Keir Starmer had nothing to do with the decisions taken. On the contrary, he supported me in bringing hundreds of child sex abusers to justice.”
Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, insisted the prime minister had not spread a conspiracy theory. “The prime minister tells the truth,” she said.
Tory MPs were privately incensed by the remarks. “Not the prime minister’s best moment at all,” one said.
“A spokesperson for the CPS said that, “in line with the established data retention policy”, none of the records for the decision not to charge Savile in 2009 were kept.”
Convenient.
Think about the type of person who would be taken in by this easily disproven lie. That is who Johnson is appealing to. That’s what currently remains of his support. A spiteful slice of British society. People who will swallow any untruth from a man who allows them to bring their beliefs out into the open from the shadows where they belong.
* Lying in Westminster – OK
* Pointing out some one lied – Explosion from the chamber
What a world.
Saville was evil and vile.
But everyone is falling for Bojos dead cat tactics again
The mask slips and we see Johnson’s true nature. A sick, ugly soul
Once again BOJO is trying to distract media attention.
Let this one go, We have bigger issues to tackle.
Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but the right wing press are using “false” to describe the claim, when they could just say “stands by his claim”.
Obviously the claim IS false, but it seems unusual to me that typically right wing Tory media is calling it “false”. Almost as if, dare I hope, his time is up and it’s now “when he goes” and not “if he goes.”
Boris is pulling a fake news Trump move. He is desperate and has 0 morals, even to the point of weaponising what the poor victims went through…
It’s very easy to disprove the vile bold lie, but yeah a dead cat…
What is more twisted, not only was Kier nothing to do with it, but once it had happened he investigated and put in processes to help make it easier for sexual abuse victims to report the crimes, have it investigated and brought to court.
I’m sure when he gets back from Ukraine, where he’s pretending to be pivotal and hoping to be Churchill II, he can apologise to Kier and the victims of Jimmy Savile…
🙄
His callous disregard for the truth is stomach churning. Why am I constantly surprised by this? Oh, because I’m a decent human being.
He is laughing at everyone. He thinks he is untouchable and the word sorry isn’t in his vocabulary anymore.
Of course he did, that wretched lying piece of shit
Please can he just fuck right off now. And keep fucking off.
He needs to go…
We’re being mocked internationally because of all this. The prime minister can no longer do his job because his only aim is to save himself.
Does he realise how stupid and desperate this is making him look?
Parliament where Slander is absolutely ok and acceptable,
Calling out the slanderer will have you thrown out.
The system actively favours liars and cheats, is it any wonder we have Bojo in charge?
Lying got him to number 10. People loved it when he lied about everything from brexit to Corbyn. Why would he stop now? And really, what other skill does he have?
16 comments
Article contents:
Boris Johnson has said he “stands by” false comments he made about Sir Keir Starmer’s involvement in the prosecution of Jimmy Savile in the House of Commons yesterday.
The prime minister used parliamentary privilege to accuse the Labour leader of failing to prosecute Savile when he was director of public prosecutions (DPP), even though the conspiracy theory, which has spread online in recent years, has been found to be baseless.
At a Downing Street briefing with journalists today, the prime minister’s official spokesman was asked if Johnson would withdraw the claims, which have been disproven multiple times by independent fact-checking organisations.
The spokesman said: “The prime minister stands by what he said in the House.”
Invited to repeat the comments without the protection of parliamentary privilege, however, the spokesman refused, saying it was a political matter that he could not comment on as a civil servant.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons Speaker, said he was “far from satisfied” with the prime minister’s comments.
In a statement, Hoyle said Johnson’s remarks had not breached any specific rules on parliamentary language, but he told MPs that they needed to show each other “respect as well as tolerance”.
“While they may not have been disorderly, I am far from satisfied that the comments in question were appropriate on this occasion,” he said. “I want to see more compassionate, reasonable politics in this house, and that sort of comment can only inflame opinions and generate disregard for this house … please, let us show each other respect as well as tolerance.”
In a heated Commons session yesterday Johnson drew attention to Starmer’s legal career as he attempted to deflect criticism about Downing Street parties. He said that when Starmer was DPP he had “used his time prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile”.
Reuters Fact Check, an independent fact-checking organisation, investigated the claims last year and concluded they were false.
Fact Check UK, another independent organisation, also found that Starmer was not involved in the failure to prosecute Savile. The television personality, who died in 2011 at the age of 84, was not brought to justice for his sex abuse crimes.
However, the claims have been widely repeated on the internet on right-wing forums and among critics of the Labour leader.
Asked about Johnson’s remarks today, Starmer claimed that even Tory MPs had been “disgusted” by them. “They knew that he was going so low with that slur, with that lie … because he doesn’t understand what honesty and integrity means,” he told Sky News. “He does what he always does which is to try and drag everyone into the gutter with him.”
Dominic Raab, the justice secretary, was later challenged on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 to repeat Johnson’s allegation outside the Commons — where claims made cannot be challenged in the courts — but declined to do so. He admitted he could not substantiate the claim. However he told Times Radio it was “part of the cut and thrust in the chamber”.
The online conspiracy theory concerns a decision by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) not to prosecute Savile in 2009 because of “insufficient evidence”. Starmer was head of the CPS at the time, but was not involved in the case. Starmer later commissioned a review, which was highly critical of the CPS’s handling of the case.
Johnson’s claims drew fire from some of his Tory critics. Julian Smith, the former chief whip, said: “The smear made against Keir Starmer relating to Jimmy Savile yesterday is wrong and cannot be defended. It should be withdrawn. False and baseless personal slurs are dangerous, corrode trust and can’t just be accepted as part of the cut and thrust of parliamentary debate.”
Nazir Afzal, the former chief crown prosecutor of the CPS in the northwest, said it was “not true”. He added: “[The] reference to Jimmy Savile by Boris Johnson was a disgrace to parliament and [the] office of prime minister.
“Keir Starmer had nothing to do with the decisions taken. On the contrary, he supported me in bringing hundreds of child sex abusers to justice.”
Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, insisted the prime minister had not spread a conspiracy theory. “The prime minister tells the truth,” she said.
Tory MPs were privately incensed by the remarks. “Not the prime minister’s best moment at all,” one said.
https://fullfact.org/online/keir-starmer-prosecute-jimmy-savile/
“A spokesperson for the CPS said that, “in line with the established data retention policy”, none of the records for the decision not to charge Savile in 2009 were kept.”
Convenient.
Think about the type of person who would be taken in by this easily disproven lie. That is who Johnson is appealing to. That’s what currently remains of his support. A spiteful slice of British society. People who will swallow any untruth from a man who allows them to bring their beliefs out into the open from the shadows where they belong.
* Lying in Westminster – OK
* Pointing out some one lied – Explosion from the chamber
What a world.
Saville was evil and vile.
But everyone is falling for Bojos dead cat tactics again
The mask slips and we see Johnson’s true nature. A sick, ugly soul
Once again BOJO is trying to distract media attention.
Let this one go, We have bigger issues to tackle.
Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but the right wing press are using “false” to describe the claim, when they could just say “stands by his claim”.
Obviously the claim IS false, but it seems unusual to me that typically right wing Tory media is calling it “false”. Almost as if, dare I hope, his time is up and it’s now “when he goes” and not “if he goes.”
Boris is pulling a fake news Trump move. He is desperate and has 0 morals, even to the point of weaponising what the poor victims went through…
https://youtu.be/fBoemORN7Dk
It’s very easy to disprove the vile bold lie, but yeah a dead cat…
What is more twisted, not only was Kier nothing to do with it, but once it had happened he investigated and put in processes to help make it easier for sexual abuse victims to report the crimes, have it investigated and brought to court.
I’m sure when he gets back from Ukraine, where he’s pretending to be pivotal and hoping to be Churchill II, he can apologise to Kier and the victims of Jimmy Savile…
🙄
His callous disregard for the truth is stomach churning. Why am I constantly surprised by this? Oh, because I’m a decent human being.
He is laughing at everyone. He thinks he is untouchable and the word sorry isn’t in his vocabulary anymore.
Of course he did, that wretched lying piece of shit
Please can he just fuck right off now. And keep fucking off.
He needs to go…
We’re being mocked internationally because of all this. The prime minister can no longer do his job because his only aim is to save himself.
Does he realise how stupid and desperate this is making him look?
Parliament where Slander is absolutely ok and acceptable,
Calling out the slanderer will have you thrown out.
The system actively favours liars and cheats, is it any wonder we have Bojo in charge?
Lying got him to number 10. People loved it when he lied about everything from brexit to Corbyn. Why would he stop now? And really, what other skill does he have?