UK: MPs lambast PM Johnson for whipping hysteria, political poison against Labour leader

UK MPs have launched an attack on the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for provoking fury, whipping hysteria and ‘political poison’ after protesters mobbed on Labour leader Keir Starmer on February 7, Monday. The angry Britons on Monday surrounded Starmer and yelled “traitor” as they hurled hateful rhetorics against the British MP in relation to Jimmy Savile’s case.

The latter was UK’s leading broadcaster BBC television and radio presenter, who died in 2011. He was an alleged sex offender but apparently was never brought to justice by the British government for his crimes. A fact-checking charity in 2020 had found that Sir Keir had stopped Savile from being charged in 2009, and while there were many instances, Starmer had refrained from politically convicting Savile on grounds of "insufficient evidence.” 

UK PM stated Starmer 'failed to prosecute Savile'

Earlier yesterday, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had attacked Starmer, stating that he had failed to prosecute Savile when he was the director of public prosecutions (DPP). Johnson attracted widespread backlash about his criticism, but the British leader clarified that he was “making a point about his [Starmer’s] responsibility and wasn’t making a personal attack.

"I really do want to clarify that because it is important,” he stressed, according to Sky News. 

Starmer had challenged Boris Johnson over his remarks, which he made in the House of Commons during the Prime Minister’s questions. MPs accused Johnson of trying to score political points.’ The Labour leader, in turn, accused Johnson of using the "conspiracy theories of violent fascists.”

On February 7, the UK MPs questioned PM’s Jimmy Savile slur, while UK PM’s Business Minister Kwasi Kwarteng labelled his remarks as “perfectly reasonable”.

UK’s Deputy PM Dominic Raab also defended Johnson’s position as he said that the remarks were simply "part of the cut and thrust in the Chamber".

UK’s Health Secretary Sajid Javid meanwhile criticised Johnson, as he stressed that Sir Keir “deserves absolute respect.”

“Keir Starmer, when he was running the DPP, did a good job and he should be respected for it. It is a tough job and he deserved absolute respect for that,” he told Sky News. 

“It was perfectly reasonable to mention the fact Sir Keir apologised on behalf of the organisation he lied about the fact they failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile. So the fact he apologised suggests he does at some level bear some responsibility,” Kwarteng told Sky News.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak meanwhile told Sky News: “Being honest, I wouldn’t have said it and I’m glad the PM clarified what he meant.

“UK PM Boris Johnson meanwhile responded to the controversy, stating that Starmer had taken the responsibility of his failure. On his first point, I don't want to make heavy weather out of this but I am told that in 2013, he apologised and took full responsibility for what had happened on his watch. I think that was the right thing to do."