Skipton and Ripon MP Julian Smith last night called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to withdraw “false Savile slurs” after Sir Keir Starmer was surrounded by protesters outside parliament.
It is the second time in a week the local MP has criticised his party leader on Twitter. He said:
“What happened to Keir Starmer tonight outside parliament is appalling. It is really important for our democracy & for his security that the false Savile slurs made against him are withdrawn in full.”
Mr Smith’s tweet has received 50,000 likes and attracted national media coverage.
Sir Keir, a former Director of Public Prosecutions, required a police escort last night after being surrounded by a mob shouting slurs about Savile.
It came a week after Boris Johnson criticised the Labour Party leader for failing to prosecute the serial sex offender.
Mr Smith tweeted after that incident that “false and baseless personal slurs are dangerous”.
There have been subsequent calls for Mr Johnson to apologise for his comments but Downing street has indicated he will not.
What happened to Keir Starmer tonight outside parliament is appalling. It is really important for our democracy & for his security that the false Savile slurs made against him are withdrawn in full.
— Julian Smith MP (@JulianSmithUK) February 7, 2022
Sir Keir had to be escorted to a police car whilst protesters criticised him for supporting covid vaccinations and supposedly shouted “Jimmy Saville”.
On his twitter, the Skipton and Ripon MP said:
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Tobias Ellwood, the Conservative MP for Bournemouth East, agreed with Mr Smith. He posted on Twitter last night:
“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. We are better than this.”
Mr Johnson is yet to withdraw the comments but did condemn last night’s protest saying:
“The behaviour directed at the Leader of the Opposition tonight is absolutely disgraceful. All forms of harassment of our elected representatives are completely unacceptable.”
