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 It is really important for our democracy & for his security that the false Savile slurs made against him are withdrawn in full.”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 It is really important for our democracy & for his security that the false Savile slurs made against him are withdrawn in full.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.”

Skipton and Ripon MP Julian Smith has urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to withdraw a “slur” he made against Sir Keir Starmer yesterday relating to Jimmy Savile.

Mr Johnson accused the Labour leader in the House of Commons of failing to prosecute Savile while he was Director of Public Prosecutions.

He claimed Sir Keir spent his time “prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile”.

The accusation has been described as “false and baseless” by Conservative MP Mr Smith. He said such “baseless personal slurs are dangerous”.

In a tweet this morning, Mr Smith said:

“The smear made against Keir Starmer relating to Jimmy Saville 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.”

The smear made against Keir Starmer relating to Jimmy Saville yesterday is wrong & cannot be defended. It should be withdrawn. False and baseless personal slurs are dangerous, corrode trust & can't just be accepted as part of the cut & thrust of parliamentary debate.

— Julian Smith MP (@JulianSmithUK) February 1, 2022

Mr Smith has joined Nazir Afzal, who was assistant chief crown prosecutor in London during the Savile allegations, in condemning the remark.

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Mr Afzal said the accusation was not true and said Sir Keir “had nothing to do with the decisions taken”.

‘He drags everybody into the gutter’

The Labour leader was head of the Crown Prosecution Service when the the decision was made not to prosecute Savile in 2009. However, he was not the reviewing lawyer for the case who dealt with the allegations.

Sir Keir later commissioned an investigation into matter, which criticised both prosecutors and police for their handling of the allegations.

In response to the claim by the Prime Minister, the Labour leader told ITV Good Morning Britain:

“It’s a slur, it’s untrue, it’s desperate from the Prime Minister.

“I was really struck yesterday in the House at how many Conservative MPs were disgusted at that untruth from the despatch box.

“Of course on our side, people were disgusted. But his own MPs couldn’t believe their Prime Minister had stooped that low.

“He’s degraded the whole office. And this is how he operates. He drags everybody into the gutter with him.

“Everybody he touches, everybody that comes into contact with him is contaminated by this Prime Minister.”