The Prime Minister has been called a “disgrace to Parliament” and rebuked by Sir Lyndsay Hoyle the Speaker of the House of Commons over his discredited claim the Labour leader failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile.
The former Tory chief whip has called on Boris Johnson to withdraw his “baseless personal slur” on Sir Keir Starmer and said he was “debasing himself by going so low.”
The Speaker of the House said that he is “far from satisfied that the comments in question were appropriate.”
On Monday the Sue Gray “update” report was given to Downing Street and faced fury in the Commons by many MPs and the former Prime Minister Theresa May.
Johnson blasted the Labour leader who was the former director of public prosecutions and accused Sir Keir of “failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile.”
Johnson in a brutal swipe at Sir Keir said in the Commons, he “used his time prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile.”
On Tuesday Sir Lyndsay was asked about Johnson’s comments, the Speaker said, “procedural nothing disorderly occurred but such allegations should not be made lightly.”
He added, “While they may not have been disorderly, I am far from satisfied that the comments in question were appropriate on this occasion.
“I want to see more compassionate, reasonable politics in this House and the sort of comment can only inflame opinions and generate disregard for this House.
“I’ve got to say I want a nicer Parliament, the only way we can get a nicer Parliament is being more honourable in the debates we have.”
Nazir Afzal, a former chief crown prosecutor for the North West, said Johnson’s comments by saying that the reference made to Savile by Johnson was “a disgrace to Parliament & office of Prime Minister.”
He wrote on Twitter, “Keir Starmer had nothing to do with the decisions taken. On the contrary, He supported me in bringing 100s of child sex abusers to justice.”
Tory former chief whip Julian Smith 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 It should be withdrawn.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.”
Sir Keir told Sky News, “It is a ridiculous slur peddled by right-wing trolls… this is where I saw the faces of the Conservative MPs, the disgust on their faces that their Prime Minister was debasing himself by sinking so low in the Chamber was clear.
“They knew that he was going so low with that slur, with that lie – he had been advised not to do it because it’s obviously not true, but he does it because he doesn’t understand what honesty and integrity means.”
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said Johnson “stands by what he said in the House.”
“As a civil servant it wouldn’t be right for me to repeat something which relates to a political aspect of the Prime Minister’s work,” the spokesman added.
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