Sir Keir Starmer says he has received death threats since Boris Johnson made the false claim that he failed to prosecute the peadophile Jimmy Savile.
The Labour leader told BBC Radio Newcastle that he did not wish to go into detail about the online messages “because I have got young children”. But he added: “What the prime minister said was wrong, he knew exactly what he was doing … and has caused difficulty.”
It comes after it was revealed over the weekend that police had launched an investigation into a number of threats made against Sir Keir by right-wing extremists, including calls for him and shadow foreign secretary David Lammy to be “executed”.
Meanwhile, Mr Johnson is preparing to tell police investigating the Partygate scandal that attending gatherings simply formed part of his working life during lockdown. While the PM has appointed his own lawyer to work on his response, The Times reports he will argue that three leaving parties he went to were a function of his job. “Saying goodbye to staff is part of working life,” a source told the newspaper.
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Khan ousted Cressida Dick to restore Londoners’ ‘trust’ in Met
An update on the Met Police commissioner row now. Sadiq Khan has faced some criticism over his decision to publicly withdraw his confidence in Dame Cressida Dick, formerly the most senior police officer in the UK.
However, a spokeswoman for the Mayor of London said today it is his boss’ job to “stand up for Londoners and hold the police to account on their behalf, as well to support the police in bearing down on crime”.
“With trust in the police among Londoners shattered following a series of devastating scandals exposing evidence of racism, misogyny, homophobia, harassment and discrimination in the Met, it was the mayor’s view that a change of leadership was the only way to address this crisis in trust,” she continued.
“The mayor has always made clear that there are thousands of incredibly brave and decent police officers at the Met, who we owe a huge debt of gratitude.”
But she added: “The series of scandals seen in recent years has tarnished the reputation of the police, which is so crucial to policing by consent. Downplaying the scale of the change required is only going to hinder, not help, the vital process of restoring Londoners’ trust in the Met.”
Cressida Dick resigned from her post after Khan said he no longer had confidence in her leadership
” height=”726″ width=”982″ layout=”responsive” class=”i-amphtml-layout-responsive i-amphtml-layout-size-defined” i-amphtml-layout=”responsive”> Cressida Dick resigned from her post after Khan said he no longer had confidence in her leadership
Have Labour ‘joined the Tories’ on Brexit?
Our politics reporter Adam Forrest has this:
Plenty of responses to Keir Starmer’s remarks about “taking advantage” of Brexit “opportunities”. Naomi Smith, chief executive of the Best For Britain campaign group, said Labour must move beyond the rhetoric and challenge the government.
She told The Independent: “If Labour are serious about creating post-Brexit opportunities they must start by improving the botched Brexit deal, making trade easier with our closest neighbours and avoiding a race to the bottom for standards in the UK.”
Smith added that any future government must “demonstrate they can be trusted” by businesses hit by a “scorched-earth Brexit”.
The SNP claimed Starmer’s comments amounted to Labour “joining the Tories on Brexit”, while respected commentator John Harris said “the two main parties in England both going on about the opportunities of Brexit is going to be utterly absurd”.
PM’s responses to party questionnaire not going public, says No 10
On whether Boris Johnson had returned his questionnaire yet, the Downing Street official said: “As we said on Friday, we will respond as required.
“As you know, I think the Met made clear that that was in seven days, so we will comply with that requirement.”
Asked if the responses would be made public, the spokesman said: “No.”
It comes amid calls, by cross-party MPs, for all documents relating to the Partygate investigation to be made public as soon as possible – to restore public trust in politics.
No 10 says PM condemns Starmer death threats
Boris Johnson’s official spokesman has been out defending his boss’ position on the abuse Sir Keir Starmer has faced over the Jimmy Savile row.
Downing Street said the PM absolutely condemns death threats against the Labour leader, but stopped short of saying Mr Johnson would apologise or even withdraw the remarks he made.
Sir Keir said on Monday that the PM’s claims he failed to prosecute Savile while he was director of public prosecutions had “fed into” a “right-wing conspiracy theory”, and this had caused “difficulty”. He also confirmed he received death threats in the wake of the jibe.
Asked if Mr Johnson condemned the threats, the PM’s official spokesman said: “Yes.”
He added: “Any sort of death threats to politicians are never acceptable.”
Russia tensions reveal threat to UK food supplies, farmers warn
In other news, tensions in Russia and Ukraine have revealed a risk to the UK’s food supplies, with soaring costs and post Brexit in-fighting helping to create a “perfect storm”, a farming chief has warned.
The two sparring countries provide 30 per cent of the world’s wheat exports, and a recent temporary block on fertiliser chemicals exported by Russia saw prices more than double.
Minette Batters, president of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), said that warnings about UK food security had gone unheeded for years, but now had to be taken seriously by the government. “I cannot understand why you would not treat food security as importantly as defence,” she told The Independent. “The quickest way to create a serious issue [for a country] is if you have food shortages.”
Our economics editor Anna Isaac has more:
Watch: PM’s sister Rachel Johnson defends Kurt Zouma for kicking cat
Starmer: Parliament should be recalled if Russia invades
Our politics reporter Adam Forrest has more from Keir Starmer:
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said parliament should be recalled if Russia invades Ukraine, as he called for tougher sanctions against Moscow.
On a visit to Sunderland, he said: “I think it’s very important that parliament is recalled if there is an invasion … we must have a swift and strong response, a united response, from the United Kingdom and a united response with our allies.”
He added: “I would like to see tougher sanctions. I’d like that threat to be very real because let’s see this for what it is. It’s Russian aggression. So I would say to the government go further on sanctions.”
‘Words have consequences,’ says Starmer about PM’s Savile slur
Amid the news that Sir Keir Starmer has received death threats, the Labour leader hit out at his main political opponent for false comments he made about the failure to prosecute Jimmy Savile.
“Well the prime minister knew exactly what he was doing and words have consequences,” Sir Keir told Sky News.
He added politicians had a “duty” to conduct their business in a “proper and rational way”.
Watch the full clip here:
PM refuses to say if he has handed in party police questionnaire
Speaking to the BBC on a visit to Scotland, the PM was coy and repeated comments previously made, that he “looks forward to being able to discuss all that” once the Metropolitan Police investigation is wrapped up.
He was also asked if he felt directly responsible for death threats Sir Keir Starmer has received, following claims made by Mr Johnson about the paedophile Jimmy Savile, to which he responded: “I’ve said enough on that already.”
It was an interesting interview, simply because wherever the PM goes and for whatever reason he is there, there is no stopping questions cropping up about the “situations at home” that he is trying to divert attention away from.
ICYMI: Shadow home sec insists reforms needed to deal with Britain’s policing
Labour, on Sunday, warned of a “perfect storm” in policing as it issued a call for wholesale reform in the wake of the resignation of Met commissioner Cressida Dick.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said an overhaul is needed to police training, misconduct proceedings, whistleblowing structures and social media use, writes our political editor Andrew Woodcock.
In the wake of the death of Sarah Everard and the exposure of misogynistic behaviour at Charing Cross police station in London, she called on home secretary Priti Patel to make tackling violence against women and girls a strategic policing requirement for all forces, as recommended in a report last year by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary.
