Keir Starmer has called on the Conservative party to “restore some dignity” to their party as he accused the Boris Johnson of peddling far-right conspiracy theories in the Commons.
But the Prime Minister doubled down on the far-right slur that Starmer failed to prosecute paedophile Jimmy Savile when he was director or public prosecutions.
At the beginning of Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons the Labour leader accused the Prime Minister of “parroting the conspiracy theories of violent fascists to try and score cheap political points”.
Starmer said: “I just want to say to the members opposite, theirs is the party of Winston Churchill."
“Our parties stood together as we defeated fascism in Europe.
"Now their leader stands in the House of Commons parroting the conspiracy theories of violent fascists to try and score cheap political points. He knows exactly what he is doing, it is time to restore some dignity.”
It was a direct reference to the accusation the cornered Prime Minister made on Monday while answering questions on the Sue Gray report on partygate breaches of lockdown in Downing Street.
A desperate Johnson then accused Starmer of failing to prosecute the notorious child abuser Savile while he was in charge of the Crown Prosecution Service.
The false claim is often repeated online by far-right conspiracy theorists but the Prime Minister gave it oxygen in the Commons to the disgust of many of his own MPs.
But confronted on Wednesday the Prime Minister refused to back down.
To cries of “shame” from Labour MPs, Johnson said: “I don’t want to make heavy weather of this but I’m informed in 2013 he apologised and took full responsibility of what happened on his watch.”
Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle began Prime Minister’s Questions by reminding MPs about the parliamentary rules about alleging another member has lied or misled the House.
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