Boris Johnson was rebuked by Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle on Tuesday over his Jimmy Savile “slur” on Sir Keir Starmer after the Labour leader was mobbed by angry protestors near Parliament.
The Prime Minister is facing calls to apologies and withdraw his claim that Sir Keir, when Director of Public Prosecutions, failed to prosecute serial sex offender Savile.
The Labour leader was targeted by demonstrators near Parliament on Monday afternoon, with some hurling Savile abuse.
He had to be rushed into a police car to protect him.
At the start of Tuesday’s Commons session, Sir Lindsay told MPs: “Regardless of yesterday’s incident, I made it clear last week that while the Prime Minister’s words were not disorderly they were inappropriate.
“As I said then, these sort of comments only inflame opinions and generate disregard for the House and it’s not acceptable.
“Our words have consequences and we should always be mindful of that fact.”
Sir Lindsay also revealed that he has asked Scotland Yard for a report on how Sir Keir was able to be targeted by the protestors, stressing MPs should be able to leave and arrive at Parliament safely.
The Speaker also condemned the “disgraceful behaviour” directed at Sir Keir and shadow foreign secretary David Lammy by the protestors, who shouted an array of abuse including on Savile, Julian Assange and Covid.
He stressed: “I deplore the fact that members of this House are subjected to intimidating and threatening behaviour while simply doing their jobs.
“I know the whole House will join me in saying ‘we stand with our colleagues in condemning the behaviour they and the police experienced’.”
He added: “While I do not comment in detail on security matters on the floor of the Chamber, steps must be in place to keep passholders secure as they enter and leave the parliamentary estate.
“I have requested a situation report from the Metropolitan Police via our security team on how this incident occurred.”
Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said the threatening protest aimed at Sir Keir was “completely unacceptable” but insisted Mr Johnson’s comments were not to blame.
He told ITV that Mr Johnson made a “fair and reasonable point” that “somebody at the top of an organisation has responsibility for what happens in it”, in relation to Sir Keir’s former role as Director of Public Prosecutions.
“That’s no excuse for people to behave the way they did last night and we shouldn’t give them that excuse either,” he added.
Downing Street has made clear that the Prime Minister is not planning to apologies for the Savile remark.
After a furore, he clarified it last week by saying he was not accusing the Labour leader of personally having taken decisions about not prosecuting the sex offender.
