Jacob Rees-Mogg has said he does not recall feeding the prime minister the controversial jibe about Sir Keir Starmer failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile while he was director of public prosecutions.
The Sunday Times reported that Mr Rees-Mogg, who has been moved from Commons Leader to the newly minted position of Brexit opportunities minister in the mini-reshuffle, “originally whispered” the idea of using the attack to Boris Johnson in the Commons last week.
But the Cabinet minister said that while he “mentioned the point about journalists”, he was not close enough to Mr Johnson to “feed him lines”.
The Conservative Party leader last week accused the Labour leader of having used his time as head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to pursue journalists and “failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile”, the notorious celebrity paedophile.
I wasn’t sitting next to the Prime Minister, so I wasn’t in a particularly good position to be feeding him lines
The comments sparked a political row and critics both on the Conservative and opposition benches have blamed the remarks for protesters targeting Sir Keir outside Parliament on Monday, with the mob accusing him of being a “paedophile protector” before he was escorted away in a police vehicle.
Mr Johnson has sought to clarify his comments made in an exchange following a Commons statement on 31 January about the interim Sue Gray report into alleged lockdown-breaking events in No 10, but he has refused to apologise.
During an interview with Conservative Home’s The Moggcast, Mr Rees-Mogg was asked about the suggestion that he was the person who initially handed the PM the idea for the Savile remark.
He said: “That isn’t my recollection.
“What was going on at the time was a very noisy chamber and people were shouting things out.
“I think it came from behind us, but it seemed to me a perfectly fair point to use.”
Pressed on whether he was sure it did not come from him, the senior Tory replied: “I certainly mentioned the point about journalists in the back and forth across the chamber, but I think it came from behind both of us.
“I wasn’t sitting next to the Prime Minister, so I wasn’t in a particularly good position to be feeding him lines.”
At least six Tory MPs – including one former Cabinet minister – have called for Mr Johnson to formally apologise for the remarks. His long-standing ally Munira Mirza quit as head of policy at No 10 last week in protest at his refusal to withdraw what she called a “scurrilous accusation”.
Although Sir Keir was head of the Crown Prosecution Service in 2009 when a decision was taken not to prosecute Savile, he had no personal involvement in the deliberations.
However, supporters of the prime minister argue that they are entitled to hold him to account for the failings of the organisation.
Mr Rees-Mogg, during the podcast interview – which was recorded on Monday, before his ministerial job change – likened the situation with Sir Keir to the Crichel Down affair, in which a minister resigned after taking responsibility for actions taken by civil servants.
“You are responsible for what goes on within your department, even if you don’t know about it at the point at which it takes place,” Mr Rees-Mogg said.
