Conservative MP Chris Philp claimed this morning (February 8) that there was no link between comments made by Boris Johnson in parliament last week and the harassment on Keir Starmer yesterday (February 7).
Boris Johnson falsely accused the Labour leader last week of failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile, when he was in charge of the CPS.
Yesterday, Keir Starmer and David Lammy were approached and harassed by hecklers shouting "Jimmy Savile" at the leader of the opposition.
The protesters also shouted "traitor" at the Labour leader, and later Scotland Yard confirmed two people were arrested after a traffic cone was thrown at officers.
MP Chris Philp told BBC Breakfast viewers that there "was not" a link between the harassment and the comments made by the Prime Minister, saying they were "mostly talking about Julian Assange".
Philp also told Sky News that "you can't blame" Boris Johnson for the actions of the "mob".
When asked if Boris Johnson should apologise, the digital minister said the PM was "not suggesting that Keir Starmer was personally responsible" for the prosecution of Jimmy Savile.
He then continued "I don't think it (the claim) was incorrect" but said they "were capable of being misconstrued".
"There is no way you can reasonably make a link between the CPS comments, and the harassment" he insisted.
Brendan Cox, widower of murdered MP Jo Cox, said the comments had the potential to create "a violence of emotional reaction".
On BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he compared the situation with the US.
"You've seen that in the US" he said, "the QAnon conspiracy there".
He added that whilst the UK is "a long way from there" Johnson's comments have "implications" that could be dangerous.
Labour MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan also told BBC Radio 4's today programme that Boris Johnson's comments were "straight out of the Trumpian playbook".
She called for Boris Johnson to apologise for the comment made to Keir Starmer, and in reference to the comment, told listeners "there is no barrel that he won't scrape".
She said "we know" that when Boris Johnson referred to Islamic women as "letterboxes", Islamophobic hate crime went up "without a doubt".
Several conservative MPs have also called for Boris Johnson to apologise.
