Boris Johnson under pressure as Keir Starmer is heckled by mob outside Parliament
Social media footage shows Keir Starmer surrounded by protesters. Political Correspondent Carl Dinnen spoke to MPs who blame Boris Johnson for the incident.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer was ambushed by a mob in Westminster on Monday evening, some of them accusing him of protecting Jimmy Savile a week after the prime minister's false claims.
Police officers were forced to step in as they escorted the opposition leader into a car on the Victoria Embankment on Monday shortly after 5pm.
The incident has put Boris Johnson under fresh pressure over the Jimmy Savile smear he aimed at the Labour leader in the House of Commons.
Last week, an under-pressure Mr Johnson baselessly accused Sir Keir of having “used his time prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile” while director of public prosecutions.
Former Cabinet minister Julian Smith said the prime minister must withdraw the Savile slur for the sake of Sir Keir’s security in the wake of the incident on Monday.
Mr Johnson tweeted that the “behaviour directed” at the Labour leader was “absolutely disgraceful” but did not address the nature of the abuse.
What happened to Keir Starmer?
Officers stepped in to protect the opposition leader as the group, some protesting against Covid measures, followed him from outside Scotland Yard. In at least two videos posted to social media, a man and a woman were heard shouting about Savile to the Labour leader, as he walked with shadow foreign secretary David Lammy.
A mob, some holding signs protesting against mandatory vaccination and Covid restrictions, followed him and shadow foreign secretary David Lammy.
In videos circulating on social media, the angry mob can be heard shouting "traitor" and "Jimmy Savile".
One person said "Don't take the vaccine" and another accused Sir Keir of "protecting paedophiles".
In Monday evening's incident, another man shouted: “Why did you go after Julian Assange, why did you go after journalists?"
There were clashes with police after Sir Keir left in a police car.
Piers Corbyn, the Covid-19 conspiracy theorist brother of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, was seen in social media videos addressing the crowd before the incident and later leading chants of “resist, defy, do not comply”.
'The prime minister must withdraw his slur'
Mr Lammy, who was heckled alongside Sir Keir outside Parliament, tweeted after the incident: “No surprise the conspiracy theorist thugs who harassed @Keir_Starmer & I repeated slurs we heard from @BorisJohnson last week at the despatch box.
“Intimidation, harassment and lies have no place in our democracy. And they won’t ever stop me doing my job.”
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Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the if the Prime Minister “has any decency at all” he would say sorry for “choosing to weaponise online conspiracy theories against opponents”.
The First Minister tweeted on Monday: “Any politician choosing to weaponise online conspiracy theories against opponents knows fine well that they risk stirring up the kind of hate and abuse that Keir Starmer experienced today."
Mr Smith, who previously served as Mr Johnson’s Northern Ireland secretary, tweeted: “What happened to Keir Starmer tonight outside parliament is appalling.
“It is really important for our democracy & for his security that the false Savile slurs made against him are withdrawn in full.”
Deputy Commons Speaker Dame Eleanor Laing said the incident was "unacceptable. Period."
Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood called on the PM to apologise.
"We claim to be the Mother of all Parliaments. Let’s stop this drift towards a Trumpian style of politics from becoming the norm. We are better than this."
Labour MP Chris Bryant tweeted: "This is appalling. People were shouting all sorts at Keir, including “Jimmy Savile”.
"This is what happens when a prime minister descends into the gutter and recycles lies from hard-right conspiracy theorists. Political poison has an effect. Johnson has no moral compass."
He added: "This was incited by the prime minister. It was the inevitable conclusion of his deliberate lies."
Home Secretary Priti Patel said she is in contact with police about the incident, which she said was “completely unacceptable”
She tweeted: “All Members of Parliament must be able to go about their lives without fear of threats or intimidation.
“The scenes outside Parliament of people accosting @Keir_Starmer & @DavidLammy were completely unacceptable."
Following Mr Johnson's Jimmy Savile smear on Sir Keir, policy chief Munira Mirza announced she would quit last Thursday.
Why the prime minister's claim against Keir Starmer was incorrect
Mr Johnson first shared the falsehood in the Commons on January 31. Under vast pressure, he later clarified his remarks, insisting he had not been referring to Sir Keir’s “personal record.” But he did not apologise for the “scurrilous” smear, which long-standing adviser Munira Mirza cited as the reason for resigning as No 10’s head of policy. Sir Keir apologised while director of public prosecutions in 2013 for the CPS having failed to bring Savile to justice four years earlier. There is no evidence that Sir Keir had any personal role in the failure to prosecute the man who was one of Britain’s most egregious sex offenders before his death in 2011.
What has the police said about Monday's incident?
Scotland Yard said two people were arrested.
A Metropolitan Police statement said: “Shortly after 5.10pm on Monday, February 7, a man who had been surrounded by a group of protesters near to New Scotland Yard, was taken away from the scene by a police car.
“A man and a woman were arrested at the scene for assault of an emergency worker after a traffic cone was thrown at a police officer."