Now Boris Johnson's closest ally and aide for 14-years QUITS over 'Jimmy Savile' attack on Keir Starmer: No10 policy chief Munira Mirza blasts 'inappropriate and partisan' slur against Labour leader saying she asked PM to apologise publicly but he REFUSED
One of Boris Johnson's most loyal aides sensationally quit No10 today over an attack on Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer involving paedophile Jimmy Savile.
Munira Mirza, the Downing Street head of policy, said the decision to attack the Labour leader over a failure to prosecute the notorious child sex beast when he ran the CPS was 'inappropriate and partisan'.Mirza, 44, who has worked with the PM for 14 years, including when he was mayor of London, said she had urged him to fully apologise for using a trope that originated on far right websites but he had refused.
It is the latest calamity to hit the Prime Minister, with rebellious backbenchers sick of the smell of scandal emanating from No10 over Partygate going public with letters of no confidence in his leadership.
The PM went into reverse this morning over the jibe after his own MPs branded him a 'pound shop Trump'.
In the latest humiliating backtrack by the Prime Minister he admitted Sir Keir 'had nothing to do personally' with a decision not to prosecute the notorious child sex offender, when the now politician was director of public prosecutions in 2009.
In a letter revealed by the Spectator this afternoon, Ms Mirza said: 'I believe it was wrong for you to imply this week that Keir Starmer was personally responsible for allowing Jimmy Savile to escape justice. There was no fair or reasonable basis for that assertion.
'This was not the usual cut and thrust of politics; it was an inappropriate and partisan reference to a horrendous case of child sex abuse.
'You tried to clarify your position today but, despite my urging, you did not apologise for the misleading impression you gave.'
Mr Johnson initially targeted his rival on Monday as he addressed furious MPs over Sue Gray's Partygate report into lockdown-busting parties in Downing Street.
Under pressure at the despatch box he claiming the Labour leader had 'used his time prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile' while running the Crown Prosecution Service.
And he had since refused to withdraw the claim, which first emerged on hard Right websites, with ministers supporting him as recently as this morning by saying it was fair criticism.
But in a BBC interview in Blackpool this lunchtime, Mr Johnson finally admitted his remarks meant 'a lot of people have got very hot under the collar'.
'Let's be absolutely clear, I'm talking not about the Leader of the Opposition's personal record when he was DPP and I totally understand that he had nothing to do personally with those decisions,' he said.
'I was making a point about his responsibility for the organisation as a whole. I really do want to clarify that because it is important.'
It is the latest vote face by the PM in recent days. Last week he tried to suggest he would not publish parts of the Sue Gray report that were held back due to a police probe into the PM and his staff. He later relented and said they would be made available.
And earlier this week he was forced to confirm that if he was fined by cops over breaches of lockdown laws, he would publicly announce it, having earlier suggested he would keep it a secret.
Former No10 aide Dominic Cummings, now an arch critic of the PM, tweeted: 'Moral courage from Munira who has done her best to make progress with a professional team throughout the horror since 11/20.
'It's also an unmistakable signal the bunker is collapsing & *this PM is finished*.'
Munira Mirza, the Downing Street head of policy, said the decision to attack the Labour leader over a failure to prosecute the notorious child sex beast when he ran the CPS was 'inappropriate and partisan'.
Mirza, 44, who has worked with the PM for 14 years, including when he was mayor of London, said she had urged him to fully apologise for using a trope that originated on far right websites but he had refused.
The Prime Minister (pictured today in Blackpool) targeted Sir Keir over his time as director of public prosecutions on Monday as he addressed MPs over Sue Gray's Partygate report.
Sir Keir was DPP more than a decade ago when the CPS decided not to prosecute Savile for child sex offences - although he was not directly involved in the decision.
After his death DJ and presenter Savile was revealed as one of the UK's most prolific child sex offenders, with crimes spanning decades.He predicted a 'mad scramble' away from the Prime Minister, adding: 'Pretty soon there will be a mad scramble & ministers will be kicking themselves hitting their heads saying ''WHY didnt i move faster arghhh''.
'Now's your moment, find a flicker of moral courage & ''push what is falling''.'
Sir Keir was DPP more than a decade ago when the CPS decided not to prosecute Savile. After his death in 2011 the DJ and presenter was revealed as one of the UK's most prolific child sex offenders, with crimes spanning decades.
Mr Johnson's decision to double down at Prime Ministers Questions yesterday has reported alarmed many of his MPs. Some have now likened him to the fake news-spouting former US president, the Times reported.
They find themselves in the unusual position of agreeing with Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who yesterday branded the PM 'Trumpian'.
But Mr Johnson was defended by Foreign Office ministerr James Cleverly today, as he told the BBC the comment was a legitimate criticism rather than a smear.
He claimed that Sir Keir's refusal to take responsibility for what happened on his watch was in contrast to the PM's actions over Partygate.
The MP for Braintree told Radio 4's Today programme: 'The point is, if the criticism that Keir Starmer is laying on the Prime Minister is about taking responsibility for the actions of an organisation he leads, I think raising the point that Keir Starmer himself has experience is a criticism.'
Sir Keir laid into the PM today, saying Mr Johnson's tactic was to 'drag everyone into the gutter with him'.
Sir Keir had said in a review in 2013 that Savile could have been charged for his crimes in 2009, two years before his death, had police taken victims more seriously, and he apologised for 'the shortcomings in the part played by the Crown Prosecution Service in these cases'.
In 2020, fact-checking charity Full Fact found the Labour leader was the head of the Crown Prosecution Service in 2009 when a decision was made not to bring charges against Savile, who was later revealed to be a rampant paedophile and is believed to be one of Britain's most prolific sex offenders.
Full Fact said: 'The allegations against Savile were dealt with by local police and a reviewing lawyer for the CPS.
'A later investigation criticised the actions of both the CPS and the police in their handling of the situation.
'It did not suggest that Mr Starmer was personally involved in the decisions made.'
A flurry of Tory MPs have called on their party leader to withdraw his allegations. And victims of Jimmy Savile have argued the same.
Tory MP Julian Smith, the party's former chief whip, turned on his party leader and tweeted: 'The smear made against Keir Starmer relating to Jimmy Savile yesterday is wrong & cannot be defended. It should be withdrawn. False and baseless personal slurs are dangerous, corrode trust & can't just be accepted as part of the cut & thrust of parliamentary debate'.
And today Simon Hoare, MP for North Dorset and Chairman of the Northern Ireland Select Committee, said: 'The Jimmy Saville false allegation should be withdrawn'.
Mr Johnson was rebuked by the Commons Speaker yesterday over his discredited claim that Sir Keir Starmer failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile.
The Prime Minister faced calls from a Tory former chief whip to withdraw the 'baseless personal slur', while Sir Keir said it was Mr Johnson who was 'debasing himself by going so low'.
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said he was 'far from satisfied that the comments in question were appropriate'.
On Wednesday, Scottish First Minister Ms Sturgeon condemned the comments from Mr Johnson.
SHARE THIS ARTICLE
On Wednesday, Scottish First Minister Ms Sturgeon condemned the comments from Mr Johnson.
She added: 'I'm of a different political party to Keir Starmer, but the Jimmy Savile comments about Keir Starmer were utterly despicable.
'(It is) appalling that the holder of the office of Prime Minister is behaving in that fake news, Trumpian manner.
'This is about the integrity of our democracy.
'We've all got to ask ourselves... as citizens, are we content to have someone with no integrity and no shame occupying Number 10, and I think the answer to that question for the vast majority of people across the UK is no.
'But the people who can make the decision about whether Boris Johnson stays there or not are Tory MPs and the longer they allow him to stay there, the longer he will become tarnished and tainted and complicit in his conduct.'
What is the TRUTH behind PM's Jimmy Savile 'smear' on Keir Starmer? The facts and fiction after Boris Johnson accused the Labour leader of failing to prosecute notorious paedophile when he was DPP
A fresh faced Keir Starmer when he was appointed DPP in 2008. An inquiry would later clear him of any involvement in the failure to prosecute Jimmy Savile
Boris Johnson has accused former director of public prosecutions Sir Keir Starmer of having 'used his time prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile' - and doubled down in the Commons today.
But the Labour leader has said Mr Johnson is 'debasing himself by going so low' by repeating 'a ridiculous slur peddled by right wing trolls'.
And today he used PMQs to accuse Mr Johnson of 'parroting the conspiracy theories of violent fascists to try to score cheap political points'. The PM then refused to withdraw his comments, despite calls from his own MPs to do so.
In 2012 a QC-led inquiry exonerated Sir Keir, finding he was not involved in the decision not to put Savile in the dock two years before he died, blaming it on hapless starstruck police officers and an incurious local prosecutor.
During Sir Keir's tenure as director of public prosecutions from 2008 to 2013, detectives had sought advice from the CPS on four allegations that Savile had sexually assaulted girls and young women in the 1970s.
In October 2009, the CPS reviewing lawyer with responsibility for the cases advised that since none of the complainants was 'prepared to support any police action', no prosecutions could be brought.
Savile, who abused 500 women and children, died in 2011 without facing justice.
In 2012, after it became clear the Top of the Pops host had attacked and abused hundreds of children and women in hospitals, schools and while filming his BBC shows, an inquiry was carried out Alison Levitt QC, on Mr Starmer's own orders.
In 2013 her report found that the decision was made by police and prosecutors locally, not Sir Keir, who was unaware of it. The CPS would also say there was 'no reference to any involvement from the DPP in the decision-making within a report examining the case.'
Boris Johnson was under fire in the Commons about Partygate when he accused Sir Keir Starmer of letting Jimmy Savile avoid justice. Mr Starmer looked furious as he heard the PM say it (right), claiming Tory MPs were similarly angryAlison Levitt QC found that police treated the victims and the accounts they gave 'with a degree of caution which was neither justified nor required'.
Savile also made veiled threats against officers if sexual abuse allegations against him did not 'disappear'.
Detectives looking at allegations advised the CPS not to prosecute Savile, believing his explanation that it was all made up and the price of being famous.
Ms Levitt was also critical of the approach taken by the CPS' reviewing lawyer, but did not suggest that Mr Starmer was personally involved in the decisions made.
The lawyer was also criticised for failing to properly build a case with the police or spot inconsistencies in their reports after interviewing Savile under caution and four of his victims.
As head of the CPS, Sir Keir later apologised, admitting the failure to prosecute Savile was a 'watershed moment' for the organisation. But avoided any admonishment in Ms Levitt's report.
He said: 'I would like to take the opportunity to apologise for the shortcomings in the part played by the CPS in these cases.
'These were errors of judgement by experienced and committed police officers and a prosecuting lawyer acting in good faith and attempting to apply the correct principles. That makes the findings of Ms Levitt's report more profound and calls for a more robust response.'
Lawyer turned Labour leader Sir Keir then left in 2013 to pursue a career in politics. 
Tory MP and former chief whip Julian Smith has also put the boot in to his boss, urging him to go back to the Commons to withdraw it
Senior Tory Simon Hoare has also said that the PM should
No comments: