Johnson has nothing to apologise for over Savile comments, says Gove | Boris Johnson

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Michael Gove has doubled down on discredited comments by the prime minister about Keir Starmer’s involvement with the failure to prosecute Jimmy Savile.

The secretary for levelling up, housing and communities said Boris Johnson had nothing to apologise for over his claim in the House of Commons that Starmer failed to prosecute the disgraced broadcaster.

Johnson was rebuked by the Commons speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, for the comments, while victims of Savile and Tory MPs, including the former chief whip Julian Smith, have criticized the prime minister.

Starmer was head of the Crown Prosecution Service when the decision was made not to prosecute Savile but he was not the reviewing lawyer for the case.

Despite the criticism of Johnson’s comments, Gove said Johnson had nothing to apologise for. He told Sky News: “I think this is a uniquely sensitive issue and it does need to be handled with care, and I listen with enormous respect to those who act for victims of the actions of a terrible, terrible criminal.

“But – and it’s not a subject that I want to dwell on because it is uniquely sensitive – it is the case that the CPS apologised for the handling of this case and what happened in 2009, and I think we should acknowledge that an apology was given at the time and respect that.”

He added: “Keir Starmer acknowledged that mistakes had been made by the organization of which he was head, to his credit. He was very clear about those mistakes.”

As he battled to defend himself from the “partygate” row after a redacted report by the senior civil servant Sue Gray was published, Johnson claimed Starmer “used his time prosecuting and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile”.

Questioned about the comments, Hoyle said “procedurally nothing disorderly occurred but such claims should not be made lightly”.

He added: “While they may not have been disorderly, I am far from satisfied that the comments in question were appropriate on this occasion.”

Victims of Savile have called on Johnson to withdraw his attack on Starmer, a lawyer said.

Richard Scorer, the head of abuse and public inquiries at the law firm Slater and Gordon, said: “Victims of Savile I have spoken with today have told me that they want Johnson to withdraw these comments and apologise and I call upon him to do that right away.”

The Conservative former chief whip Julian Smith said: “The smear made against Keir Starmer relating to Jimmy Savile yesterday is wrong and cannot be defended. It should be withdrawn.”

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