Police have launched an investigation into online death threats against Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer after Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s false claim that he failed to prosecute paedophile Jimmy Savile.
Documents, including messages from users of the Telegram app who appear to be identifiable, were sent to Scotland Yard by the Centre for Countering Digital Hate on Friday.
The Observer reports they include calls for Mr Starmer, who along with shadow foreign secretary David Lammy was confronted by a mob in Whitehall last week shouting “paedophile protector”, to be executed.
“On Friday 11 February, police received a third party report relating to allegations of malicious communications made against a serving Member of Parliament," said a Metropolitan Police spokesman. “An investigation is ongoing.”
No arrests have yet been made.
“Of course extremists of all stripes don’t like Keir. He spent years helping to put them and their ilk in prison and keep Britain’s streets safe from them,” said a Labour source.
The material from the centre includes responses to footage of last week’s incident posted by English Defence League founder Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – better known under his pseudonym Tommy Robinson – and conspiracy theory group Resistance GB.
Last week, in a slur that caused widespread criticism and calls for him to apologise, Mr Johnson accused his rival of failing to prosecute Savile while Mr Starmer was director of public prosecutions.
On Monday, Mr Starmer and Mr Lammy, who were walking back from the Ministry of Defence after a briefing on the situation in Ukraine, had to be escorted away from the demonstrators by police.
Although Mr Starmer was head of the Crown Prosecution Service in 2009 when a decision was made not to prosecute Savile, he had no personal involvement in the deliberations.
He told The Times this week that he had never been called a “paedophile protector” before.
“If others want to argue that this is unconnected with precisely what the prime minister said one week before then let them make that case," Mr Starmer said. "But they’ll never persuade me that there is no link."
Mr Johnson tweeted on Monday evening that the “behaviour directed” at the Labour leader was “absolutely disgraceful”.
Critics have said Mr Johnson's jibe was completely unfounded and have blamed the remark for the anti-Covid restriction demonstrators abusing Mr Starmer outside Parliament.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid, speaking on a visit to east London on Tuesday, said the images of the opposition leader being bundled into a police car to be escorted away from protesters were “completely disgraceful”.
But Mr Javid, who has previously distanced himself from the PM’s Savile comments, said “the people that are to blame are the protesters themselves”, rather than Mr Johnson.
