LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris
Johnson is not to blame for the hounding of opposition Labour
leader Keir Starmer by angry protesters, some of whom questioned
if he had protected a notorious child abuser, a minister said on
Tuesday.
Johnson last week falsely claimed Starmer had failed to
prosecute Jimmy Savile, one of Britain's worst sex offenders,
during his time as Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). He
later clarified his remarks.
Footage on social media showed Starmer, 59, being surrounded
by a crowd, who had been attending an anti-COVID-19 vaccination
demonstration.
"I don't think you can point to what the prime minister said
as the cause of that - you certainly can't blame him," Chris
Philp, Britain's minister for technology and the digital
Economy, told Sky.
"I don't think it in any way justified or provoked or
incited the terrible and totally unacceptable harassment and
intimidation of the leader of the opposition," Philp said.
(Reporting by Muvija M, writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing
by Kate Holton)