Gosport MP Caroline Dinenage calls for more 'careful' rhetoric after Boris Johnson's Savile slur

Politicians from across the Portsmouth area have previously slammed the ‘frightening’ behaviour of a mob that harassed Sir Keir Starmer earlier this week.

The Labour leader was met with jeers about Jimmy Savile and child abuse crimes as he walked through London, with the incident coming just days after the prime minister made the baseless accusation that Starmer – the former head of the Crown Prosecution Service – failed to persecute the serial sex offender.

The controversy led to former Cabinet minister Julian Smith to call on the prime minister to withdraw the Savile slur for the sake of Sir Keir’s security.

At least six Conservative MPs have publicly linked the PM's words to the incident.

Now the MP for Gosport has distanced herself from the prime minister’s rhetoric, while calling for a more ‘careful’ use of language.

Conservative MP Caroline Dinenage said: ‘Given that two MPs have been murdered in recent years, we all have to be careful in the language we choose when we talk about colleagues. It’s not something I would have said.

‘However, the perpetrators of last night’s dreadful events were conspiracy theorists, anti-vaxxers, and anarchists, people who make it their business to cause distress and harass politicians.

‘I’m not convinced the Savile row made this despicable behaviour any more likely.’

Fellow Conservative MPs Penny Mordaunt, of Portsmouth North, Suella Braverman, of Fareham, and Flick Drummond, of the Meon Valley, were all approached for comment.

Stephen Morgan, the Labour MP for Portsmouth South, called the prime minister’s remarks a ‘dog whistle to the darkest regions of the internet’ that resulted in the shocking scenes in London.

The MP said: ‘His words at Prime Minister’s Questions were completely inappropriate and baseless.

‘Ministers were right to condemn what happened yesterday, but it’s a stain on our democracy that in the same breath they ignored Boris Johnson’s need to apologise, take responsibility for what has happened and withdraw his remarks.

‘Party politics must never come above the integrity of our democracy and local Tory MPs must do better.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

Subscribe here for unlimited access to all our coverage, including Pompey, for just 26p a day.