A COUNTY Durham MP has questioned the safety of politicians and branded Prime Minister Boris Johnson “a damaging character” after Labour leader Keir Starmer had to be rescued from a violent mob near Parliament yesterday evening.
After leaving Westminster, Sir Keir faced baseless allegations of “protecting paedophiles” and chants about sex offender Jimmy Saville from protesters before being bundled into a police car for protection.
Officers stepped in to protect the Opposition leader and colleague David Lammy MP as the group, some protesting against Covid measures, followed him from outside Scotland Yard.
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Last week, an under-pressure Mr Johnson accused Sir Keir of having “used his time prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile” while director of public prosecutions (DPP).
In the aftermath of the situation, Mr Johnson has faced fresh pressure to resign from his political opponents, while some Tory MPs have condemned the protestors that abused Sir Keir.
One critic of the Prime Minister includes City of Durham representative, Mary Kelly Foy, who has called Mr Johnson’s practices “straight out of the Trump playbook”.
The County Durham MP has also claimed that the leader of the country “has no appetite for accountability”.
Speaking to The Northern Echo, Ms Foy said: “The disgraceful scenes of intimidation toward Keir Starmer and David Lammy that we witnessed outside of parliament yesterday are a direct result of the lies that were spouted from the despatch box by a Prime Minister so focused on saving his own skin he will drag democracy through the dirt to do it.
“In the last six years two MPs have been murdered. MPs and their staff are scared, and this should not be the case when people are simply doing their jobs to support constituents who are being continuously let down by this government. The Prime Minister should know very well that words have consequences.
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“This Prime Minister has no appetite for accountability. No taste for truth. He practices straight from the Trump playbook. He should apologise for his part in last night's events after he proudly trumpeted a far-right conspiracy theory in the House of Commons. Every day he remains Prime Minister he damages our country even more.”
Following the ‘mob’ that moved on Sir Keir, Scotland Yard said two arrests were made following clashes between police and protesters on the Victoria Embankment after the Labour leader was taken to safety.
A Metropolitan Police statement said: “Shortly after 5.10pm on Monday February 7, a man who had been surrounded by a group of protesters near to New Scotland Yard, was taken away from the scene by a police car.
“A man and a woman were arrested at the scene for assault of an emergency worker after a traffic cone was thrown at a police officer.”
In the response to the mounting pressure and criticism, Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted last night: “The behaviour directed at the Leader of the Opposition tonight is absolutely disgraceful. All forms of harassment of our elected representatives are completely unacceptable.”
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