Keir Starmer has received far right death threats as a result of Boris Johnson’s Jimmy Savile smear against him.
The Labour leader confirmed he has been targeted since the prime minister made the untrue claim two weeks ago.
In heated Commons exchanges, the prime minister wrongly accused Starmer of failing to prosecute the notorious sex offender when he was Director of Public Prosecutions.
He has since “clarified” his remarks by insisting he did not mean to personally blame Starmer for Savile escaping justice.
However, the PM has come in for widespread criticism for the remark, which led to several more Tory MPs submitting letters of no confidence in him, as well as the resignation of his top policy adviser, Munira Mirza.
Speaking on BBC Radio Newcastle this morning, the Labour leader was asked if it was true that he had received death threats.
He replied: “Yes. I do not like talking about this because I’ve got young children.
“It’s very important for me to say what the Prime Minister said was wrong, it was very wrong, he knew what he was doing.”
Starmer added: “That has caused difficulty, but my preference is not to talk about that because I’ve got young children and I don’t want them to hear too much about what is or not said about me.”
HuffPost UK understands that notorious far-right activist Tommy Robinson has shared the Savile smear against Starmer with his followers.
According to The Times, the Metropolitan Police are investigating the death threats made against the Labour leader.
A week ago, Starmer had to be bundled into a police car after he and shadow justice secretary David Lammy were targeted by a mob near parliament, with some shouting about Savile and calling the Labour leader a “paedophile protector”.
Asked about the death threats, the prime minister’s spokesman said: “Any death threats to politicians are never acceptable.”