Pressure mounts on Johnson to apologise for Jimmy Savile remark

Speaker and senior cabinet minister urge PM draw line under matter after protesters shout abuse at Keir Starmer

Boris Johnson is under growing pressure to apologise for remarks falsely linking Keir Starmer to the failure to prosecute Jimmy Savile after a senior cabinet minister and the Commons Speaker urged him to draw a line under the matter.

No 10 made clear the prime minister would not apologise for the remarks, which provoked renewed anger when protesters shouted abuse at the Labour leader on Monday. Surrounded near parliament, Starmer was branded a paedophile protector" and one demonstrator carried a noose. He and his Labour colleague David Lammy were bundled into a police car.