Boris Johnson this evening made a bizarre suggestion that the Labour frontbench was on drugs while he desperately tried to survive blistering attacks in the Commons over the Sue Gray report.
The Prime Minister was asked by Luke Pollard, Labour MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, if there was a culture of "excessive drug-taking" after the partial report found that "the excessive consumption of alcohol is not appropriate in a workplace at any time”.
In response, Mr Johnson said: "Any drug-taking would be excessive perhaps he should direct that question to the Labour frontbench."
The Commons then erupted as Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle tried to keep things calm.
Mr Pollard later tweeted: "Sue Gray says there’s 'excessive consumption' of alcohol in Downing Street.
"As it’s clear the PM and his staff thought the rules didn’t apply over the deadly pandemic I asked whether there is also a culture of drug-taking in Downing Street. The bizarre lash out speaks volumes."
In another tirade, Mr Johnson also accused Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer of failing to prosecute entertainer Jimmy Savile.
His suggestion that Mr Starmer failed to prosecute Savile has been described as "not true" by a former chief prosecutor and is also contrary to the findings of an independent fact-checking organisation.
Mr Johnson made the comments as he hit back at Labour criticism over the Sue Gray report.
The Prime Minister said: "The report does absolutely nothing to substantiate the tissue of nonsense that he has said. Absolute nonsense.
"Instead this leader of the opposition, a former director of public prosecution - who used his time prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile, as far as I can see - he chose to use this moment to continually pre-judge a police inquiry.
"He has reached his conclusions about it. I am not going to reach any conclusions and he would be entirely wrong to do so.
"I have complete confidence in the police, I hope that they will be allowed simply to get on with their job and don't propose to offer any more commentary about it and I don't believe that he should either."
Mr Johnson has been branded "unfit for office" after the partial Sue Gray report found "failures of leadership and judgement" over Downing Street lockdown parties that "should not have been allowed".
The damning nine-page update said "at least some" of the gatherings were "a serious failure to observe not just the high standards expected of those working at the heart of Government, but also of the standards expected of the entire British population at the time".
It also revealed Scotland Yard is probing 12 out of the 16 parties the top civil servant investigated - including Boris Johnson's birthday party.
Police are also probing a so-called 'Abba party' in Boris and Carrie Johnson's flat - which Boris Johnson explicitly denied happened.
Police and Ms Gray investigated "a gathering in the No 10 Downing Street flat" on 13 November 2020, she said.
Yet when the PM was asked in Parliament if there was “a party in Downing Street on November 13”, he replied: “No”.
Today Nazir Afzal, a former chief Crown prosecutor for the North West, responded to Mr Johnson's comments by saying that the reference made to Savile by Mr Johnson was "a disgrace to Parliament [and] office of Prime Minister".
He wrote on Twitter : "It's not true. I was there. Keir Starmer had nothing to do with the decisions taken. On the contrary, He supported me in bringing 100s of child sex abusers to justice."
In 2020, fact-checking charity Full Fact looked into the claim that Sir Keir had stopped Savile from being charged in 2009.
Full Fact said Sir Keir was head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) when the decision not to prosecute Savile was made on the grounds of "insufficient evidence", adding: "The allegations against Savile were dealt with by local police and a reviewing lawyer for the CPS.
"A later investigation criticised the actions of both the CPS and the police in their handling of the situation.
"It did not suggest that Mr Starmer was personally involved in the decisions made."
The independent fact-checking organisation concluded: "Mr Starmer was head of the CPS when the decision was made not to prosecute Savile but he was not the reviewing lawyer for the case.
"An official investigation commissioned later by Starmer criticised both prosecutors and police for their handling of the allegations."
Savile died in 2011 aged 84 having never been brought to justice for his crimes.
He is now believed to be one of Britain's most prolific sex offenders.
A 2016 report on his abuse found the staff at the BBC missed numerous opportunities to stop him.
