Health Secretary Sajid Javid
(Picture: PA Wire)People criticising the Prime Minister over the Jimmy Savile jibe he made in Parliament should "move on", Sajid Javid said on Monday.
The Health Secretary said Boris Johnson had "clarified" his controversial remarks aimed at Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.
Mr Javid told Sky News: "I understand the sensitivities around this and this is why the Prime Minister himself, after he said what he said in Parliament, has clarified his remarks.
"Really I think that is all there is to this. I think we should just try to move on from this."
He added: "We should draw a line under this."
Mr Johnson has faced criticism for refusing to apologise for a slur made against Sir Keir over a failure to prosecute the paedophile.
Savile victims, Tory MPs and the Commons speaker have urged the Prime Minister to withdraw his accusation in the Commons that Sir Keir was to blame for failing to bring the notorious sex offender to justice when he led the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
Munira Mirza, Downing Street’s head of policy and one of Mr Johnson's longest serving aides, singled out the comments as the reason for her resignation last week.
She described the remark as “an inappropriate and partisan reference to a horrendous case of child sex abuse”.
Mr Johnson has refused to apologise for the jibe, but clarified the claim on Thursday saying: “I'm talking not about the leader of the opposition's personal record when he was Director of Public Prosecutions, and I totally understand that he had nothing to do personally with those decisions."
