The chancellor Rishi Sunak told a Downing Street press conference he 'wouldn't have said' Boris Johnson's comments accusing Sir Keir Starmer of failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile.
At the briefing this evening (Thursday, February 3), held to confirm a package of measures to tackle rising energy bills, Mr Sunak was asked for his stance on the Prime Minister's words, which have led to the departure of Munira Mirza as No 10 head of policy.
“She is a valued colleague, I very much enjoyed working with her and I am sorry to see her leave government, I will miss working with her,” he said.
Mr Sunak then said he would not have made the comments about sex offender Jimmy Savile.
“With regard to the comments, being honest I wouldn’t have said it and I am glad the Prime Minister clarified what he meant.”
He then refused to be drawn on the Savile issue despite further questions on the matter - including whether Boris Johnson should give a full apology for his comments, which were made in the House of Commons on Monday as he gave a statement on Sue Gray's 'Partygate' report.
Asked about Munira Mirza’s decision to quit, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Angela Rayner said: “Well it really shows that even people that have been close to Boris Johnson for a very long time have seen he is not fit to be Prime Minister and there isn’t a depth he wouldn’t sink to, to make cheap points.
“He’s lied to the public in a very dangerous way.
“One of the most significant things about that is the victims (of Savile) here.
“No regard whatsoever for those victims and the trauma they’ve gone through and I think it’s really telling now that so many people are abandoning Boris Johnson who have been around him for a very long time; (they) have decided ‘you know what, even we cannot accept this sort of behaviour’.”
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