Tories pressured BBC over Johnson’s claim Starmer failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile

Boris Johnson in the Commons in February 2022, when he made the claim. Photograph: UK Parliamentary Recording Unit/EPA

The Conservative party put pressure on the BBC not to describe a claim by Boris Johnson that Keir Starmer failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile as “false”, the Guardian has been told.

The allegation made by Johnson in February last year prompted fury, including from within his own party, and he eventually rowed back on the claim.