Why Starmer should think twice before bringing up Jimmy Savile

Telegraph

4 days ago

There were slack-jawed faces and gasps of shock among Labour advisers on Tuesday morning when Peter Kyle, the Science Secretary, issued the talk show equivalent of a declaration of war on Nigel Farage.
On Sky News, Mr Kyle defended the Government's online safety legislation from a barrage of criticism by Reform UK by suggesting the party's leader was aligned with Britain's most notorious paedophile.
'We have people out there who are extreme pornographers peddling hate, peddling violence,' he said. 'Nigel Farage is on their side.
'Make no mistake about it, if people like Jimmy Savile were alive today, he would be perpetrating his crimes online, and Nigel Farage is saying that he is on their side, not the side of children.'
Mr Kyle's attack followed an announcement by Reform that the party would scrap online safety legislation if it won the next election.
His allegations – and his refusal to withdraw them – were in every group chat in Westminster within minutes.
'That language came as a bit of a surprise,' said one Labour source. 'There's a good case to be made here about the principle of what he was saying, but perhaps the analogy that he used could have been better thought out.'
Mr Farage, never one to turn down a fist fight, responded by posting on X: 'Peter Kyle's comments on SkyNews are disgusting. He should do the right thing and apologise.'
By 11.30am, the Reform leader had set up an impromptu press conference in which he called the remarks 'so below the belt it's almost not true'.
But rather than retracting the accusation, Labour doubled down. Reliable surrogates of the party leadership posted online graphics of Mr Farage, with the caption that his party 'would scrap laws keeping children safe online'.
Mr Kyle himself posted: 'If you want to overturn the Online Safety Act, you are on the side of predators. It is as simple as that.'
The Telegraph has established that the minister's attack linking Mr Farage to Savile was not a slip of the tongue, but a line cleared in advance by Downing Street and given to Mr Kyle for the morning round of broadcast interviews.
It is part of a wider attempt by the Government to hit back hard against Reform, which is eight points ahead of Labour in the polls. But it also presents a major challenge for Sir Keir Starmer, who has been on the receiving end of similar rhetoric himself.
In 2022, Boris Johnson accused Sir Keir at Prime Minister's Questions of 'failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile', sparking a week-long Westminster row in which Mr Kyle was one of his boss's biggest defenders.
Mr Johnson said later that he was referring to failures by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), rather than Sir Keir himself as Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), to take action against Savile before he died.
At the time, the comments were condemned by Richard Scorer, a lawyer who represented victims of Jimmy Savile. On Tuesday, Mr Scorer told The Telegraph he felt the same way about Mr Kyle's comments.
'It is completely wrong for any politician of any party to seek to score points using the suffering of Savile victims,' he said. 'Victims and survivors want to see action to protect children, not weaponisation of their suffering for political purposes.'
The latest Savile row opens the door for Mr Farage to go after Sir Keir's record as DPP at the time the first complaints against the BBC star were filed.
Four historic allegations of sexual assault by Savile were investigated by police in both Surrey and Sussex in the 2000s.
Surrey Police interviewed Savile in 2009, when Sir Keir was DPP, and consulted one of the service's lawyers. The lawyer decided there was insufficient evidence for a prosecution to be brought against him.
Reform sources indicated on Tuesday that they could focus on Sir Keir's record as a prosecutor. They also pointed to the fact that the Prime Minister blocked an attempt to hold a national grooming gangs inquiry when the Conservatives tabled an opposition motion to set one up in January.
A source close to Mr Farage pointed out that Mr Kyle had voted in line with the Government against an inquiry.
In June, Sir Keir about-turned and announced that a full national inquiry would take place, prompting accusations from Reform that he had made the decision for political reasons.
Some Labour sources said they were now concerned about how the conflict between Sir Keir and Mr Farage on child sexual abuse could play out.
Farage campaigning on crime
The Reform leader is known for his willingness to take political rhetoric further than his colleagues – and to lean into a media storm to boost his public profile.
The clash comes a fortnight into Mr Farage's six-week campaign on crime, during which he has already pledged to halve crime and deport criminals to other countries, possibly including El Salvador.
A Labour source accused the Reform leader of 'crocodile tears' over Mr Kyle's attack, adding: 'You can't lay gloves on people without expecting it to come back on you.'
The Government's stance has been compared to Labour's controversial attack on Rishi Sunak during the general election campaign, when the party posted a graphic that claimed the then prime minister did not believe people convicted of child sexual assault should go to prison.
At the time, Sir Keir said he 'stand[s] by every word' and would continue to prosecute the record of the Tories on controversial issues.