The Labour Party

OK, so not “credit to both parties” on this front then, I assume.

Not if it can’t be proven, no.

My major gripe is against the protestors

There’s no if about it, it’s a widely discredited lie. As I said previously, the fact that Johnson, or any other Tory, wouldn’t repeat the claims outside of Parliament absolutely tells you everything you need to know.

I hope so too.

You don’t have to hope, it is widely discredited, that’s a fact.

How else do you interpret the fact that Johnson is unwilling to repeat what he said without the legal protection afforded to him by parliamentary privilege?

I don’t have 100% faith in any politician hence I hope it’s a lie.

It’s got nothing to do with having 100% faith in any politicians. You don’t need to have blind, unswerving faith in a politician to dismiss an evidently false lie told about them as being exactly that. I have very little faith in, or fondness for, Keir Starmer but that’s almost entirely besides the point.

If someone said Boris Johnson buried an ex-wife under his patio, I’d dismiss the claims as harmful nonsense if literally no evidence was provided and the Labour leader was only willing to make the accusation while protected by parliamentary privilege. Whether I have 100% faith, or any faith at all, in Boris Johnson would be entirely besides the point.

It’s got everything to do with this. Don’t be naive. There have been despicable miscarriages of trust in the last 30 years. Hillsborough, Savile, phone hacking to name just a few. The possibility that a politician may have been party to covering up a scandal isn’t going to surprise me.

Name one politician you’ve ever had 100% faith in.

I couldn’t, because I never have, only an idiot would have 100% faith in a politician.

Having 100% faith in a politician is not a prerequisite for dismissing provably false claims about them.

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This is the crucial word (albeit spelt incorrectly)

How was it spelt incorrectly?

My bad, thought you were saying “probably” :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Take it from me, if you’re going to be a pedant, at least make sure you’re right.

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I’m not sure I have 100% faith in any human, let alone a politician :slight_smile:

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So it is not in dispute that KS personally was not involved in any decisions in the Savile case. It is also not in dispute that KS was DPP from 2008-2013. Also not in dispute is that the CPS decided not to prosecute Savile.

What Boris is arguing is that ministers and heads are often criticised for what happens in their departments under their watch. Savile having abused 100s of people over decades is a HUGE case, it is at least disconcerting that the person at the top was oblivious to what was happening under his watch.

Look at how much flack Cressida Dick takes for police failings/scandals that she is personally actively involved in.

I dislike Boris, I don’t think he should be PM and should stand down or be booted for numerous failings but I am not overly fussed with Starmer being attributed with some culpability for his departments failings, hell, he even came out and publicly apologised for his departments failings (that occurred when he was “top dog”).

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The issue with Saville was that he was incredibly litigious. You barely had to fart in his direction and he would have you in court.

It’s why most of his victims waited until he was dead before coming forward.

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You’ve made that sound very reasonable on Johnson’s part. If that’s all he’s arguing, why won’t he repeat it outside of parliament and why are none of the ministers defending him willing to repeat what was said?

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All a bit much when Thatcher used him as a fucking cheer leader for years at party conferences.

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Johnson also described the investigation of historic sex offences as being money spaffed up the wall. Not only is that a really shitty attitude to historic sex abuse in a general sense, talk of “spaffing” is particularly tasteless in the context of sexual abuse.

Which somewhat undermines the notion that he’s in any way committed to victims of historic sex abuse receiving justice.

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Here is an article where Boris clarifies his comments - Boris Johnson backs down over Jimmy Savile jibe at Sir Keir Starmer - Wales Online

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