Political violence is growing – and our prime minister is inflaming it

Editorial: A mob accosted Keir Starmer and his colleagues outside parliament on Monday evening. It might well have turned more violent – if it had, we would be contemplating something more grievous

(Dave Brown)

Our words have consequences and we should always be mindful of that fact.”

Twice in one week, the speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, has seen fit to reprimand the prime minister for his unfounded Jimmy Savile smear against Sir Keir Starmer. The rebuke is all the more telling for the restraint shown by Sir Lindsay, and the dignity with which he delivered it. If Boris Johnson’s comments about Savile were intended as a distraction from the disgrace of Partygate, then his plan has rather backfired. Remarkably, it has actually damaged Mr Johnson’s own already diminished standing.

This notorious smear, then, and its inflammatory consequences, has merely added to the large pile of evidence to suggest that the prime minister is unfit for office. Mr Johnson brings dishonour on his position and indeed on parliament. It has thus made it more, not less, likely that he will be removed from the party leadership, and from No 10, before long.