Now Then, Now Then

In the words of Doughty Street Chambers, on its page about Keir Starmer: "He was Director of Public Prosecutions and Head of the Crown Prosecution Service from 2008-2013. As DPP, Keir was responsible for all criminal prosecutions in England and Wales."

Therefore, Starmer would have been responsible for the decision not to charge Jimmy Savile even if he had never set eyes on the file. But that is in any case inconceivable. We are talking about Jimmy Savile here.

That Starmer took the decision not to charge Savile has now been repeated all over the place, far beyond parliamentary privilege. Starmer has yet to sue anyone for having made it.

Starmer's "experience" as DPP is held up by his supporters as his qualification to be Prime Minister. Yet now they insist that it was a purely titular headship such as might have been given on an unpaid basis to a minor member of the Royal Family. Or, in his heyday, to Jimmy Savile.