The Prime Minister was wrong to suggest that Sir Keir Starmer, when Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), was personally to blame for a failure to prosecute Jimmy Savile. The DPP does not take every decision to prosecute individuals, or not prosecute them, and he did not take this one. Where mistakes were made in the handling of that case by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), they were not his. The accusation the Prime Minister made in the House of Commons was therefore unfair and it would be better if he withdrew it. However, it is also worth noting that Sir Keir apologised at the time for the failings of the CPS as the organisation he led, but did not resign as a consequence. I think he behaved entirely appropriately at that time and I do not think it would have been reasonable for him to resign. In relation to failings of the organisation the Prime Minister leads (as opposed to his own personal actions), I would hope that Sir Keir would judge the Prime Minister as he was entitled to be judged.
