MPS from across Sussex have condemned a group of protesters who surrounded and heckled Labour leader Keir Starmer.

Police stepped in to protect the opposition leader and shadow foreign secretary David Lammy as the crowd, some protesting against Covid measures, followed him.

Footage on social media shows people shouting "traitor" and making baseless allegations that he is "protecting paedophiles", a reference to comments made by the Prime Minister about Jimmy Savile.

Last week Mr Johnson falsely claimed that while Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Sir Keir “used his time prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile”.

There is, however, no evidence that Sir Keir had any personal role in the failure to prosecute the man who was one of Britain’s most egregious sex offenders before his death in 2011.

Green MP for Brighton Pavilion Caroline Lucas went claiming the Prime Minister's refusal to apologise for his remarks was "straight out of the Trumpian playbook".

She said: "He is complicit in what happened outside Westminster. His words have consequences and for him to suggest that there was some kind of equivalence between him being at the head of an organisation and Keir, we know that he was slurring Keir personally and he was implying that Keir had chosen not to prosecute Jimmy Savile.

"That was an untruth - it was a lie. He should actually have the courage to come and say he's made a mistake, he should apologise.

"If he doesn't, he should go because he is contaminating our whole political system."

However, Conservative MP for East Worthing and Shoreham Tim Loughton, who has previously called for the Prime Minister to resign, said that, while the Prime Minister's comments were "unwise", linking them to the "bunch of oddballs" was "pushing it".

He also accused critics of "double standards", sharing a video of David Lammy at a protest in 2019 comparing Brexiteers to Nazis.

Health minister and Conservative MP for Lewes Maria Caulfield described the crowd's actions as "unacceptable".

"Elected representatives must be able to go about their work without verbal or physical attacks," she said.

However, she attracted criticism on social media for allegedly sharing the same conspiracy theory in a now-deleted tweet. The Argus contacted Ms Caulfield for comment.

Shadow Northern Ireland secretary and Hove MP Peter Kyle also criticised the Prime Minister and said that while the Labour leader was heckled by conspiracy theorists, he was "singing 70's disco hits to his team".

The Prime Minister has resisted calls to apologise for his comments, but condemned the harassment of the Labour leader as "completely unacceptable".

However, at least six Conservative MPs, including a former Cabinet minister, have linked the harassment to the baseless claim made by him while under pressure over the Partygate scandal.

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