Council investigates Tory member for posting fake picture of Jimmy Savile cuddling up next to Sir Keir Starmer in House of Commons
- Keith Girling, deputy leader of Newark and Sherwood District Council, shared the doctored image of Savile and Sir Keir Starmer on his Facebook last month
- Post was shared days before PM made Savile and Starmer remarks in Commons
- Council says complaint was received and has been referred to monitoring officer
A Tory deputy council leader is being investigated for posting a fake picture of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer cuddling up to Jimmy Savile in the House of Commons.
The photoshopped image shows dead paedophile Savile smoking a huge cigar while reclining on the Commons’ green benches next to Starmer.
Keith Girling, deputy leader of Newark and Sherwood District Council, shared the snap the day before Boris Johnson accused the Labour leader of failing to prosecute Savile while he was Director of Public Prosecutions.
Under the badly edited image, the caption read: ‘Double Standards Starmer.’
Cllr Girling shared the image on his personal Facebook page at 11.12am on January 30 – the day before the PM used the same slur against Starmer.
Johnson was branded a ‘disgrace’ for accusing Starmer of ‘using his time prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile’ while he was head of the CPS in 2009.
The row boiled over on Monday when a mob hurled abuse at Starmer outside Parliament – branding him a ‘traitor’ and accusing him of ‘protecting paedophiles’.
Conservative councillor Keith Girling is under investigation after sharing this doctored image of Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer and serial paedophile Jimmy Savile on his Facebook page
Cllr Girling, who chairs Nottinghamshire County Council’s economic development committee, is now facing a misconduct probe.
The 63-year-old has since deleted the image but has refused to apologise for sharing it, saying he ‘didn’t care really’.
He said: ‘It’s a vexatious complaint from a party that doesn’t like the fact I’m exposing what they are saying in the by-election – it’s just their way of trying to keep me quiet really – I’ve not breached any rules.
‘I posted it [the photoshopped image] well before Boris Johnson made his comments, I didn’t create the post I just shared it.’
Pictured: Councillor Keith Girling
Asked what the point was in sharing it, Girling said: ‘To show him [Sir Keir] to be a hypocrite with the things he’s been doing.
‘He was head of the department so of course he had something to do with it [Savile escaping justice], he was paid a really good wage to do what he was doing and to say “I’m in charge but didn’t know what was going on” – it’s hypocrisy.
‘I’ve not breached any rules and I’m allowed to share things – I don’t care really.’
The Independent Alliance at Nottinghamshire County Council has now filed a complaint and asked standards bosses at the authority to investigate whether Girling broke the councillor code of conduct.
Leader of the alliance Jason Zadrozny said: ‘Councillors are meant to be beyond reproach and I am appalled that councillor Girling has shared this vile, photoshopped image.
‘For such a senior councillor to do something similar in such a juvenile manner in an attempt to score political points is as offensive as it is vile.
‘Keith has fallen short of the standards expected from councillors. He has clearly broken the Nolan Principles of Standards in Public Life.
‘He should remove the offending post, apologise and leave it up to the leaders of Newark and Nottinghamshire councils to decide whether he is appropriate person to continue doing such high profile jobs for the Conservatives.’
Row boiled over on Monday when a mob hurled abuse at Starmer outside Parliament. Pictured: Clashes between police and protesters as officers use a vehicle to escort Starmer to safety
Nottinghamshire County Council have launched an investigation into Cllr Girling’s Facebook post.
A spokesperson said: ‘I can confirm that a complaint has been received and we are now using the processes in place to review it.’
A spokesman for Newark and Sherwood District Council added: ‘All elected members are required to comply with a code of conduct and this extends to their use of social media.
‘Complaints about members’ conduct are referred to the council’s monitoring officer for further consideration.’
Locals in Newark have expressed their ‘disgust’ and called for Cllr Girling to apologise.
Mother-of-two Sharon Gillespie, 45, said: ‘It just shows how desperate Boris Johnson is if he’s taking tips from councillor Girling’s weird and wonderful Facebook posts.
‘They should both know better for God’s sake. The idea that Keir Starmer somehow protected Jimmy Savile is quite obviously wrong and a pretty desperate claim to make.’
Barman Andy Marshall, 40, said: ‘Like I say to my two kids when they’re squabbling. when you start name calling you’ve lost the argument.
‘I think Boris and this idiot Girling have lost the argument and will probably lose their jobs soon too.’
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