The Leader of the Opposition, Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to correct the record.
Yesterday, Sir Keir Starmer claimed that the Prime Minister “accused the BBC of not being critical enough of Vladimir Putin”.
This was an inaccurate claim - without any evidence to support it.
In fact, our Prime Minister has a long track record of supporting the free press.
On 5th March 2022 the Prime Minister defended the free press, arguing that the “free press will not be intimidated or cowed by barbaric and indiscriminate acts of violence”.
As Foreign Secretary, the Prime Minister condemned the murder of Russian journalists as an attack on free speech.
To be clear - Sir Keir got this totally wrong.
So yesterday, I called for Sir Keir to retract his comments and apologise to the Prime Minister.
And today, Sir Keir was forced to come to the Commons to correct the record.
While Sir Keir is at it, might he also take the chance to apologise for his support of Jeremy Corbyn, who he campaigned to make Prime Minister of this country?
After all, he was content to serve in Jeremy Corbyn’s top team, regardless of his history of anti-NATO and pro-Russia comments and sympathies.
Yours sincerely,
Rt Hon Oliver Dowden CBE MP
