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Tom Watson refuses to apologise over Leon Brittan allegations Tom Watson refuses to apologise over Leon Brittan allegations
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Tom Watson has refused to apologise for raising allegations against the late Leon Brittan, instead demanding all MPs examine their consciences. Tom Watson has issued a defiant response to the prime minister’s demands that he apologise for pressurising the police to reopen a rape investigation into the former Conservative home secretary Leon Brittan. Labour’s deputy leader told parliament that it was the children who have suffered abuse who deserve an apology, and not necessarily the widow of Lord Brittan, after being urged to “examine his conscience” by David Cameron.
Earlier in the day while on a visit to Devon, David Cameron told LBC: “It’s clear I think that he [Watson] has a lot of questions to answer and the House of Commons select committee is quite rightly going to ask him some questions … and so I’m sure he should answer those questions and examine his conscience about whether he has said enough so far.” The statement follows the pursuit of Watson by the Conservatives since last Tuesday’s Panorama programme, which examined claims of a paedophile ring involving VIPs in Westminster.
Watson said all politicians had “presided over a state of affairs where children have been abused and then ignored, dismissed and then disdained – if anyone deserves an apology it is them”. Brittan died in January without knowing that he had been cleared of suspicion. It has emerged that Watson wrote to the director of public prosecutions, Alison Saunders, about an allegation of rape when he learned that the police inquiry was being dropped.
Labour’s deputy leader was met with loud cries of “shame” from the Tory benches following his remarks, which were provoked by Tory grandee Sir Nicholas Soames demanding an apology to Brittan’s family in a point of order. Responding to a point of order by Sir Nicholas Soames, Watson said: “I understand that honourable and right honourable members feel aggrieved that Leon Brittan was interviewed by the police and that they are angry with my use of language. But I’m sure that they would also agree that when anyone is accused of multiple sexual crimes by numerous, completely unrelated sources, the police have a duty to investigate, no matter who it is. My letter was prompted by concern that procedures were not followed.”
Watson said: “I understand MPs feel aggrieved Leon Brittan was interviewed by the police and they are angry with my use of language but I am sure they would also agree that when someone is accused of multiple sexual crimes by numerous completely unrelated sources the police have a duty to investigate, no matter who it is.” Addressing Cameron’s comments head on, he said the survivors of abuse have been ignored and belittled for too long. “Earlier the prime minister said that I should examine my conscience. Well, I think we all need to examine our consciences in this house. We presided over a state of affairs where children have been abused, and then ignored, dismissed and then disdained. If anyone deserves an apology, it’s them,” he said.
Watson continued: “It is not for me to judge the validity of these claims but I believe I was right to demand the guidelines were adhered to. In unusually tense scenes, as Watson took his seat, some Tory MPs shouted: “Shame!” and “Disgrace!” across the floor of the House of Commons.
“I also believe very many victims of this country have been too terrified to speak out for too long. It’s not all over just because a few famous people have gone to prison. The alleged rape victim, known as “Jane”, reported the alleged offence to police in 2012 in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal. But after consulting the Crown Prosecution Service, police told her in 2013 they had no plans to either arrest or interview Brittan. It is understood that Jane then asked Exaro News to arrange a meeting with Watson so that she could tell him about the police response to her allegations.
“It hasn’t all got out of hand just because people in high places are scared. The survivors of child abuse have been belittled and ridiculed for too long. That’s the real scandal here.” Watson announced that he had written to Saunders demanding a review of the police investigation, suggesting that the police were unwilling to investigate Brittan because of the alleged rapist’s status.
Watson recalled remarks by the prime minister urging him to “examine his conscience” over the allegations made. Detailed extracts of Watson’s letter were published by Exaro News in May last year, which said it had been passed the correspondence by Jane. Watson wrote in the letter: “I am driven to the unpalatable conclusion that the identity of the alleged perpetrator – [name redacted] – may in some way have influenced treatment of the case. I hope I am wrong.” He added that there had been a “sea change in the climate surrounding rape, historic[al] cases in particular. Why is it that the tide has not reached this case?”
Watson said: “I think we all need to examine our consciences in this house, we presided over a state of affairs where children have been abused and then ignored, dismissed and then disdained. If anyone deserves an apology it is them.” Weeks after Watson’s letter, detectives interviewed Brittan under caution at the central London offices of law firm Mishcon de Reya. Brittan died not knowing that the investigation had been dropped.
In an interview with Heart radio on Monday morning, Cameron chose to make a statement on Watson’s involvement. “It’s clear he [Watson] has got a lot of questions to answer and the House of Commons select committees are quite rightly going to ask him some questions. And so I’m sure that he should answer those questions and examine his conscience about whether he’s said enough so far,” he said.
Cameron intervened in the row following several stories about Watson’s involvement in the claims against Brittan, some of which also involved the much criticised website Exaro. The Telegraph claimed that a senior detective, Ch Insp Paul Settle, former head of the Metropolitan police paedophile unit, stepped down from the VIP child sex abuse inquiry following a series of interventions by Watson.
The Daily Mail reported that Watson’s step-uncle, Peter Halliwell, a former scoutmaster, was jailed last year for assaulting a nine-year-old Cub scout between 1965 and 1967. Watson told the paper: “I barely know Peter Halliwell. His victim deserved justice and I’m glad he got it.”
Soames rose in the house to ask whether Watson had sought to make a personal statement “apologising for the way in which he has so vilely traduced the late Lord Brittan and further for him to have a chance to apologise to Lord Brittan’s dignified and courageous widow”.
Bob Neill, the Conservative chairman of the justice committee, has demanded the publication of a letter that Watson wrote to Saunders in which the Labour MP called for the accusations against Brittan to be reinvestigated.
Neill has also called for Saunders’ subsequent correspondence with the police to be made public to gauge how much influence Watson’s interventions had in Scotland Yard’s decision to reopen the case.
The home affairs select committee will consider whether to call Watson at a meeting on Tuesday afternoon.