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Harriet Harman expresses 'regret' after Daily Mail claims Harriet Harman expresses 'regret' after Daily Mail claims
(35 minutes later)
Harriet Harman has said she "regrets" that a civil liberties group she used to work for had links to pro-paedophile campaigners in the 1970s and 1980s.Harriet Harman has said she "regrets" that a civil liberties group she used to work for had links to pro-paedophile campaigners in the 1970s and 1980s.
The National Council for Civil Liberties granted "affiliate" status to Paedophile Information Exchange.The National Council for Civil Liberties granted "affiliate" status to Paedophile Information Exchange.
The deputy Labour leader has accused the Daily Mail of running a "politically-motivated smear campaign".The deputy Labour leader has accused the Daily Mail of running a "politically-motivated smear campaign".
Her spokeswoman later said Ms Harman "regrets the existence of" the Paedophile Information Exchange.Her spokeswoman later said Ms Harman "regrets the existence of" the Paedophile Information Exchange.
"Of course she regrets any organisation's involvement with them, including the National Council for Civil Liberties. But they were immaterial to her work," the spokeswoman told the BBC. Appearing on BBC Two's Newsnight programme on Monday, she repeatedly sidestepped questions about whether it had been a mistake to allow the paedophile campaign to be affiliated to the civil liberties group
"It is not the case that my work, when I was at NCCL, was influenced by PIE, was apologising for paedophilia or colluding with paedophilia. That is an unfair inference and a smear," she said.
"My work has always been, when I was at NCCL and when I have been in politics and ministerial office, to protect children, especially from child abuse."
Her spokeswoman later told the BBC: "Of course she regrets any organisation's involvement with them, including the National Council for Civil Liberties. But they were immaterial to her work.
"She does not regret joining the NCCL. By the time she arrived they were very much under the radar and her work focused on other things, such as marches, apartheid and trade unions.""She does not regret joining the NCCL. By the time she arrived they were very much under the radar and her work focused on other things, such as marches, apartheid and trade unions."
The newspaper has accused her of failing to answer its central questions.The newspaper has accused her of failing to answer its central questions.
It has claimed Ms Harman, the shadow culture secretary, and her husband, Labour MP Jack Dromey, who also used to work at the National Council for Civil Liberties, had instead used "pedantry and obfuscation" to counter its claims.
Former Labour health secretary Patricia Hewitt, who as the the National Council for Civil Liberties' general secretary from 1974 to 1983 has also featured in the Daily Mail's coverage, has yet to comment on the story. Ms Hewitt stood down as an MP in 2010.