Watson’s claim of VIP paedophile ring made him fake news ‘patsy’
TOM WATSON, the Labour deputy leader, became a “vehicle for conspiracy theorists” and a “patsy for fake news” when he told Parliament there was a VIP paedophile ring at the heart of Westminster, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) has been told.
The MP helped spark a huge inquiry into the alleged scandal when he made the claims during Prime Minister’s Questions on Oct 24 2012.
His allegations led to a series of flawed police investigations and resulted in the reputation of a string of high-profile politicians and public figures being dragged through the mud.
The Government also set up the £100 million IICSA public inquiry to investigate claims of historic child abuse at a range of public institutions.
But in a closing statement to the Westminster strand of the investigation a lawyer for Harvey Proctor, the former Tory MP, who was one of those falsely accused, said it was now clear “there is no evidence of a Westminster paedophile network”.
Adam Wagner told the inquiry: “We opened by saying that sometimes there is smoke without fire. In the case of the hideous allegations against Harvey Proctor, there never was a fire. There was, instead, a belching smoke machine.
“We have now had three weeks of hearings, with evidence from politicians, police, MI6, public servants and others. Where has this left us? Behind the smoke, there is no credible evidence to support any allegation against Harvey Proctor.”
Mr Wagner called on the inquiry to publicly exonerate Mr Proctor of any wrongdoing.
He told the panel, chaired by Prof Alexis Jay: “Harvey Proctor has faced the most hideous allegations imaginable – of child abuse and child murder.
“The Metropolitan Police gave the press enough information to identify him and then said, publicly without corroboration or proper investigation, that the incredible and false allegations against him were ‘credible and true’.”
He told the panel: “Regrettably, in the moral panic which ensued after Jimmy Savile’s crimes came to light, malicious conspiracy theories against Harvey Proctor and others were given far more credence than they deserve.
“Instead, a small group of selfpromoting politicians, including Zac Goldsmith, John Mann, Simon Danczuk and led by Tom Watson, amplified the allegations and used their considerable political clout to give them status and believability.
Mr Watson became a vehicle for conspiracy theorists and a patsy for fake news.”
The claims led to the launch of the Met’s £2 million Operation Midland, which traduced the reputations of a string of high-profile figures.
A 51-year-old man is awaiting trial after being charged with perverting the course of justice and fraud in connection with the allegations.