Brittan’s widow takes issue with PM’S pick for crime agency chief

LADY BRITTAN, widow of the former home secretary, has expressed concern over reports that Lord Hogan-howe, the former Met Commissioner, is being lined up to take over the running of Britain’s FBI.

Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, is understood to favour the former Scotland Yard chief as the new £233,000 a year director general of the National Crime Agency, despite him not making the final shortlist for the job.

Lord Hogan-howe retired from the Met in 2017 after overseeing its disastrous Operation Midland investigation in which high profile figures – including Lord Brittan – were falsely accused of belonging to a child abuse ring.

In a rare intervention Lady Brittan, whose husband died before his name was cleared, said Lord Hogan-howe had presided over numerous high profile failures and questioned whether he was a suitable candidate for another senior policing role. She said: “It is essential that due process is followed with this appointment and that the track record of candidates is thoroughly considered.

“During his time in charge of the Metropolitan Police, Lord Hogan-howe presided over numerous high-profile failures, including the pursuit of baseless allegations against my late husband and there is little evidence that he is a suitable candidate for this role. We must learn the lessons of the past when it comes to the probity and transparency of these public appointments.”

Operation Midland was launched in November 2014 when Carl Beech, a fantasist, falsely told Scotland Yard detectives he had been raped by a paedophile ring that allegedly included Sir Edward Heath, the former prime minister, Lord Brittan, Lord Bramall, the former head of the Army, and Harvey Proctor, the former Tory MP.

Lord Hogan-howe was eventually forced to apologise to the victims and Beech was jailed for 18 years for perverting the course of justice.