Anger as Brittan is branded a multiple child rapist only days after his death
EXPLOSIVE claims that Leon Brittan conspired to cover up an Establishment child sex ring are ‘wholly unjustified’, a senior peer said yesterday.
Only days after he died from cancer, the Tory former home secretary was also the subject of wild allegations of ‘multiple child rape’.
The second, toxic, claim was made in a newspaper yesterday by Labour MP Tom Watson, who even compared the Tory grandee to Jimmy Savile as he accused him of abusing three boys.
Lord Brittan, who died last Wednesday aged 75 after a long battle with cancer, remains under investigation by Scotland Yard. He was questioned under caution last summer after a Labour activist came forward and accused him of raping her in 1967.
The grandee has long been accused of failing to act on an abuse dossier passed to him by Tory MP Geoffrey Dickens in 1983.
Yesterday Liberal Democrat peer Lord Carlile said the claims were ‘based on no evidence’, adding that Lord Brittan was ‘an important political figure’ whose final months were ‘very sad’.
Lord Carlile, a former counter terrorism watchdog, highlighted how Mr Dickens repeatedly praised Lord Brittan over his response to the ‘dossier’. He said: ‘Geoffrey Dickens praised him explicitly both in the House of Commons and in correspondence.
‘Leon Brittan has been the sub- ject of a smear campaign in the media which is wholly unjustified and based on no evidence.
‘We know now there’s a further very important point. We know now because it’s been revealed publicly that he was interviewed by the police about an alleged offence not long before he died. No action was taken on it, he was never arrested let alone charged.’
But there are mounting allegations that Lord Brittan was himself embroiled in a sick world of child abuse. Mr Watson said one alleged victim told him Lord Brittan raped him and described him as ‘as close to evil as a human being could get’.
Mr Watson suggested that, as with Savile, the DJ and TV presenter who was a prolific paedophile, the former minister may have been protected by a reluctance to examine the affairs of the powerful.
Writing in the Sunday Mirror, he called on the police to investigate the claims and described those victims and witnesses he has spoken to as ‘sincere’. And he attacked those who have stood by Lord Brittan and said they do not believe the victims’ stories.
Mr Watson said: ‘Their comments were a cold dismissal of those who believe it’s a travesty that Brittan will never be asked the truth; to answer questions about his conduct under oath at a public inquiry.
‘It is possible to spend a lot of time with a person and yet know nothing of their true nature.’
Speaking about the reaction to his death, he added: ‘All the glow- ing tributes reminded me of the media coverage immediately after Jimmy Savile’s death…
‘Savile was protected by a media culture that worshipped at the altar of celebrity. Was Brittan protected by a misplaced sense of deference to the powerful?’
One key witness, known only as ‘Nick’, claims Lord Brittan raped and abused him more than a dozen times at an apartment in Dolphin Square near Westminster in the 1980s. Mr Watson claims two others have made similar allegations of being raped by him. In his strident statement, Mr Watson also said: ‘Leon Brittan stands accused of multiple child rape. Many others know of these allegations and chose to remain silent. I will not.’
Last week Scotland Yard said its investigation in to the 1967 rape remains ‘under review’.
But it is widely believed that Lord Brittan is also under scrutiny in the separate investigation, known as Operation Middleton, into historical sex abuse. This work is far from complete, but senior officers are understood to be considering how best to reveal their findings if prosecutions cannot be brought.
Simon Danczuk, Labour MP for Rochdale, said: ‘I think the Met Police should share what information they do have on Leon Brittan so that it can help clear his name or help encourage other alleged victims to come forward.’
Senior politicians have paid tribute to Lord Brittan. David Cameron described him as a ‘dedicated public servant’.