Finally! Tom Watson apologises for Brittan abuse slur
At last, he says sorry to Brittan widow for abuse slurs Police chief slams ‘baseless witch-hunt’ of seriously ill peer
LABOUR deputy leader Tom Watson has finally made a grovelling apology to Lady Brittan after repeating untrue rape claims against her husband.
Mr Watson yesterday said he was ‘sincerely sorry’ for the accusations, including a description of the late Lord Brittan as ‘close to evil as any human being could get’.
Speaking at a meeting of the Commons home affairs committee, Mr Watson said: ‘I do regret using that emotive language. I shouldn’t have done, and I am sincerely sorry for repeating it. It was unnecessary.
‘I felt at the time that some people’s voices were not being heard, but I used the wrong language and I’m sorry about that.’
He also apologised to the late Tory peer’s ‘wider family’ who ‘clearly loved Leon Brittan’, he said.
The MP’s very public humbling came after Detective Chief Inspector Paul Settle – the Scotland Yard detective who first investigated claims against Lord Brittan – revealed he feared the probe would turn into a ‘baseless witch-hunt’.
TOM Watson was humiliated yesterday over his relentless pursuit of Leon Brittan on sex abuse allegations.
Nine months after he repeated a claim that the Tory peer was as ‘close to evil as any human being could get’, Labour’s deputy leader was forced to make a grovelling apology to his widow.
He also faced damaging accusations from fellow MPs that he had been ‘tribal’ in his campaign on child sexual abuse and had created ‘victims twice over’.
His very public humbling came after the Scotland Yard detective who first investigated a false rape claim against Lord Brittan revealed he feared the probe would turn into a ‘baseless witch-hunt’.
In a devastating rebuke to his superiors, Detective Chief Inspector Paul Settle suggested the force acted illegally by interviewing Lord Brittan under caution while he was seriously ill.
He was also highly critical of Mr Watson, accusing him of undermining officers and betraying him by complaining about the probe in a letter to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Two of Scotland Yard’s most senior officers sat uncomfortably behind Mr Settle as he savaged the force’s handling of the Brittan rape inquiry in testimony to the Commons home affairs committee.
Before yesterday’s hearing, Met chiefs had tried to stop the detective giving evidence.
The DPP, Alison Saunders, added to the Met’s extraordinary day of shame by telling MPs there had never been ‘a realistic prospect of conviction’ in the drawn- out inquiry into Lord Brittan.
Mr Watson said that he was sincerely sorry to Lady Brittan for having repeated the allegation from one of the former home secretary’s supposed victims that he was ‘close to evil’.
But he used the occasion to point out that the phrase did not come from Jane, the woman whose claim of rape has been rejected by police.
And he faced criticism from committee members for ‘micromanaging’ the police investigation, for pursuing a politically motivated campaign and for opening himself up to the allegation that he had coached vulnerable witnesses.
Asked about the newspaper article he wrote within days of Lord Brittan’s death, Labour’s deputy leader told MPs: ‘I do regret using that emotive language. I shouldn’t have done, and I am sincerely sorry for repeating it. It was unnecessary. I am sincerely sorry for the hurt caused for repeating that phrase. I felt at the time that some people’s voices were not being heard, but I used the wrong language and I’m sorry about that. I’m very sorry for the distress caused and I’m very sorry for the wider family, they’re clearly very angry. They clearly loved Leon Brittan.’
Mr Watson denied that he was trying to do the job of the police, despite having no training in how to take evidence from vulnerable witnesses. Keith Vaz, the Labour chairman of the home affairs committee, said: ‘You are not Sherlock Holmes, are you?’
Tory MP Victoria Atkins said: ‘The logical conclusion Mr Watson is that you are a Member of Parliament, not a police officer. Police officers who deal with these cases are very highly specialised in their training precisely to achieve best evidence.’ Asked whether he was worried his conduct could cause future cases to fall apart, Mr Watson replied: ‘All I can say is that I was trying to do my very best on Jane’s behalf. You can only do your best.’
James Berry, another Tory MP on the committee, accused Mr Watson of being partisan by publicly going after Conservative politicians. Mr Watson said that was ‘not the case at all’, saying he had also commented on the cases of Labour peer Lord Janner and the child abuse scandal in Labour-run Rotherham.
Nusrat Ghani, another Conservative MP, said: ‘I’m worried about these victims or alleged victims becoming victims twice over when you go public.’
Sir Samuel Brittan, Lord Brittan’s brother, was not impressed with Mr Watson’s apology, telling ITV News last night: ‘It’s a halfway apology, I suppose.’
Lord Brittan died in January without being told he would not face action over a claim, made to police in November 2012, that he raped 19-year-old Jane in 1967.
Police concluded that the case should not be pursued in September 2013 but the investigation was reopened and Lord Brittan was quizzed in May last year while suffering from terminal cancer.
Mr Watson faced intense scrutiny after it emerged that the interview was carried out shortly after he wrote to Mrs Saunders asking for the case to be reviewed.