Watson is blasted for ‘fake news’ over VIP paedophile ring claims

TOm Watson became a ‘vehicle for conspiracy theorists’ when he told Parliament there was a VIP paedophile ring in Westminster, an inquiry has heard.

The deputy leader of the Labour Party, pictured below, was also called a ‘patsy for fake news’ after making salacious claims about former politicians. His interjection during prime minister’s question time in October 2012 sparked an inquiry into the alleged scandal.

This led to a series of flawed police investigations that saw the names of high-profile public figures become irredeemably tarnished.

But now a lawyer for former Tory mP Harvey Proctor, one of those who was falsely accused, said it was apparent ‘there is no evidence of a Westminster paedophile network’.

In a closing statement to the £100million Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Adam Wagner urged it to absolve mr Proctor.

He said: ‘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 told the hearing: ‘A small group of self-promoting politicians, including Zac Goldsmith, John mann, Simon Danczuk and 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 allegations were so incredible that any reasonable person would at the least have treated them with extreme caution.’

He claimed the former Tory mP for Basildon and Billericay had ‘suffered grave reputational and grievous material damage’ plus personal pain in the moral panic which grew after Jimmy Savile’s crimes came to light.

Operation midland, a £2.5million investigation which looked at accusations of a child sex abuse ring in Westminster, closed without a single arrest.

mr Proctor received an apology in 2016 from the metropolitan Police. The inquiry is aiming to publish its report next year.