He wrecked so many lives like mine – how CAN he get peerage?
...says the ex-Chief Inspector who first probed MP’s conspiracy theory
TO BE honest, I was not the slightest bit surprised to hear the costly inquiry into the nonsensical allegations of a paedophile ring at the heart of Westminster found there was nothing to see.
This tissue of lies, this politically motivated nonsense erected by the former deputy leader of the Labour Party Tom Watson, was a pile of legal nonsense.
I discovered that, very shortly after I went to see Mr Watson in his House of Commons office back in November 2012. Back then I was in charge of Operation Fairbank, the Metropolitan Police’s investigative vehicle that covered VIP sex allegations, among other things.
Historically I had veered away from child abuse inquiries – they weren’t for me – and instead focused on counter-terrorism, intelligence and murder inquiries, often those that required delicate hand and were of a confidential nature.
From the start I was sceptical about the notion of an organised paedophile ring in Westminster. We had gathered about 400 allegations, half of which were nothing more than internet tittle tattle.
Among them was a claim m of rape made against former r Tory Home Secretary Lord d Brittan dating back to 1967 7 by a woman known only as s ‘Jane’. She had spoken frequently to Watson but the plain truth was there was – and never has been – any evidence to back up her claims.
It was in September 2013 that I recommended dropping the rape probe into Lord Brittan. I had refused to interview a man who was wholly innocent yet continued to be hounded.
But Watson wrote to the Director of Public Prosecutions in April 2014, demanding more action in relation to Jane’s claims. Again, I urged caution and told my seniors my concerns. I was told to mind my own business – and removed from the job.
Watson had been – and continued to be – a consistent presence throughout the investigation. The level of pressure and interference he exerted, which he claims was well meaning, disrupted the operation and led to a climate of fear within senior officers at the Yard.
My contemporaries were well aware of what Watson had done to me – he had written an unfounded letter to the DPP making spurious allegations about my professional ability.
I wouldn’t have minded had my competence been an issue, but this was nothing more than a vehicle for Watson to continue to hound Lord Brittan. I was m merely collateral damage. I was equally horrified by Operation Midland which triggered the pursuits of Lord Brittan (again), former Conservative MP Harvey Proctor, and r retired war hero Lord Bramall. When the probe began, it would be based on fantastical claims of child murder and a abuse made by Carl Beech the n now utterly discredited – and subsequently jailed – witness known as Nick. In fact, I had previously looked at Mr Proctor in depth, and had concluded that his only offence was to be a gay man in the 1980s.
SADLY, given the obsession of Watson regarding these high- ranking Tories, I can only deduce that while he claims to have been pure of motive, it was in fact nothing more than a politically motivated attack on former servants of this country.
I took pride in the work my team and I undertook. I never lost sight of what we were there to do – to objectively examine the allegations and follow the evidence, our only master being the law.
What I will always find unpalatable is that because of Watson’s ignorant and politically motivated interventions, the family of Lord Brittan, Lord Bramall and Harvey Proctor live in the shadow of wholly unfounded accusations of the worst possible kind.
The House of Lords is hallowed ground, and the thought of Watson sitting in it makes me wonder why I ever bothered to enforce the law when people like him can ride roughshod over it and be rewarded.
I find it inconceivable that anyone could think it is a good idea to let somebody with the track record of Watson take a seat in higher chamber of the Palace of Westminster.
The saddest part – as I told Watson by text the night he announced he wouldn’t be seeking re-election – is that his legacy is not one of crusader but of making it harder for real victims of abuse to be believed, and their abusers punished.
I very much regret this deeply regrettable episode eventually forced me to leave the police service I gave my life to.
That is bad enough. But the idea that Tom Watson should now be given a place in the Lords is not just an insult to all those he wronged, it is a stain on our democratic system.