Police force accused of Heath ‘smears’
WILTSHIRE Police have been accused of cynically smearing the reputation of Sir Edward Heath to fend off criticism of its long-running child abuse investigation.
Friends of the former prime minister described the timing of an announcement that two people had been arrested as “suspect” and accused the force of playing politics.
Operation Conifer was launched in August 2014 to investigate allegations of paedophilia against Heath, despite the fact he died in 2005.
With the cost at almost £700,000, critics had called for the investigation to be shut down.
However, days after Sir Richard Henriques published his report on the Metropolitan Police’s handling of VIP child abuse inquiries, Wiltshire Police announced it had made two arrests. The two suspects were understood to have been questioned and bailed several months ago and police refused to give any further information about the arrests.
Sources at Wiltshire Police admitted that the decision to release the information about the arrests had been carried out to “reassure the public”, amid mounting criticism of the investigation’s progress.
But supporters of Heath said such tactics were serving to further traduce the reputation of a man who had served his country.
Sir Richard Needham, who served as a Tory MP between 1979 and 1997 and was a friend of Heath, said: “This feels like it is becoming very political as far as the police are concerned. This has been a smear from day one.
“This is traducing the reputation of an extraordinary man who served his country with great distinction.”
Heath’s godson, Lincoln Seligman, said: “The timing of this announcement is clearly suspect.
“This continued obfuscation by the police in not revealing what they know … is continuing to damage Heath’s reputation.”