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Child sex abuse inquiry threatens to drag up false allegations against Leon Brittan

Conservative Party Conference 1993 Leon Brittan with Edward Heath - Clare Arron
Conservative Party Conference 1993 Leon Brittan with Edward Heath - Clare Arron

The Government’s beleaguered child sex abuse inquiry is threatening to drag up false allegations against Lord Brittan in a move that has caused deep distress to his widow.

The £100 million inquiry has written to Lady Brittan warning her that she is likely to be ‘upset’ by the re-examination of previously discounted allegations against her husband, the former home secretary.

Lady Brittan has already received £100,000 in damages from the Metropolitan Police over a botched investigation into unfounded claims that a paedophile ring existed in Westminster.

But now the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) is threatening to dredge up a series of historic claims made against Lord Brittan - despite the fact police have exhaustively investigated and dismissed them.

The inquiry, which has lurched from one scandal to another since its launch, is expected to rake up a series of claims as part of its investigation beginning in March into allegations that senior politicians in Westminster were paedophiles whose abuse was covered up by authorities.

IICSA will also examine a series of claims against Sir Edward Heath, the former prime minister who died almost 15 years ago and cannot defend himself.

A £2 million inquiry into Heath found no corroborating evidence to suggest he had sexually abused children.

The letter sent to Lady Brittan last month - at about the time of the anniversary of his death - has caused her huge anxiety and concern, according to her friends, who have branded it a renewed ‘witch hunt’.

As Leon Brittan, he was one of the towering figures in Margaret Thatcher’s government. He died of cancer in 2015 and is unable to defend himself, friends pointed out.

Lady Brittan leaves her home in central London - Credit: Warren Allott for the Telegraph 
Lady Brittan leaves her home in central London Credit: Warren Allott for the Telegraph

One friend of Lady Brittan said: “She is really upset over this. Why are they wasting their time and money on these false claims? She has had this very patronising letter saying: ‘we are sorry for your distress’.

“Lady Brittan just doesn’t understand what they are doing and why they are doing it? All it is is yet another witch hunt. But why? People like Leon have no voice.”

The IICSA letter is understood to have warned Lady Brittan: “We are giving you advance notice that we are investigating the Westminster strand and in the course of all this your husband’s name will come up. We are sorry if this might cause you distress’.”

The source said: “But she is really upset. Leon is dead and they don’t care. They are going to impugn a dead person who doesn’t have a right of reply - and that is a shocking thing to do. It feels politically motivated. Lady Brittan is just incredibly distressed. She had to go through all this before Leon’s death and now IICSA is dredging it up again.”

Lady Brittan declined to comment last night.

The allegations against Lord Brittan stem from a  Malicious briefing campaign against the Conservative home secretary, dating back to the 1980s.

It was suggested at the time he had been the victim of anti-Semitic smears by disgruntled members of the security services.

MI5 has submitted documents to IICSA that includes a list of politicians whose names appear in its files over child sex abuse allegations. Lord Brittan may be on the list.

Allegations against Lord Brittan began to resurface in 2012 after Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader, stood up in parliament and claimed there was a “powerful paedophile network linked to Parliament and Number 10”.

Sir Leon Brittan with his wife Lady Brittan and their daughters at Buckingham Palace - Credit: Ian Jones 
Sir Leon Brittan with his wife Lady Brittan and their daughters at Buckingham Palace Credit: Ian Jones

The claims were thoroughly investigated by police and no evidence found of any such network. Unfounded allegations linking Lord Brittan - among others including celebrities - to Elm Guest House, in Barnes in south west London, where it was alleged boys had been sexually abused also began to circulate.

But a list of VIP abusers was traced back to Chris Fay, a one-time Labour councillor subsequently convicted of fraud.

His claims were investigated by the Metropolitan Police over the course of almost two years and found no corroborating evidence.

When Lord Brittan died in January 2015, Mr Watson described Brittan as “as close to evil as any human being could get”. Mr Watson later apologised for the distress he had caused.

IICSA is also likely to hear claims made against the former Tory MP, Harvey Proctor, who has been given core participant status for the Westminster strand of the inquiry.

But last night he said he had still not been informed what claims had been made against him.

Mr Proctor said: "I am frustrated that with just over a week to go before the Westminster strand starts, I have not been furnished yet with the full allegations that have been made against me."

Daniel Janner QC, son of the late Labour peer, Lord Janner, criticised the Westminster strand of the inquiry - Credit: PA
Daniel Janner QC, son of the late Labour peer, Lord Janner, criticised the Westminster strand of the inquiry Credit: PA

Daniel Janner QC, son of the late Labour peer, Lord Janner, also criticised the Westminster strand of the inquiry, which he said would allow people to make unsubstantiated allegations against those who were unable to defend themselves.

He said: "IICSA was launched on the bandwagon of hysteria following Tom Watson's claims that there was a child abuse network reaching into Downing Street. That hysteria saw the wrongful naming of former politicians such as Sir Edward Heath, Lord Brittan, my late father, Lord Janner and others linked to Operation Midland.

"The inquiry has already racked up costs of £60 million and there is no end in sight. It now looks like IICSA will allow a stream of allegations against the dead who are unable to answer back and defend themselves. It is wrong to allow the presumption of guilt to be aired in the court of public opinion."

Sir Edward Heath's godson Lincoln Seligman said: "It is quite appalling that the still grieving relatives of wholly innocent people, like Lady Brittan, should be put through further pain because of a pointless wild goose chase."

IICSA has continued with its Westminster strand despite the fact that there is no evidence that any VIP paedophile ring existed among senior politicians.

Police inquiries including investigations in to Heath, Lord Brittan, Harvey Proctor and others have all concluded that unfounded claims have been just that.

IICSA has struggled since it was set up by Theresa May, the then home secretary, in 2014 in the wake of Mr Watson’s claims and the furore over the failure to prosecute the disc jockey and presenter Jimmy Savile in his lifetime.

Three chairwomen have resigned along with Ben Emmerson, the then counsel to the inquiry, who was suspended from duty and later forced to resign after he was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a lift within IICSA’s premises.

Mr Emmerson denied the claim and was later cleared after an inquiry by a judge at his chambers.

The current chairwoman Professor Alexis Jay, a social worker, took over in August 2016 after her predecessor Dame Lowell Goddard, a New Zealand judge quit suddenly, complaining that IICSA’s “legacy of failure... has been very hard to shake off”.

A spokesperson for IICSA said: "The Inquiry does not comment on private correspondence in ongoing investigations."