Tom Watson ‘should apologise for Lord Brittan rape claim’

“As the tributes flowed in from his lifelong friends, I felt for those people who claimed he abused them”, he said.

His uncle Peter Halliwell, through his mother’s second marriage, was jailed last year for three counts of indecent assault in the mid 1960’s against a nine-year-old boy when he was a scout leader in the Manchester area.

Watson has been a central figure in making claims about the existence of an establishment paedophile ring, and played a key role in having a rape case against Brittan reopened after it was closed because of a lack of evidence. I shouldn’t have repeated such an emotive phrase.

Lord Brittan died of cancer earlier this year, unaware that police had decided there was no case for him to answer over allegations that he raped a 19-year-old student in 1967.

In a blog post for The Huffington Post, Watson said he wanted the claims to be “properly investigated”.

And while Watson said he was “sorry” for the distress suffered by Leon Brittan’s family, he believes that Lord Brittan ‘would have been interviewed even if I hadn’t intervened because the DPP made it clear in her reply to my letter that the police investigation into him was ongoing’.

The force’s oversight was criticised by Boris Johnson.

Mr Johnson regards the delay in contacting Lord Brittan as “completely unacceptable”.

Former Chancellor Norman Lamont said police investigations into historical abuse risked becoming a “witch-hunt”.

“After his death came the police raid on his two houses, while his widow was still sorting out his belongings, a few of which were carted away”. As with Cliff Richard …

Lord Lamont revealed police suggested Lord Brittan take part in an identity parade. How could a well-known public person, already named and identified by his accuser, usefully take part in such a charade?’ “I think it’s terribly bad that has happened, and can quite understand the pain and suffering of his family”, he said.

The deputy Labour leader was responding to demands that he apologise for what Liberal Dem peer Lord Lester described as a “cowardly attack” on Lord Brittan, in the wake of increasing doubt over the legitimacy of the claims.

But he said he had been told of “multiple allegations”.

“He should apologise for any allegations that are known to be untrue”.

In May 2014, Watson wrote to the Met and Alison Saunders, the director of public prosecutions, to complain that the investigation had been dropped without interviewing Brittan.

Keith Vaz, chairman of the home affairs select committee, said that while MPs could be called to give evidence to the committee, this was not “normal”, so its members would first need to agree that this should be done when they meet on Tuesday.