DAVID Cameron led the tributes as former Tory Home Secretary Lord Brittan died
– with a cloud of suspicion swirling around him.
The PM hailed the 75 year-old peer was a “dedicated and fiercely intelligent
public servant” who had helped Margaret Thatcher’s Government transform the
country.
And Deputy PM Nick Clegg, who worked under Lord Brittan in Brussels, insisted
his former boss as “one of the most intelligent figures in modern British
public life”.
Lord Brittan’s family announced his passing in a statement – saying his death
followed a long battle with cancer.
But as former colleagues paid their respects they were also forced to defend
the senior Tory from the controversy that dogged that final months of his
high profile Westminster career.
The former Home Secretary was questioned last year under caution by Scotland
Yard detectives over an allegation of rape dating back to 1967.
And he was named as a regular visitor to the notorious Elm House Guest House,
where children were allegedly abused by members of a VIP paedophile ring
dating back to the early 1980s.
The former Home Secretary’s conduct also came into question over a dossier
submitted to him by the late MP Geoffrey Dickens, allegedly naming senior
establishment figures who were claimed to have sexually assaulted children.
Lord Brittan vehemently denied all claims against him.
And Lord Howard, one of his successors as Home Secretary, insisted that as far
as he knew, his predecessor had “behaved properly”.
He added: “I think it is a tragedy that his last few days were dogged by quite
unsubstantiated allegations.”
Former Tory Chancellor Lord Lamont urged critics to remember his friend as an
“honourable, brilliant man who did great public service”.
He said: “In good health, he would have been very happy to appear before any
Committee there may be.”
Leon Brittan was dedicated and fiercely intelligent public servant. My thoughts are with his family at this sad time.
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron)
The announcement of Lord Brittan’s death came just an hour after Home
Secretary Theresa May faced calls in the Commons to resign over delays to
the Government’s inquiry into historic child sex abuse.
Labour MP and abuse campaigner Simon Danczuk said that while his “condolences”
went to Lord Brittan’s family, “his death is also a loss” to the
Government’s investigation.
He tweeted: “Lord Brittan should have been compelled to give evidence to the
inquiry over his role in the 1980s as Home Secretary.”
First elected in 1974, Lord Brittan served as Home Secretary to Maggie
Thatcher from 1983 to 1985. He resigned in 1986 in the aftermath of the
fierce row over control of helicopter maker Westland.
He was revealed to have authorised the leaking of a letter from the Solicitor
General which criticised former Defence Secretary Michael Heseltine, who
wanted to sell Westland to a European consortium over an American one.
He went on to serve ten successful years as a European Commissioner.
But his later years were marked by a flurry of allegations that failed to go
away.
He was repeatedly named as a potential abuser to the Yard’s paedophilia quad
during the 1980s and 1990s.
No concrete evidence ever emerged.
But his name cropped up against in the fall out of the Jimmy Saville scandal
and revelations that police and Crown prosecutors had repeatedly ignored
evidence against the former BBC star.
The Met launched a major investigation – Operation Fairbank – after Labour MP
Tom Watson whipped up a storm by claiming in Parliament there had been a
“powerful paedophile network” linked to Downing Street while Margaret
Thatcher was Prime Minister.
A flood of complainants came forward, including a 66-year-old woman who
alleged she had been raped by Lord Brittan in 1967 at his Westminster flat
after a blind date while she was aged 19 and before he became an MP.
The allegations were initially published in a Sunday newspaper but only acted
upon by police after intervention from Director of Public Prosecutions
Alison Saunders – who had been asked by Mr Watson for an explanation of the
lack of action in the case.
Ms Saunders is said to have urged the Met to review the rape allegation again
– and detectives then interviewed Lord Brittan under caution at his
solicitor’s office in June last year.
After details of his interview were leaked to the Independent on Sunday, Lord
Brittan issued a denial of the rape claims.
He was also also forced into publiclly refuting any suggestion that he
deliberately buried a dossier of alleged VIP paedophiles handed to him by
the late Tory MP Geoffrey Dickens in 1983, while Lord Brittan was Home
Secretary.
Astonishingly, no trace of the dossier has ever been found. Lord Brittan said
he handed it on to Home Office officials before the Director of Public
Prosecutions ruled there was insufficient evidence to take any further
action.
But it fuelled further rumours around Lord Brittan and his name cropped up
repeatedly on the Internet over the Met’s paedophile investigation into the
Elm Guest House, in Barnes, West London.
Former social worker Christopher Fay, who worked with National Association of
Young People in Care, named Lord Brittan as a visit to Elm Guest House
during an interview broadcast on YouTube.
Then in October last year, Labour MP Jim Hood used Parliamentary privilege to
accuse Lord Brittan of “improper conduct with children” during a debate on
the miners strike.
Mr Hood’s remarks were branded “disgusting” by Business Minister Matthew
Hancock – but defended by Labour Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk.
The debate around Lord Brittan is unlikely to subside following his death –
and likely to be fuelled by more complainants coming forward to exploit the
opportunity to accuse him of sexual abuse without being sued.
The Met had yet to submit a file to the CPS for consideration of charges over
the rape allegation before Lord Brittan’s death. Sources say the case was
“weak” and highly unlikely to have been prosecuted.
One former Met officer said: “Lord Brittan’s name has come up regularly over
the years in relation to child abuse allegations, which is why the rape
accusation was so odd.
“But there has never been a shred of evidence against him which could be used
in court.
“There will now be a flood of more people coming forward which will muddy the
picture even further.”
The Met probe into the rape claims against Lord Brittan is still ongoing –
despite his terminal illness – and no full file had been submitted to the
CPS.
However Crown lawyers have been advising cops since they launched their
inquiry – after the complainant initially came forward to Labour MP Mr
Watson.
A CPS spokesperson said: “CPS previously provided investigative advice to the
Metropolitan Police after a 75 year-old man was questioned in connection
with a historic rape allegation.
“A charging decision has not been made in this case and the matter remains
with the Police.”