Former Head of Paedophile Inquiry to Face Mps

By Rajeev Syal
The Guardian
October 20, 2015

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/oct/20/former-head-of-paedophile-inquiry-to-face-mps

Tom Watson, the Labour party’s deputy leader. Photograph: Ray Tang/Rex Shutterstock

The detective who quit as head of the VIP paedophile inquiry after reportedly being undermined by Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader, will appear before a select committee on Wednesday despite objections from senior Met officers.

DCI Paul Settle, who stepped away from Operation Fernbridge last October, will give evidence to the home affairs select committee, followed by Watson. Both will be grilled about their alleged roles in the rape and paedophile investigations into Leon Brittan, the late Conservative peer.

The Met’s deputy commissioner, Craig Mackey, wrote to the committee arguing that MPs should not ask a relatively junior officer to appear before parliament. In a letter to Keith Vaz, the committee’s chair, Mackey said Settle’s appearance was inappropriate and had significant implications for the operational independence of the police.

“In our view this would create an unhelpful precedent and may lead to anxiety amongst officers taking operational decisions that they may subsequently have to justify the detail of those decisions before a committee of the House of Commons,” he wrote.

If Settle is critical of Watson and alleges that his interventions have dictated parts of a complex historical inquiry, it could prove to be a very uncomfortable session for the MP for West Bromwich East.

It has been claimed by the Telegraph that Settle stood down from the VIP child sex abuse inquiry after Watson wrote to the Crown Prosecution Service asking for police to pursue a rape investigation against Lord Brittan, a former home secretary.

Watson defended his role in a blog last week, saying he had little choice but to pass on the claims. He wrote to Alison Saunders, the director of public prosecutions, who passed on his concerns to the police after detectives had already interviewed Brittan.

Wednesday’s session could also prove difficult for senior police officers and for Saunders. They are expected to give evidence about their roles in inquiries that have achieved few positive results but have exposed a number of prominent former MPs, armed forces personnel and security service heads to so far unproven claims that they are child abusers.

The Met commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, will not appear before MPs on Wednesday. He is abroad but has offered to appear in the future.

Settle will appear first at 2.15pm, followed by fellow Met officers Patricia Gallan, an assistant commissioner, and Steve Rodhouse, a deputy assistant commissioner. Watson will appear at 3.15pm, followed by Saunders at 4pm.

On Tuesday it emerged that the senior detective who described claims of a Westminster paedophile ring as having credibility had been relieved of some of his responsibilities.

DS Kenny McDonald, who was head of Operation Midland, will continue in homicide command, a Met spokesman said, but overall control of day-to-day operations will move to DS Ang Scott.

McDonald was criticised after claiming at a press conference last year that the testimony of “Nick”, the main witness in Operation Midland, was “credible and true”. The Met declined to say whether McDonald would maintain any role in historical child sex abuse inquiries.

MPs will consider whether to invite the MP and London mayor hopeful Zac Goldsmith to appear at a future session. Goldsmith has been urged to withdraw allegations of abuse by VIPs in Richmond, south-west London, that were apparently based on testimony from a convicted fraudster.

Brittan’s brother Samuel and the former MP Harvey Proctor, who has been questioned by police about two murders, have both asked Goldsmith to withdraw his claims.

On Monday the home secretary, Theresa May, distanced herself from the Mer’s inquiry into Brittan, saying police should tell suspects in a “timely” way if they had been cleared.