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VIP paedophile inquiry being killed off, claims Harvey Proctor
By Rajeev Syal
A former Conservative MP who is under investigation for child murder has accused the Metropolitan police of attempting to kill off the Westminster paedophile inquiry to protect the careers of senior officers. Harvey Proctor made the claim after the Met’s Operation Midland – which is investigating claims that establishment figures murdered and raped boys – dropped claims of child abuse against the war hero Lord Bramall. Steve Rodhouse, deputy chief constable of the Met, who is in charge of Operation Midland, has written to Proctor’s solicitors to say that detectives are assessing new information which could be relevant to their inquiry. The former MP for Billericay, who denies the claims against him, said Rodhouse’s latest claim was part of a plan to kill off Operation Midland by degrees. “This is all part of the media management of the Met as they plan how to wave the white flag over this inquiry in a way that does senior officers the least amount of damage,” he said. The Met has faced calls to apologise to Bramall, the 92-year-old veteran of the D-Day landings, after it announced on Friday there was “insufficient evidence” to proceed against him over allegations of historical child sex abuse. Proctor disclosed in August that Operation Midland was investigating claims that he was part of a child abuse ring along with the late prime minister Edward Heath, the late home secretary Leon Brittan and former heads of MI5 and MI6. Bramall and Proctor have called for the single complainant responsible for the inquiry, known only as “Nick”, to be investigated for wasting police time. Nick claimed that Proctor stabbed one boy to death, assaulted another and helped organise the death of a third boy who was subsequently run over by a car. He said he was raped and indecently assaulted by Bramall between 1976 and 1984 at a military base in the West Country. Rodhouse’s email to Proctor’s solicitors was sent within an hour of the Met’s announcement that Bramall would no longer be prosecuted. After stating that “a 92-year-old from Hampshire” would not be further investigated as part of Operation Midland, Rodhouse wrote that officers had not yet asked prosecutors to consider the case against Proctor. “Investigating officers are continuing to carry out inquiries in respect to Mr Proctor. They are not yet in a position to apply the ‘full code test’ in respect to the allegations made against him,” he wrote. “Since Mr Proctor was interviewed on 24 August, additional information has been received by the MPS. Officers are currently carrying out inquiries to understand the significance of the further information. This will be done as expeditiously as possible.” Nick’s claims were initially described by Scotland Yard as “credible and true”. The Met has since withdrawn the word “true”. Scotland Yard spent nearly £5m last year on three separate investigations into allegations of historical child sexual abuse by celebrities and politicians. Proctor is thought to be the last living suspect to be under investigation by Operation Midland. It is not known whether police are still investigating Nick’s claims against several notable figures who are dead including Heath, Brittan, Lord Janner, the former director-general of MI5 Sir Michael Hanley and the former director of MI6 Sir Maurice Oldfield. The London mayor, Boris Johnson, wrote on Monday that while much of the ensuing criticism of the police had been misplaced, Bramall now deserved a proper apology for his treatment. Writing in his weekly column in the Daily Telegraph, Johnson said: “It is pretty clear that Field Marshal Lord Bramall is owed a full and heartfelt apology.” Friends of Nick have claimed that he stands by his allegations. The Met has said that it does not comment on ongoing inquiries.
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