Brittan widow attacks Met over abuse claims handling

The widow of former home secretary Lord Brittan has accused the Metropolitan Police of having "a culture of cover up and flick away".

Lord Brittan died in January 2015, after being falsely accused of sexual abuse, and Lady Brittan's homes were searched while she was still grieving.

No police officer has been disciplined for the way the case was conducted.

Lady Brittan told the Daily Mail that public bodies had to show a "strong moral compass".

From 2014, her husband, who had been home secretary from 1983 to 1985, was caught up in a Met investigation - Operation Midland - into false claims of sexual abuse in Westminster.

The Brittans' homes in London and North Yorkshire were later raided, along with those of former armed forces chief Lord Bramall and former Conservative MP Harvey Proctor.

It later emerged that all the claims were based on lies by fantasist Carl Beech, who has since been jailed for perverting the course of justice, but Lord Brittan died before that was established.

An independent review of the case by former High Court judge Sir Richard Henriques criticised the Metropolitan Police, but the Independent Office for Police Conduct found no evidence of misconduct or criminality by officers.

Lady Brittan told the Daily Mail: "In the end, it's the leadership of any police force: that's where the buck stops.

"But I think a lot of this comes down to culture. And one of the things that interests me is, as an outcome, is the police appear to have a culture which is cover up and flick away."

Lady Brittan also accused Tom Watson, former deputy leader of the Labour Party, of doing an "awful and terrible thing" in writing a newspaper column highlighting the claims made by Beech, published three days after her husband's death.

She called this "about the most despicable thing I think a human being could do to another".

Mr Watson has previously said he felt "very, very sorry" about the way events turned out, adding: "I genuinely feel very deeply for the people who have had injustices done to them as a result of the failed police inquires - I really do."

Following Sir Richard Henriques, the Met apologised for its handling of the case and later paid compensation to Lord Brittan's family.

In March last year, Met Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick said: "Operation Midland had a terrible impact on those who were falsely accused by Carl Beech.

"The previous commissioner and I have apologised to them and I repeat that apology again today."

The BBC has approached the Met for a response to Lady Brittan's comments.