Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

Enki

Hang on, the tories are the bad guys here?

Tom Watson is a cynical, manipulative and experienced guy who knew exactly what he was doing.

He called for an investigation. The police investigated, found no merit in the accusations and closed the case. So Watson went public with vile allegations and forced the police to look again. And again nothing was found.

A decent man would apologise. Which is why Watson won't.

Member 581642

Decent honest Government would let Goodard and the Police do their jobs, without distraction and interference. Wonder why they wont?

tapzilla2k

Interference?

tapzilla2k

Yes been involved in those

Pisto_Grih

And those same qualities are shared by those now attacking Watson, if he wasn't deputy leader of the Labour Party I doubt they'd be attacking him, it's party politics at it's very worst. I don't know how many times I have to repeat this - CSA will impact upon every Political Party. Tom Watson was one of the MP's who called for Janner to be investigated.
The allegations against Brittan may well be unfounded, but we will likely never know now he is dead one way or the other. You should however keep an eye on the case of Esther Baker. If her allegations are proven through the Justice system, then it will be something that may tip the scales for other survivors of abuse.  

Nope, an investigation was already under way. The Met not following proper procedure however -
Police smear woman who alleged rape by ex-cabinet minister | ExaroNews

It's upto Watson if he apologises or not. I'm ambivalent about it, due to the nature of the party political attacks against Watson. Why not bring this up when he was running for the Deputy Leadership ?

Tom Watson along with a host of other MP's have been genuinely trying to help survivors of CSA, who have been ignored for years. All we've had from the previous Government (Majority Tory) is an inquiry that is still not fully up and running, after two false starts. The cynical amongst us would think that was to delay the inquiry from getting up and running before the General Election. There are also files the cabinet office are still refusing to even name, reportedly blocked from being named by Cameron and Clegg before the election. Those files have apparently been handed over to the CSA Inquiry.

Oh and the file that has been released from the Thatcher era is worth a read. There are questions about that era that need to be answered. And not because of the usual "Thatcher is evil" stuff. We need to find the truth to avoid accusations of witch hunts as all that does is protect the actual abusers facing justice. That's all I care about in the end - follow the evidence wherever it might lead. Might be nowhere or it might end up before a Jury.

tapzilla2k

Moving on -
Child Abuse Inquiry Deleted Survivors' Stories

That should be the bigger story, another woeful failure by the CSA inquiry. It would have been quite simple to temporarily suspend submissions whilst the change in web address took place.

Sonic67

I don't think you need to be a full time tin-foil hat wearer to see that this was "accidentally-on-purpose".

Enki

For those screaming for Tom Watson's blood, this article is worth reading all the way through -
Tom Watson Witch-Hunt

Also the Police had already interviewed Brittan before Tom Watson's letter was sent to the CPS. It should also be noted that the rape allegation is not being taken any further but Brittan still falls under the scope of Operation Midland, which is a live Police Investigation. You should also note that former Police Officers have come forward to complain of operations being shut down or certain prominent individuals being protected from higher up officers in the Met. Those allegations are also being investigated.

All we've had is a lot of bluster from the press, who have ignored important details. I'd forgotten that Brooks had said she was going to hound Tom Watson for the rest of his life due to him ousting Blair (truth be told it would have happened anyway). If Watson has anything to say sorry for it's repeating what a survivor of abuse said about Brittan.

CSA Inquiry wise ? I think we are seeing attempts to curtail it from doing anything worthwhile. If more comes out about the Thatcher era, it would likely damage the Tories quite badly. Same goes for the allegations of systematic abuse in Islington under Labour.

tapzilla2k

He has now apologised.

Tom Watson 'Sincerely Sorry' For Brittan Slur

Campaigning Labour MP Tom Watson has apologised for describing Lord Brittan as "as close to evil as any human being could get".

Mr Watson has told a Home Affairs Select Committee he was only repeating the words of an alleged sex abuse survivor, but admitted he should not have used the phrase.

"I do regret using that emotive language, I shouldn't have done and I'm sincerely sorry for repeating it, it was unnecessary," Mr Watson said.

"(I'm) very sorry for the distress caused and very sorry for the wider family who obviously loved him very much."

Sonic67

He was sorry for the emotive language.  He did right, by reporting this allegation and the others to the appropriate authorities. I suppose Zac Goldsmith will be next.  Though we won’t really get any answers until we have different administration, in at Number 10, the Tory party decided to play party politics and influence other interested entities, sometime back, which was really disappointing considering the vile nature of child abuse, but there we are, drunkenness of power knows no bounds.