Child sex abuse probe into ex-PM Sir Edward Heath branded a witch-hunt by lifelong political enemy Harvey Proctor
His comments come after it emerged police are now investigating more than 3,000 “prominent” individuals
A CHILD sex abuse probe into ex-PM Sir Edward Heath has been branded “absurd” and a witch-hunt by a lifelong political enemy.
Former Tory MP Harvey Proctor, who was himself hounded over false sex claims from a fantasist accuser, has called on police to “halt this nonsense” for the sake of genuine victims.
His comments come after it emerged police are now investigating more than 3,000 “prominent” individuals over allegations of historical child sex abuse - an increase of 700 since June.
Last week an inquiry by a retired High Court judge savaged Scotland Yard for believing the wild claims of a fantasist known as Nick, who said he had been abused by a VIP paedophile ring including Heath, Proctor, former home secretary Lord Brittan and D-Day war hero Lord Bramall.
Last night, Mr Proctor said: “This nonsense has gone on too long. It demeans the British criminal justice system.
“Scarce police resources should be allocated more wisely to crime and criminality, not political correctness. The police should regain their position of political neutrality.
“It would be in the best interests of genuine complainants of historical child sexual abuse, rather than fantasists, witch-hunters and politically motivated myth-makers, if this anarchical, fanciful and hysterical period in British policing was put to bed.”
The investigation into the late Sir Edward Heath by Wiltshire Police, known as Operation Conifer, has been described as a “fishing expedition” by former cabinet secretary Lord Armstrong.
Detectives have questioned witnesses over a bizarre incident in January 1972 with no apparent link to sexual abuse.
The operation’s 21 officers have focused on an altercation during which a cult member shouted “you damn homosexual” and threw printer ink over Sir Edward during a European summit in Brussels.
Marie-Louise Kwiatkowski was later jailed for six months for attacking a head of state. Her partner George Martin allegedly tried to blackmail Heath into getting the charges dropped, threatening to out him as gay.
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Mr Proctor, who was protesting against Heath’s signing of the European Market treaty on that day, said: “On 22 January 1972 I was baton-charged by the Belgian Police as I stood outside the Palais d’Egmont protesting against the signing of the Treaty of Accession to the Common Market by Prime Minister Edward Heath.
“Heath despised me and disliked my views. He would never speak to me in the House of Commons but would snort at me as he passed me in the corridor. The feeling was entirely mutual.
“Little did I think that 44 years later I would be defending the same Edward Heath from absurd charges of historical child sexual abuse.”
He added: “I call upon the Chief Constable of Wiltshire Constabulary, Mr Mike Veale, to put an end to this blatant waste of public money, this retrospective denigration of an honourable though, with regard to the Common Market misguided, politician and the perversion of everything the police should stand for - justice and integrity - and wind up Operation Conifer.”
Sir Edward Garnier, former solicitor-general, said Wiltshire Police had damaged Heath’s name and “made an arse” of an appeal for information outside his home, in which they asked for “victims and survivors” to come forward.
He said: “Clearly, if there is genuine, credible evidence pointing to criminal conduct by anybody it needs to be investigated and brought to the CPS for a charging decision, but this prolonged farce does nobody any good and has ruined the lives of a number of good people’s families.”
Fantasist accuser Nick, whose allegations have now been formally dismissed by the Met, claimed Sir Edward Heath hosted child abuse parties at his house in London where young boys were brutally tortured, molested and murdered.
He claimed Mr Proctor attended these parties and, on one occasion, threatened to castrate him with a penknife before being persuaded not to by Heath.
Sir Richard Henriques, a former High Court judge, last week identified 43 separate blunders in the Met’s investigation and said it was time for police to stop automatically believing complainants.