Tom Watson should apologise in Parliament for making false statements about the bogus VIP paedophile ring, MPs said today as the Labour deputy leader was accused of ‘weaponising child abuse’.
Watson has been slammed by the distinguished figures and their families who were wrongly tarnished by Carl Beech’s bogus claims.
Watson tried to deflect attention on Twitter today, by tweeting about Boris Johnson, but critics repeatedly demanded he apologise for his own conduct before commenting on that of others.
MPs this morning said Mr Watson should apologise in Parliament for making ‘false and reckless allegations’ in the house.
Andi Lavery, who is a genuine victim of a paedophile Catholic priest, today accused the West Bromwich MP of ‘weaponising child abuse’.
Tom Watson (left) has yet to apologise for his role in stoking fears over a VIP paedophile ring after the man at the centre of the claims was convicted of lying to the police yesterday. Andi Lavery (right), who is a genuine victim of child abuse, accused the Labour deputy of ‘weaponising’ the issue
Daniel Janner (left), the son of the late Labour peer Greville Janner, has called on Mr Watson to resign. Former MP Harvey Proctor (right), who was wrongly accused by Beech, says Watson must apologise
Mr Lavery, now 47, was abused as a five-year-old and has since become a survivors advocate, campaigning for victims’ welfare.
Beech tried to contact him and hear his actual experiences of child abuse so he could ‘harvest’ them to use in his own bogus claims to police.
Mr Lavery, who was trolled by Beech’s supporters when he criticised him, described the serial liar as ‘a psychopath’ in the mould of Harold Shipman.
MPs today said that Mr Watson, who met with Beech in Westminster, should apologise in the House of Commons for using a PMQs session in 2012 to cite ‘clear intelligence suggesting a powerful paedophile network linked to Parliament and Number 10’.
Former deputy speaker Nigel Evans told London’s Evening Standard that Watson’s allegations were ‘false and reckless and have brought the workings of Parliament into question’.
Bob Blackman added that Watson should apologise in Parliament because the House of Commons wasn’t a place to make false statements.
Carl Beech, now facing jail for repeatedly lying to the police, met Watson in Westminster before going to police
Following Beech’s conviction yesterday, Daniel Janner QC, son of the late Labour peer Greville Janner, called on Mr Watson to resign and criticised him for taking the ‘moral high ground’ against anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, having helped smear innocent men as paedophiles.
Mr Janner added: ‘His motive was personal political advancement riding on a bandwagon of public frenzy which he had whipped up.’
Former MP Harvey Proctor, who Beech accused of murdering a child, called on Mr Watson to apologise.
Meanwhile, Lincoln Seligman, godson of Ted Heath, who was also accused by Beech, said the impact of his ‘ludicrous lies’ had affected him, his family and friends of the late former prime minister very deeply.
‘What I find astonishing is that senior police officers in the Metropolitan Police and politicians like Tom Watson, and some elements of media, believed Beech and made frequent public statements to that effect,’ he added.
But despite widespread calls to apologise, Watson was lying low today.
He tweeted about Boris Johnson’s election to Prime Minister and Jo Swinson becoming Lib Dem leader, but failed to mention the Beech case on Twitter.
Watson tried to talk about other political matters on Twitter today, but critics demanded he apologise
Commentator and former schools network director Toby Young is among those calling on Watson to apologise today
In a 1,400 word statement yesterday, Watson refused to apologise to victims of Beech’s allegations and sought to defend himself, saying it was not his role to judge whether victims’ stories were true.
Referring to Beech by the pseudonym he was using at the time of their meeting, he said: ‘I encouraged every person that came to me to take their story to the police and that is what I did with Nick.’
Watson’s role in the Beech case began in 2014 when he welcomed the former health worker to Westminster, knowing he had made allegations, including the murder of a child by members of an Establishment paedophile ring.
The pair spoke ‘at length’. Mr Watson would later be described by Beech as being part of a ‘little group’, alongside a journalist from the now-disgraced investigative news website Exaro and a retired social worker, who helped him ‘put my information out there’.
Shortly after this, Beech contacted the Metropolitan Police with his lurid claims.
The MP initially retained a degree of scepticism. He said: ‘What I’m certain of is that he’s not delusional. He is either telling the truth, or he’s made up a meticulous and elaborate story. It’s not for me to judge.’