Speaking out: Lady Brittan is seeking justice over the treatment of her husband, the former Home Secretary Leon Brittan, after false allegations were made about him
- MPs are to call for changes at the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC)
- They claim public confidence in the police watchdog is waning after scandals
- The home affairs committee blasted IOPC officials’ treatment of Lady Brittan
- MPs from the committee are now calling for a change of governance at IOPC
MPs today demand a shake-up at the police watchdog following a string of scandals which have undermined public confidence in how complaints against officers will be handled.
The Commons home affairs committee says ‘lengthy inquiries, poor communications and opaque processes are still having a detrimental impact on complainants and officers alike’.
This means the ‘public perception remains that complaints against police are unlikely to succeed and would only result in minimal sanctions’.
MPs also blast watchdog officials for making the widow of ex-home secretary Leon Brittan – falsely accused of being a member of a Westminster murder and child sex ring – feel like a suspect when she complained about potential misconduct in Scotland Yard’s disastrous VIP child sex abuse inquiry, Operation Midland.
The home affairs committee says those responsible for making Lady Brittan feel this way should be ‘ashamed’.
The MPs call for a change in the governance of the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
The report into the IOPC follows scandals including the police-vetting row in the Sarah Everard case, appalling failings by detectives in the case of gay serial killer Stephen Port and a damning review published last month into a ‘toxic’ culture of racism and sexism at Charing Cross police station.
Today’s report refers in detail to the testimony of Lady Brittan. Bungling Scotland Yard officers raided her two homes following bogus claims of child sex abuse and murder made by serial liar Carl ‘Nick’ Beech.
Not one officer has faced sanction, despite a report by retired High Court judge Sir Richard Henriques that identified 43 blunders in Operation Midland.
The MPs say: ‘The sorry story of Operation Midland and subsequent inquiries into how it was conducted demonstrates why a robust complaints and conduct system is necessary if the public is to be confident that police officers behave properly and will be held to account… if they do not.
‘Lady Brittan’s account of how she… was treated is salutary.
‘Those investigating potential police misconduct should be ashamed of leaving any vulnerable person feeling as if they are a suspect.’
Labour’s Dame Diana Johnson, home affairs committee chairman said: ‘The IOPC does deserve credit for the progress it has made in the four years since it was created. However, more work remains to be done.
‘We heard from individuals and communities who feel badly let down.’
The Mail’s role in exposing the Operation Midland scandal was praised at a committee hearing last May.
Daily Mail