He said Mr Watson “must now come and make his amends on the floor of the House of Commons by way of a personal statement apologising for what he has done and apologising most importantly to Lady Brittan and to Leon’s family for the monstrous lies and abuse that have been peddled about Lord Brittan”.
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The case was reopened a year ago after Mr Watson wrote to the DPP and police later interviewed Lord Brittan under caution, when he was seriously ill.
He added: “It is not for me to judge the validity of these claims”.
The Crown Prosecution Service found in July 2013 that there was not enough evidence to prosecute Lord Brittan, but the decision was never passed on to the peer. Mr Watson is more susceptible to establishment conspiracy theories than a thinking person would be.
According to The Times, the Met police contacted a “significant number” of people known to have been at the party and none thought Lord Brittan had been there.
Sir Nicholas said: “It was not the apology I sought”.
“I am driven to the unpalatable conclusion that the identity of the alleged perpetrator – Leon Brittan -may in a few way have influenced treatment of the case”.
“I hope that he has the guts to show his face”.
Mr Watson today published the correspondence between himself and Alison Saunders, the Director of Public Prosecutions, sent in April of 2014 where the MP suggested the CPS had not taken action against Lord Brittan because of his background. “Why is it that the tide has not reached this case?”
In the Commons yesterday, Mr Watson remained defiant and brushed aside demands from Prime Minister David Cameron that he “examine his conscience” over his conduct while pursuing VIP abuse allegations.
He told MPs “it was right to demand” the claims were investigated, and added: “Earlier the Prime Minister has said I should examine my conscience”.
The Daily Mail reports how a former MP says he has been dragged into the “Labour’s child sex abuse “witch hunt” after claims by a 32-year-old woman that she was one of several children abused by him in the 1980s. That’s the real scandal here’.
“So I’m sure that he should answer those questions and examine his conscience about whether he’s said enough so far”. We’ve presided over a state of affairs where children have been abused then ignored, dismissed then distained. “If anyone deserves an apology it is them”.
His remarks fell far short of the full public apology demanded by his critics and lacked any contrition.
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Earlier, in parliament, Mr Watson said: “I understand MPs feel aggrieved Leon Brittan was interviewed by the police and they are angry with my use of language but I am sure they would also agree that when someone is accused of multiple sexual crimes by numerous completely unrelated sources the police have a duty to investigate, no matter who it is”.
