When former Tory home secretary Lord Brittan died last week, the cops were investigating him over multiple allegations of sexually abusing children.
Survivors of child sexual abuse have accused him of raping them and others. One, Nick, said that Brittan raped him on “more than a dozen” occasions from the age of 11 along with other ten to 14 year old boys at “abuse parties”.
The allegations are shocking enough—that the establishment covered them up is appalling. When Brittan was home secretary, he controlled Special Branch and increased its influence.
He oversaw both the violent uniformed policing of the 1984-85 Miners’ Strike and an undercover operation against workers.
The secret cops he ran took documents about child abusing MPs—and confiscated papers given to a journalist about him.
Perhaps now he is dead, the truth about Leon Brittan will emerge from the many rumours. But it’s unlikely. The government inquiry twice lost its chair due to their links to people allegedly implicated in the abuse scandals.
The spooks and cops have given no indication of opening their files on politicians. And there’s no guarantee that fresh investigations will deliver truth or justice.
That doesn’t simply condemn individual Tories such as Brittan. It’s an indictment of the system they uphold.
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