To be honest, I was not the slightest bit surprised to hear the costly inquiry into the nonsensical allegations of a paedophile ring at the heart of Westminster found there was nothing to see.

This tissue of lies, this politically motivated nonsense erected by the former deputy leader of the Labour Party Tom Watson, was a pile of legal nonsense.

I discovered that, very shortly after I went to see Mr Watson in his House of Commons office back in November 2012. Back then I was in charge of Operation Fairbank, the Metropolitan Police's investigative vehicle that covered VIP sex allegations, among other things.

Historically I had veered away from child abuse inquiries – they weren't for me – and instead focused on counter-terrorism, intelligence and murder inquiries, often those that required delicate hand and were of a confidential nature.

This tissue of lies, this politically motivated nonsense erected by the former deputy leader of the Labour Party Tom Watson (pictured), was a pile of legal nonsense, writes Paul Settle

From the start I was sceptical about the notion of an organised paedophile ring in Westminster. We had gathered about 400 allegations, half of which were nothing more than internet tittle tattle.

Among them was a claim of rape made against former Tory Home Secretary Lord Brittan dating back to 1967 by a woman known only as 'Jane'. She had spoken frequently to Watson but the plain truth was there was – and never has been – any evidence to back up her claims.

It was in September 2013 that I recommended dropping the rape probe into Lord Brittan. I had refused to interview a man who was wholly innocent yet continued to be hounded.

But Watson wrote to the Director of Public Prosecutions in April 2014, demanding more action in relation to Jane's claims. Again, I urged caution and told my seniors my concerns. I was told to mind my own business – and removed from the job.

Watson had been – and continued to be – a consistent presence throughout the investigation. The level of pressure and interference he exerted, which he claims was well meaning, disrupted the operation and led to a climate of fear within senior officers at the Yard.

When the probe began, it would be based on fantastical claims of child murder and abuse made by Carl Beech (pictured)

My contemporaries were well aware of what Watson had done to me – he had written an unfounded letter to the DPP making spurious allegations about my professional ability.

I wouldn't have minded had my competence been an issue, but this was nothing more than a vehicle for Watson to continue to hound Lord Brittan. I was merely collateral damage.

I was equally horrified by Operation Midland which triggered the pursuits of Lord Brittan (again), former Conservative MP Harvey Proctor, and retired war hero Lord Bramall.

When the probe began, it would be based on fantastical claims of child murder and abuse made by Carl Beech the now utterly discredited – and subsequently jailed – witness known as Nick. In fact, I had previously looked at Mr Proctor in depth, and had concluded that his only offence was to be a gay man in the 1980s.

Sadly, given the obsession of Watson regarding these high-ranking Tories, I can only deduce that while he claims to have been pure of motive, it was in fact nothing more than a politically motivated attack on former servants of this country.

I took pride in the work my team and I undertook. I never lost sight of what we were there to do – to objectively examine the allegations and follow the evidence, our only master being the law.

What I will always find unpalatable is that because of Watson's ignorant and politically motivated interventions, the family of Lord Brittan, Lord Bramall and Harvey Proctor live in the shadow of wholly unfounded accusations of the worst possible kind.

The House of Lords is hallowed ground, and the thought of Watson sitting in it makes me wonder why I ever bothered to enforce the law when people like him can ride roughshod over it and be rewarded.

I find it inconceivable that anyone could think it is a good idea to let somebody with the track record of Watson take a seat in higher chamber of the Palace of Westminster.

The saddest part – as I told Watson by text the night he announced he wouldn't be seeking re-election – is that his legacy is not one of crusader but of making it harder for real victims of abuse to be believed, and their abusers punished.

I very much regret this deeply regrettable episode eventually forced me to leave the police service I gave my life to.

That is bad enough. But the idea that Tom Watson should now be given a place in the Lords is not just an insult to all those he wronged, it is a stain on our democratic system.

Labour MP's lurid claims of VIP paedophile ring were 'baseless', concludes abuse probe

By Stephen Wright, Associate News Editor

Tom Watson's bombshell claim about a VIP paedophile ring operating at the heart of Westminster was baseless, the £150million child sex inquiry has concluded.

The then-backbench Labour MP's dramatic statement in the House of Commons in 2012, alleging there had been a 'powerful paedophile network linked to Parliament and Number 10', was a 'significant factor' in the decision to set up the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

But yesterday its scathing 170-page report ruled there had been no organised child sex ring and no attempt to cover it up.

The verdict prompted renewed calls for Mr Watson – who stood down as an MP and the Labour Party's deputy leader before December's general election – to be refused a peerage.

Mr Watson is reported to have been recommended for a seat in the Lords by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn

Mr Watson is reported to have been recommended for a seat in the Lords by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn despite being widely criticised over his links to the fantasist 'Nick', whose real name is Carl Beech, and his hounding of former Tory home secretary Leon Brittan over bogus child sex claims.

Beech was jailed for 18 years in July for falsely accusing a string of public figures of historic child sex abuse, including Lord Brittan.

IICSA, which is still investigating a number of different strands of historic child abuse, said: 'There is ample evidence that individual perpetrators of child sexual abuse have been linked to Westminster. However, the inquiry has found no evidence to support the most sensational of the various allegations, that there has been a powerful paedophile network operating within Westminster.'

Former top Scotland Yard detective turned whistleblower Paul Settle told the Daily Mail: 'Tom Watson's claims were politically motivated from the outset.

'Despite claims to the contrary, he was only interested in pursuing allegations against Conservative politicians, insisting on them being hounded despite there being no credible evidence.

'It is grossly offensive to those families which he caused so much hurt and pain that he should even be considered for a peerage let alone recommended.' Days after Lord Brittan died in January 2015, Mr Watson branded the ex Tory Home Secretary as 'close to evil as a human being could get'.

A report by former High Court judge Sir Richard Henriques, which was published in October, found Mr Watson had piled pressure on detectives investigating the false claims made Beech, sending hundreds of pieces of information to the Metropolitan Police.

Former Tory MP Harvey Proctor, who was also falsely accused of child sex abuse and murder by 'Nick', said last night: 'Mr Watson should not be ennobled.'

It is understood that Mr Watson's nomination was discussed earlier this month by the secretive House of Lords Appointments Commission, which vets the propriety of all those put forward.

It is not known what they finally recommended.

Mr Proctor said last night: 'Tom Watson shamefully hood-winked the country for years to advance his own personal and political position. The police and the CPS should now consider arresting him and charging him for the wholesale damage he has done to the likes of the late Field Marshal Lord Bramall, Sir Edward Heath, Lord Brittan and others, including myself.'

In October, Mr Watson said he was 'genuinely very, very sorry' for his role in the fake claims about a VIP paedophile ring, saying that he had been trying to 'do the right thing'.

The Daily Mail has asked Mr Watson to comment.