Vulnerable man tells Panorama he may have been led into making allegations by campaigners who provided names of high-profile figures

A vulnerable man who made sex abuse allegations against politicians, including the former home secretary Leon Brittan, has told the BBC he “just went along with” names that were initially suggested as a joke.

The man told Panorama he may have been led into making the claims by campaigners who provided the names of a number of high-profile figures “as a joke suggestion to start with”, but which were later repeated in earnest.

A report on the BBC news website hours before the film aired said: “Panorama understands” that the man, who it refers to as David, “told the Metropolitan police he was worried that two well-known campaigners may have led him into making false claims”.



The allegations were broadcast as part of a long-awaited Panorama investigation into allegations of the existence of a Westminster-based paedophile ring, which is claimed to have murdered three boys in the 1970s and 1980s.



The murder allegations are being investigated by Scotland Yard under Operation Midland, launched last November.

David, who told the BBC he had suffered from abuse most of his life, was interviewed by police as a potential witness for a total of 90 hours, according to the film. He was quoted as saying that campaigners had suggested names to him “over a period of weeks”.

David told the programme: “It were just done as a joke suggestion to start with but that suggestion became reality. I just went along with it. I identified him [Lord Brittan] with a photograph.



“But there again, he’s a well-known MP and I might have seen him on TV through the years and stuff and I might just have been confused.”

David added he now felt “guilty” for saying the names of people he never met: “I believe it’s time that the truth came out. I believe it’s time that maybe the police could stop putting their efforts into things that probably aren’t even true.”

Brittan died at his London home in January, aged 75, months after he was thrust back into the headlines over claims he did not deal properly with allegations of a 1980s Westminster paedophile ring when he was home secretary.

The politician was accused of failing to act after he received a dossier in 1983 from Tory MP Geoffrey Dickens but a subsequent investigation by the Home Office said it could not find any evidence of a cover-up.

Last summer, he was questioned by police over a “serious allegation”, after reports that a woman accused him of raping her in 1967. The peer said the allegation was “wholly without foundation” after the Metropolitan police said a man in his 70s was interviewed under caution but was not arrested.

During a long political career as a Tory minister and peer, Brittan also served as chief secretary to the Treasury, trade and industry secretary and vice-president of the European commission.

After his death, his family said he had been ill with cancer for some time and paid tribute to his “extraordinary commitment to British public life”.

The Met issued a strongly worded statement in response to the programme, accusing it of potentially jeopardising Operation Midland.

The force said it had “serious concerns about the impact of this programme on its investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse and homicide, on the witnesses involved, and on the willingness of victims of abuse to come forward to police”.

It said it was concerned by media approaches to vulnerable witnesses, and repeated a warning issued to broadcasters and newspapers last week by the solicitor general, Robert Buckland QC.

Referring specifically to the BBC, Scotland Yard said it had previously highlighted that the corporation had shown pictures to a witness known as Nick that could “compromise the evidential chain should a case ever proceed to court”.

The BBC was also the first broadcaster to air an interview with Nick containing allegations of murder currently being investigated under Operation Midland, the force pointed out. It is understood that David is not the same person as Nick, whose allegations are still being investigated by Operation Midland detectives.

The Met said: “Our concerns extend beyond Operation Midland. We are worried that this programme and other recent reporting will deter victims and witnesses from coming forward in future. Seeing an individual make allegations and then be targeted by the media is not going to encourage others to speak out.

“Anyone who read the report into Jimmy Savile will recall that hundreds of people never came forward during his lifetime in part because they feared the consequences of making allegations against a powerful public figure. Since that investigation, there has been a significant increase in people reporting non-recent and contemporary allegations.

“We welcome this increasing confidence and do not want to take a backward step, and we trust that the BBC will consider in responsible fashion the wider impact of its reporting on all the individuals who might be watching.”

Responding to the Met’s criticism, the BBC said it was important that the conduct of police, journalists, campaigners, and politicians was examined.

A spokesman for the corporation said: “This is important and fair investigative journalism that rightly asks legitimate questions about the conduct of the police, journalists, campaigners, and politicians in handling historic allegations of child abuse.

“We were aware the Met police has concerns about this Panorama going ahead but as they recognise there is public interest in reporting on their investigations.”

He added that while the BBC had taken the Met’s statement seriously, it had been issued before the programme aired.