Labour deputy leader Tom Watson launched a scathing attack on a victim of child abuse, it has been revealed.

Mr Watson, who has been leading the campaign against allegations of sex abuse, targeted victim Ian McFadyen in an online message.

Mr McFadyen, who waived his right to anonymity as a victim to highlight abuse, was raped while he was a pupil at Caldicott Boys' preparatory School in Buckinghamshire.

The school's headmaster Roland Wright was jailed for eight years in 2014 for assaulting five pupils aged between eight and 13.

In the message, which has since been deleted, Mr Watson wrote: 'He may be a survivor but Macfadyen appears a narcissistic bully.'

Labour deputy leader Tom Watson launched a scathing attack on a victim of child abuse in November last year

In the Twitter rant, Mr Watson attacked sexual abuse victims Ian McFadyen and Peter McKelvie

In the same message, Mr Watson also criticised Peter McKelvie, the original whistle blower who was also a victim of abuse, the Daily Telegraph revealed.

The MP for West Bromwich East wrote: 'Peter is allowing his media appearances to bring the whole show down.'

It is believed the pair fell out when Mr Watson demanded his friend be appointed to the inquiry team looking into allegations of historical abuse.

Mr Watson has come under growing pressure in recent days for his campaign on allegations of sex abuse made against senior political figures. He has been labelled a 'witch-finder general' and 'shameful' by fellow MPs.

In a further blow to the newly appointed Labour deputy leader, further doubt was cast on the bombshell allegations last night when it emerged two key witnesses have been helped by a charity which uses controversial memory therapies.

Experts said the use of 'unstructured therapeutic disclosure' by the Lantern Project group in Merseyside should set 'major alarm bells' ringing.

The charity, run by Graham Wilmer, used 'unstructured therapeutic disclosure' in which the counsellor tells the victim about details of sex abuse they have suffered themselves.

There are fears it could repeat cases where so-called 'recovered memory' cases led to false claims of abuse.

Mr Watson has come under growing pressure in recent days for his campaign on allegations of sex abuse made against senior political figures

Watson was labelled 'the witchfinder general' in the House of Commons, where he is pictured above

'WATSON USED BRITTAN RAPE CLAIM AS A POLITICAL WEAPON' Labour's deputy leader used an allegation of rape against a former Tory minister to score political points, the former head of the Met's Flying Squad has claimed. John O'Connor told The Sun that Tom Watson had smeared rival politicians for political gain. Mr Watson has refused to apologise for pursuing former Home Secretary Leon Brittan over a rape allegation despite the police concluding it was untrue – but failed to tell the Tory peer before he died earlier this year. Mr O'Connor said: 'The fact the people he made allegations against happened to be in the opposition party, I find that appalling. 'I can't see any justification for what he's done.' He said: 'He has abused whatever authority he thinks he has.' He added that politicians used the police 'as a means to smear other people'. Advertisement

The witnesses include Esther Baker, who in January claimed to have been abused in a church setting, without referring to MPs.

But in May she made new allegations that she had been regularly raped by a group including a former MP in a forest in Cannock Chase, Staffordshire.

She also claimed to have been abused at sex parties attended by a Cabinet minister at a flat in Dolphin Square in Westminster.

Another witness who has also been helped by the charity, Darren, has claimed he was abused on an estate in Suffolk, saw a man being murdered and was taken to Dolphin Square.

However, his claims were judged to be unfounded by Suffolk police.

Elsewhere, former head of the Scotland Yard's Flying Squad John O'Connor accused Mr Watson of smearing rival politicians for his own gain.

Mr Watson has refused to apologise for pursuing former Home Secretary Leon Brittan over a rape allegation despite the police concluding it was untrue – but failed to tell the Tory peer before he died earlier this year.

Lord Brittan passed away with the allegation he raped a 19 year old girl in his London flat in 1967 still hanging over him.

Days after his death, Mr Watson wrote an article saying the peer stood 'accused of multiple child rape' and repeated accusations he said came from victims that he was 'as close to evil as any human being could get'.

The police have apologised to Lord Brittan's wife for failing to tell her that the case against her husband had been thrown out by prosecutors.