A former Conservative MP who has been questioned by detectives over his alleged involvement in a Westminster paedophile ring has claimed that Scotland Yard was preparing an “exit strategy” from the inquiry after failing to establish any substantial evidence.

Harvey Proctor has been interviewed twice by detectives from Operation Midland after being accused by a single alleged witness known as “Nick” of murdering two young boys and sexually assaulting others.

On Monday, Scotland Yard acknowledged that a senior detective’s description of an alleged victim’s claims as “credible and true” had “suggested we were pre-empting the outcome of the investigation”. The Met said it should have simply described his claims as credible.



Proctor told the Guardian on Tuesday that the Yard’s statement marks a turning point in the inquiry, which he said was on the verge of collapse. “I have had to do my own fair share of dexification because of the toxic nature of the accusations of murder and child sexual abuse levied against me. This has had a devastating impact on my life.

“Yesterday’s confused public relations statement by Scotland Yard marks the beginning of what I believe is their exit strategy from Operation Midland,” he said.

Proctor, 68, predicted that the inquiry’s collapse would prompt resignations from senior Scotland Yard officers including the commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, and the home secretary, Theresa May, and the closure of the website Exaro, which has published many of the claims of a paedophile ring.

“This torture for me and others wrongly accused will finally be at an end, and I will be able to sleep at night and quietly get on with what is left of my life,” he said.

His comments came hours after Alison Saunders, the director of public prosecutions, said that detectives had “overstepped the mark” when they said the allegations were true.

Appearing on BBC2’s Victoria Derbyshire Show, Saunders said: “They are now saying, quite rightly I think, that in order to launch an investigation there had to be credible evidence, they perhaps have acknowledged today that they overstepped the mark in saying it might have been true.

“It is absolutely our job and the police’s job to investigate it and to decide whether there is sufficient evidence to put before a court. You don’t just take somebody’s word as it is,” she said.



Operation Midland was set up by Scotland Yard following claims that a VIP paedophile ring including MPs was linked to the murder of three children between the mid-1970s and mid-80s. When it was launched, Det Supt Kenny McDonald said officers who had spoken to Nick, an alleged victim, thought his account was “credible and true”.

At an explosive press conference in August, Proctor first revealed that he had been accused of being part of the abuse ring along with the late prime minister Edward Heath, ex-home secretary Leon Brittan and former heads of MI5 and MI6.

He said that the inquiry amounted to a “homosexual witch-hunt” and invited police to charge him or charge his accuser with perverting the course of justice.

Nick told police that the former MP was part of a group of men who abused him over a decade from 1975, according to Proctor’s statement. He claimed Proctor was directly responsible for the murders of two boys and implicated in the death of a third.



During one alleged sexual assault, he is said to have claimed, Proctor was persuaded not to attack Nick’s genitals with a penknife only by the intervention of Heath, who was said by the witness to have been present during the sex attack at a large townhouse in London.

Proctor said he and Heath detested each other because of their political differences, despite a shared party allegiance. He said it was unbelievable that he would have been invited to the former prime minister’s home to take part in a sex attack.

“It is unbelievable because it is not true. My situation has transformed from Kafkaesque bewilderment to black farce incredulity,” he said.

Proctor was first interviewed in March and again in August. He has not been arrested and denies any knowledge of a paedophile ring in Westminster, or of any related murders.



In 1987 Proctor was convicted of gross indecency with underage males. He resigned from parliament soon after, and has led an essentially private existence since then. He believes the 1987 conviction has led to his name being linked to current allegations.

Proctor denied ever having sexual relations with anyone under 16, and pointed out that the acts for which he was convicted would not be unlawful if committed today.

Earlier on Tuesday, the former director of public prosecutions Ken Macdonald QC said detectives must guard against “indulging fantasists” out of a concern that victims for many years were not believed by police forces.

The Met said on Monday: “We should always reflect that in our language and we acknowledge that describing the allegations as credible and true suggested we were pre-empting the outcome of the investigation. We were not. We always retain an open mind as we have demonstrated by conducting a thorough investigation.”

It defended its investigation so far, saying the historical nature of the allegations “means this is a complex case where the normal avenues of evidence-gathering from CCTV, DNA and telephone data are not open to us.

“We must add that whilst we start from a position of believing the witness, our stance then is to investigate without fear or favour, in a thorough, professional and impartial fashion, and to go where the evidence takes us without prejudging the truth of the allegations. That is exactly what has happened in this case.”

Operation Midland is looking into allegations of sexual abuse but is “and remains” a murder investigation, the Met said.