MEMBERS of the House of Lords argued yesterday that an investigation into former UK prime minister Ted Heath’s alleged sexual offences – which included accusations made in the Channel Islands – should be the subject of an independent inquiry.
But in his response, the Home Office’s representative defended the UK government’s position not to reopen the case.
Operation Conifer, an investigation involving police forces across 14 jurisdictions, including Jersey and Guernsey, found in 2017 that if he had still been alive, Sir Edward Heath would have been interviewed under caution over six alleged offences.
Wiltshire Police, which led the investigation, stressed at the time that this did not mean that Sir Edward was guilty of the offences.
One of those was said to have taken place in Jersey in February 1976 when he was MP for Sidcup – an alleged indecent assault of an adult male “during a chance encounter at a public event”.
Another was said to have taken place in Guernsey in 1967, when Sir Edward was MP for Bexley and Leader of the Opposition. He was alleged to have “indecently assaulted a 15-year-old male, not known to him, during a chance encounter in a public building”.
Lord Loxden, a life peer, last night brought the question of a public inquiry to the Lords as a “short debate” – a one-hour debate used to bring questions to the government’s attention, which end with a statement from a minister or spokesperson.
He placed doubt on the quality of the investigation and said: “Do we not owe it to the memory of a dead statesman, the only First Minister of the Crown ever to be accused of serious criminal offences, to get at the truth of this grave matter?”
But they were refuted by the UK Home Office’s representative in the chamber, who sought to reassure them that Wiltshire Police had already been scrutinised on multiple occasions.
Lord Sharpe, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Home Office, told them: “Of course emotions run high in this case… but the government cannot and should not be guided by emotion, nor by the status of individuals…
“It is a fundamental tenet of our legal system that anyone accused of a crime is innocent until they are proven guilty.
“To maintain that Sir Edward’s reputation is besmirched by the fact that unproven allegations have been made about him is to undermine that precept.”
He added that reviewing individuals’ evidence “would be a matter for the local force if it considered it to be appropriate”.
He did promise to take the matter back to the new Home Secretary, James Cleverly.
