After the Met apologised to Leon Brittan’s wife, self appointed nonce-finder general Tom Watson has grudgingly issued a half-apology to his family:

“I have said in the past that I am sorry for the distress Leon Brittan’s family experienced as they grieved for him. I still am. But I wanted the claims made against him properly investigated. I think most people would assume that when an individual is facing multiple allegations of sexual crimes…

As the tributes flowed in from his lifelong friends I felt for those people who claimed he abused them. I repeated a line used by one of the alleged survivors, who said: “He is close to evil as any human being could get”. I shouldn’t have repeated such an emotive phrase.”

Another fine mess Inspector Watson…