Former Labour minister says there was no evidence she tolerated 'vile' paedophile group while at NCCL in 1970s
Tessa Jowell, the former Labour cabinet minister, has sprung to the defence of Harriet Harman, the party's deputy leader, saying there was not one shred of evidence that she had tolerated a group that supported paedophilia during her time at the National Council of Civil Liberties.
Harman has been criticised by the Daily Mail for refusing to apologise for not doing more to expel the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) from any affiliation from the NCCL in the 1970s.
Harman has expressed regret about the episode, but this is not regarded as satisfactory by the Mail.
Jowell said: "Harriet Harman would have nothing to do with the vile rubbish of an organisation like PIE," adding that "I don't want anyone to think this present frenzy about Harriet, the NCCL and the Daily Mail attack on her is in any way explained by that was then and this is now."
She said Harman, and her husband, Jack Dromey, were consistent in their opposition to "the vile influence of the PIE".
Jowell said Harman had made clear her regret at PIE's affiliation to the NCCL, adding there was no question of post hoc justification. Harman's work did not bring her into contact with them, she said.
She said as a lifelong feminist, Harman "was not chasing whacky causes in the 70s. She was focusing on equal pay for badly paid women, equal opportunities, domestic violence, child sexual abuse."
Jowell accepted that some at the NCCL, including its then general secretary, Larry Gostin, argued a pure libertarian case of the kind that "everyone is entitled to a voice".
But she denied Harman shared his views and rejected suggestions by former PIE member Tom O'Carroll that Dromey and Harman, while not welcoming his presence, also did not rock the boat over their affiliation. He said he had never met Harman, and Patricia Hewitt, a former Labour cabinet member and NCCL general secretary, had been frosty.
O'Carroll told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Really, they didn't do much to oppose PIE's presence in my view because there were these other liberal forces, or radical forces, within NCCL. The support didn't come from Harman and co but it was there. The gay liberation front was very radical and at that time Harman and Patricia Hewitt couldn't just kick out PIE. Well, they could both try but they didn't even try and the reason they didn't try is they didn't want to rock the boat because their careers within NCCL depended on them not rocking the boat too much."
O'Carroll told the programme he had never met Harman but met Hewitt briefly at a conference in Sheffield in 1978.
Tom Watson, the Labour MP and a long-term campaigner against child abuse, has said he has asked the Home Office to look into whether PIE received any state funding. Inquiries are being made at the Home Office including over why it did not ban the organisation as proposed by Geoffrey Dickens MP at the time. Reported by guardian.co.uk 2 hours ago.
Tessa Jowell, the former Labour cabinet minister, has sprung to the defence of Harriet Harman, the party's deputy leader, saying there was not one shred of evidence that she had tolerated a group that supported paedophilia during her time at the National Council of Civil Liberties.
Harman has been criticised by the Daily Mail for refusing to apologise for not doing more to expel the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) from any affiliation from the NCCL in the 1970s.
Harman has expressed regret about the episode, but this is not regarded as satisfactory by the Mail.
Jowell said: "Harriet Harman would have nothing to do with the vile rubbish of an organisation like PIE," adding that "I don't want anyone to think this present frenzy about Harriet, the NCCL and the Daily Mail attack on her is in any way explained by that was then and this is now."
She said Harman, and her husband, Jack Dromey, were consistent in their opposition to "the vile influence of the PIE".
Jowell said Harman had made clear her regret at PIE's affiliation to the NCCL, adding there was no question of post hoc justification. Harman's work did not bring her into contact with them, she said.
She said as a lifelong feminist, Harman "was not chasing whacky causes in the 70s. She was focusing on equal pay for badly paid women, equal opportunities, domestic violence, child sexual abuse."
Jowell accepted that some at the NCCL, including its then general secretary, Larry Gostin, argued a pure libertarian case of the kind that "everyone is entitled to a voice".
But she denied Harman shared his views and rejected suggestions by former PIE member Tom O'Carroll that Dromey and Harman, while not welcoming his presence, also did not rock the boat over their affiliation. He said he had never met Harman, and Patricia Hewitt, a former Labour cabinet member and NCCL general secretary, had been frosty.
O'Carroll told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Really, they didn't do much to oppose PIE's presence in my view because there were these other liberal forces, or radical forces, within NCCL. The support didn't come from Harman and co but it was there. The gay liberation front was very radical and at that time Harman and Patricia Hewitt couldn't just kick out PIE. Well, they could both try but they didn't even try and the reason they didn't try is they didn't want to rock the boat because their careers within NCCL depended on them not rocking the boat too much."
O'Carroll told the programme he had never met Harman but met Hewitt briefly at a conference in Sheffield in 1978.
Tom Watson, the Labour MP and a long-term campaigner against child abuse, has said he has asked the Home Office to look into whether PIE received any state funding. Inquiries are being made at the Home Office including over why it did not ban the organisation as proposed by Geoffrey Dickens MP at the time. Reported by guardian.co.uk 2 hours ago.