Harriet Harman 'regrets' link to pro-paedophile group

Harriet Harman said that she “regrets” working for a civil liberties group in 1970s that was linked to paedophile rights campaigners.

15:30 25 February 2014

Harriet Harman angrily denied claims she was linked to a pro-paedophile group. However, in less than 24 hours after her denial, she has admitted to having regrets that she worked for a civil liberties group in 1970s, which had links to paedophile rights campaigners.

Her spokeswoman said: "Of course she regrets any organisation's involvement with them, including the National Council for Civil Liberties. But they were immaterial to her work.”

"She does not regret joining the NCCL. By the time she arrived they were very much under the radar and her work focused on other things, such as marches, apartheid and trade unions.

"She stands by the statement from yesterday and she is certainly not going to apologise to the Daily Mail." 

When the group’s links were outed, Harman accused Daily Mail of publishing articles that were “horrible and untrue.”

In her statement last night, Harman said the allegations were “grotesque”.

“They have accused me of being an apologist for child sex abuse, of supporting a vile paedophile organisation, of having a relaxed attitude to paedophilia and of watering down child pornography laws. These are horrific allegations and I strongly deny them all of them.”