The widow of ex-Home Secretary Lord Brittan, who was falsely accused of being part of a paedophile ring in Westminster, has criticised the decision to drop an investigation into the officer who led an inquiry into the claims.

Lady Diana Brittan said the misconduct proceedings against Met Police officer Steve Rodhouse had been "quietly dropped".

She told BBC's Emma Barnett it showed a "complete lack of professionalism" and that her trust in the Met and the police watchdog that led the investigation had been "severely undermined".

Claims of sex abuse against Lord Brittan were false and made up by a man called Carl Beech - who aside from being a fantasist and a fraudster was himself a paedophile.

The Met Police investigation into Beech's original allegations, called Operation Midland, was run from November 2014 to March 2016, and cost the force 2.5m.

Lord Brittan died of cancer in January 2015, before learning that there was no case to answer against him. Four years later, Beech was jailed for 12 counts of perverting the course of justice, one of fraud, as well as several child sexual offences.

Mr Rodhouse had been under investigation for gross misconduct since 2023, and was due to face a disciplinary hearing on 16 June for leading the inquiry into what turned out to be false allegations against a string of high-profile figures.

However, in a surprise announcement last week, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it was stopping the proceedings after a "large...

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