Patricia Hewitt 'sorry' for stance on paedophile group
Patricia Hewitt was general secretary of NCCL in the 1970s Former Labour Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has apologised for having "got it wrong" in the row over a pro-paedophile group.
She said she took responsibility for mistakes made by the National Council for Civil Liberties in the 1970s when she was its general secretary.
The NCCL was "naive" over its links with the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE), Ms Hewitt said.
But she had never condoned the "vile crimes" of paedophiles, she added.
It is the first time Ms Hewitt, who said she had been away for the past 12 days, has publicly spoken since the latest controversy broke.
She said more should have been done to protect the integrity of the NCCL from the activities of PIE, which was allowed to join the organisation as an affiliate member.
'Deep regret'In a statement, Ms Hewitt said: "NCCL in the 1970s, along with many others, was naive and wrong to accept PIE's claim to be a 'campaigning and counselling organisation' that 'does not promote unlawful acts'.
"As general secretary then, I take responsibility for the mistakes we made. I got it wrong on PIE and I apologise for having done so.
"I should have urged the executive committee to take stronger measures to protect NCCL's integrity from the activities of PIE members and sympathisers and I deeply regret not having done so."
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