James O’Brien says “If you make a mistake, you should always apologise’ - I’m still waiting

James O' Brien

On Tuesday 5th August, James O’Brien said on LBC:

“If you make a mistake, you should always apologise.”

I agree. But actions speak louder than words.

O’Brien was one of the most prominent media figures to champion and amplify the lies of Carl Beech - the convicted paedophile and fraudster whose false allegations devastated the lives and reputations of innocent men.

Among Beech’s most grotesque fabrications were claims that I, alongside other public figures, had been part of a secret Westminster “VIP paedophile ring” - involving child abuse, rape and even murder.

Those claims were utterly false.

They were baseless, toxic lies.

Yet O’Brien gave them oxygen. He regularly used his national radio platform on LBC to promote Beech’s account, interview Mark Watts, the disgraced editor of Exaro News (the now-defunct website that pushed Beech’s lies), and imply that anyone expressing scepticism was part of an establishment cover-up.

The consequences were devastating.

I lost my career.

I lost my home.

I was reduced to living in a shed with my partner and three dogs. 

I received credible death threats and had to be moved several times at the behest of the police for my safety following credible death threats.

Moreover, my family and the families of Lord Brittan, Field Marshal Lord Bramall, and Sir Edward Heath, endured anguish that cannot be undone.

Where is James O’Brien’s apology to them?

Where is the accountability?

After Beech was exposed and sentenced to 18 years in prison, O’Brien issued a meagre tweet - expressing regret that he had been misled, but doubling down on the idea that “believing survivors” is always the right approach. Even when the “survivor” is a liar, paedophile and a fraud.

There was no apology to those falsely accused.

No mention of names.

No ownership of the platform he gave to a monstrous lie.

False allegations ruin lives- sometimes take them. They end careers. They destroy families.

They must never be shrugged off as an honest mistake or collateral damage in pursuit of “the greater good.”

Moreover, there is a bitter irony in all of this. In championing Carl Beech, James O’Brien - along with figures like Tom Watson, John Mann, Zac Goldsmith and others -  claimed to be defending victims of abuse.

In reality, they did the opposite. By promoting the lies of a fraudster, they handed sceptics and cynics a perfect excuse to doubt future victims. They undermined trust in genuine allegations, discredited real survivors, and diverted vital police resources away from actual cases. Far from helping the cause, they damaged it -  perhaps irreparably.

To this day, that motley cabal mentioned above has never apologised to me.

They have not adequately apologised to the families of Leon Brittan, Edward Heath, or Edwin Bramall.

And to O’Brien, now - after declaring on national radio that “if you make a mistake, you should always apologise” - the hypocrisy could not be starker.

So I say this:

Mr O’Brien - made a mistake. A grievous one. You repeated lies that destroyed lives. And you owe an apology to every innocent person caught in Carl Beech’s web of deceit. 

He also owes an apology to true survivors of abuse - the very people he claimed to champion - who will now find it harder to be believed because of the reckless platform he gave to Carl Beech.

Start there. We are waiting.

By Harvey Proctor

Harvey Proctor was a Member of Parliament: Basildon 1979-1983 and Billericay 1983-1987. He is President, Facing Allegations in Contexts of Trust (FACT) and Private Secretary to the Duke of Rutland

FACT website at: Home Page - FACT - Facing Accusations in Contexts of Trust

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