Should Harriet Harman apologise?

Yes thank you from me too anno. Ms Harman really dug herself into a deep hole during that interview.

Just because it was in the DM does not mean it was necessarily untrue.
Just because people may think she has done good as an MP does not mean anything that happened previously that could be judged unsavoury should be disregarded - if so, there should be an amnesty for all the DJs and celebrities who have been charged with actual offences.
With a bit of luck Hewitt has gone back to where she came from but I doubt if they would want her.
The DT report made me feel sick, I wish I hadn't read it.

Shami Chakrabart i has been like a breath of fresh air after that lot.

Listened to the interview, thanks anno. What HH said was that PIE had already been 'pushed away'. In other words, representatives weren't allowed to speak at NCCL events but the organisation remained affiliated, paying membership, for some years after HH joined. What she didn't say was that with hindsight, their membership fee should have been returned and NCCL should have publicly dissociated itself from PIE. And she wrote a paper commenting on the Children Act suggesting that people who took or distributed dubious photographs of children should only be prosecuted if it could be shown that the child had been harmed.

I think this would have blown over if Harriet Harman had just apologised long ago when this story first came to light. Shami Chakrabarti joined the organisation in 2001 but even she has apologised.

Copied from Monday 24th, Guardian.

The NCCL, which was created 80 years ago has been known as Liberty since 1989, is the oldest human rights group in the UK. Shami Chakrabarti, the current director of Liberty, who joined the organisation in 2001, has previously issued an apology about the links between the NCCL and PIE.

In December, she said in a statement: "It is a source of continuing disgust and horror that even the NCCL had to expel paedophiles from its ranks in 1983 after infiltration at some point in the 70s. The most important lesson learned by Liberty over the subsequent 30 years was to become a well-governed modern human rights movement in which protecting the vulnerable, especially children, will always come first."

I don't think for a minute that she supported PIE but it can't be denied that her name is on a document from NCCL seeking to water down a Bill regarding Child Protection.

Maybe she was being economical with the truth , has been known to happen with politicians !!

Newsnight interview first item.

She said it on the World at One today. I heard her!

I don't think she did,jingle as that wasn't true and is a matter of record. There are a number of documents circulating in the press (not just DM!) that show her dealings with PIE. I remember it at the time.

She said on the radio that PIE had left by the time she joined the civil liberties thing.

It is totally ridiculous! Quite really. So unfair.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/10659100/Harriet-Harman-Jack-Dromey-Patricia-Hewitt-and-the-Paedophile-Information-Exchange.html Yes, they should!

Yes, I agree Ana; they should have done.

I agree, it is a good blog Mamie. Of course the three involved, and especially Harriet Harman as she has the highest profile, should have addressed the matter sooner.

Lilygran, is there any evidence that the NCCL supported PIE in that way?

There is a good blog here from Michael White:
www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/2014/feb/25/harriet-harman-daily-mail-smear-paedophile-information-exchange

The NCCL offered legal advice to affiliate members and supported them in court cases.

Wasn't a defence but a statement of fact, Grummpa. This is like the McCarthy witchhunts in the US, guilty by association. Shouldn't she be judged on her actions? If they dig up that she actively worked on behalf of PIE, was a member of PIE and advocated their intentions I'd pile the firewood myself.

Whatever the facts back then, I agree that she should be judged on what she has done as an MP. and I cannot believe the DM is doing anything other than muck raking with a view to the election next year.
If all MPS were exposed for youthful misjudgements, I doubt there would be many with a clean slate.The same would apply to all of us I imagine.

Not sure about the "it was a long time ago" argument, Mollie. If we allow it for HH, how about the disc jockeys accused of misdemeanours in the 1970s?

What should have been issued when the story was first resurrected was a statement regretting the PIE's link with NCCL, explaining how it happened, and setting out the degree of involvement and actions taken by Hewitt, Dromey and Harman in their respective roles. It would probably not have convinced the DM, but at least the facts would have been in the open and there would have been no suggestion of cover-up.

Unless of course the facts were unpalatable....

I'm disappointed in HH. I always thought she was one of the 'good guys', but sadly past misjudgments do tend to catch up with politicians and it sounds as if, having failed to make any mud stick in their attack on the Millibands' father, the DM thinks it has struck gold this time. I hope not.

It certainly is "old news" isn't it.

As I understand it the connection with PIE had been broken before she even joined the organisation.

For once I'm in agreement with Jingle ... it was a long time ago, she worked for the organisation and didn't instigate the connection but she'd done a lot of good work since then and should be judged on that.

She might have been misguided, but I don't think she can be called thick.

Hmmm. Perhaps supporting the lowering of the age of consent is n't the same as actually supporting paedophilia. Some people genuinely feel that would be right.

What we need to do is make a list of what the DM publishes day after grueling and boring day, then look later at what is actually true - we would not be surprised at the petty rubbish that is fed to us.