9 November 2012 Last updated at 13:31 ET

Lord McAlpine gets man's apology over abuse claims

Steve Messham met Welsh Secretary David Jones earlier this week

A former resident of a north Wales care home has apologised for making false allegations of sexual abuse against a Conservative politician.

Steve Messham said a case of mistaken identity had led to peer Lord McAlpine being linked to the historical claims.

It comes as the solicitor for Lord McAlpine, 70, threatened legal action against those who had named him in connection with the allegations.

Mr Messham offered "sincere and humble apologies to him and his family".

In a statement on Friday evening, he said: "After seeing a picture in the past hour of the individual concerned, this [is] not the person I identified by photograph presented to me by the police in the early 1990s, who told me the man in the photograph was Lord McAlpine."

Earlier Lord McAlpine's solicitor, Andrew Reid, said the peer had "no choice" but to take legal action over claims linking him to abuse at Bryn Estyn children's home in Wrexham.

'Seriously defamatory'

Mr Reid said the claims were "false and seriously defamatory" to Lord McAlpine, who was Conservative Party treasurer from the late 1970s until 1990.

The solicitor was critical of the BBC's Newsnight, on which Mr Messham's claims were aired last week, although no-one was named.

The BBC said the Newsnight broadcast had voiced concerns raised by an abuse victim, in the public interest.

Lord McAlpine's solicitor Andrew Reid: "We have to look at Newsnight and the way in which they behaved"

Mr Messham, a former resident of the Bryn Estyn children's home, last week told Newsnight that he had been abused by an unnamed, senior politician of the Thatcher era at the home.

He called for a new investigation claiming a report by Sir Ronald Waterhouse in 2000 had not uncovered the full scale of the abuse.

In a statement also on Friday, Lord McAlpine said he had been subsequently named on the internet and by implication by other media over the claims and was issuing a denial "to set the record straight".

Lord McAlpine said he wanted to "tackle these slurs and set the record straight".

He said: "I have never been to the children's home in Wrexham, nor have I ever visited any children's home, reform school or any other institution of a similar nature.

"I have never stayed in a hotel in or near Wrexham, I did not own a Rolls-Royce, have never had a 'Gold card' or 'Harrods card' and never wear aftershave, all of which have been alleged.

"I did not sexually abuse Mr Messham or any other residents of the children's home in Wrexham."

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9 November 2012 Last updated at 12:29 ET

Lord McAlpine 'to take legal action' over abuse claims

Lord McAlpine issued his response amid claims over abuse at a north Wales children's home

Lord McAlpine has "no choice" but to take legal action over claims of abuse at a north Wales children's home, the Conservative peer's solicitor has said.

Andrew Reid said claims linking the peer to alleged historical child abuse were "false and seriously defamatory".

The solicitor was critical of the BBC's Newsnight, on which claims were made although no-one was named.

The BBC said the Newsnight broadcast had voiced concerns raised by an abuse victim, in the public interest.

Steve Messham, a former resident of the Bryn Estyn children's home in Wrexham, claimed on Newsnight that he had been abused by an unnamed senior politician of the Thatcher era.

But in a statement on Friday Lord McAlpine, 70, who was Conservative Party treasurer from the late 1970s until 1990, said he had been named on the internet and by implication by other media over the claims.

Some newspapers on Friday reported that the peer had been a victim of mistaken identity.

Asked by BBC Radio 4's PM programme if Lord McAlpine would take legal action, Mr Reid said: "Sadly he has no choice.

"We need to take a number of different actions. Firstly to try to get this taken down from the internet which is not going to be easy.

"Then we have to look at Newsnight and.. the way in which they behaved, the way they trailed, they made it obvious who it was, or who they alleged it was by referring people to the internet.

"And all the others who have used the internet and just let people know where to go and find the answer because they made these statements recklessly."

A BBC spokeswoman said: "Newsnight broadcast an investigation into alleged failures in a child abuse inquiry. It worked with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism to give a voice to concerns raised by an abuse victim.

"It was in the public interest to air these. We did not name any public figure for legal reasons. It is now for the inquiries announced by the home secretary to dig deeper into Mr Messham's concerns."

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9 November 2012 Last updated at 05:59 ET

Lord McAlpine says abuse claims false and defamatory

Lord McAlpine issued his response amid claims over abuse at a North Wales children's home

Conservative peer Lord McAlpine has said allegations linking him to alleged historical child abuse are "wholly false and seriously defamatory".

The ex-treasurer released a statement after a man claimed he had been abused at a care home in Wrexham.

Lord McAlpine said he had visited Wrexham "only once" and that he had been in the company of an agent from Conservative Central Office.

He said he had "never" been to the children's home linked to the claims.

Lord McAlpine's denial comes after Steve Messham claimed on the BBC's Newsnight that he had been abused by a senior politician of the Thatcher era, who was not named.

In his statement, Lord McAlpine said: "I have never been to the children's home in Wrexham, nor have I ever visited any children's home, reform school or any other institution of a similar nature.

"I have never stayed in a hotel in or near Wrexham, I did not own a Rolls-Royce, have never had a 'Gold card' or 'Harrods card' and never wear aftershave, all of which have been alleged.

"I did not sexually abuse Mr Messham or any other residents of the children's home in Wrexham."

He said he had decided to "publicly tackle these slurs and set the record straight".

'Witch-hunt'

His statement comes after David Cameron said he feared a "witch-hunt" by those commenting online about child abuse allegations.

The prime minister was commenting on the This Morning programme after being unexpectedly handed a list of names of people who the ITV1 show's presenter said were being mentioned online as paedophiles.

Presenter Phillip Schofield, who said he had based the list on internet speculation, has been criticised for his actions during the live interview which had been addressing historical claims of a paedophile ring linked to No 10.

Mr Cameron, who did not look at the list, said he was "worried" that speculation about unproven allegations could lead to a "witch-hunt particularly against people who are gay" and advised anyone with evidence of abuse to go to the police.

London Mayor Boris Johnson branded it a "rum piece of journalism" and Labour's Chuka Umunna said it had been "foolish and irresponsible".

Meanwhile, TV regulator Ofcom said it had received complaints about the programme.

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9 November 2012 Last updated at 05:15 ET

HSBC investigating claims of criminal account holders

HSBC said it was unaware of an HMRC inquiry

HSBC bank says it is looking into allegations that criminals have used offshore accounts at its Jersey operation for money laundering.

The bank issued a statement after the Daily Telegraph newspaper said it was at the centre of a major investigation by HM Revenue and Customs.

HSBC said it was investigating "an alleged loss of certain client data in Jersey as a matter of urgency".

But it added it had not been contacted by HMRC or any other authority.

"Clamping down on those who try to cheat the system through evading taxes and over-claiming benefits is a top priority for us, and we value the information we receive from the public and business community," the bank said.

In a statement, HMRC said: "We can confirm we have received the data and we are studying it. We receive information from a very wide range of sources which we use to ensure the tax rules are being respected."

Allegations

According to the Daily Telegraph, the tax authorities have obtained details of "every British client of HSBC in Jersey" based on information provided by a whistle-blower this week.

It is reported that the 4,000 offshore account holders include a well-known drug dealer living in Central America, bankers who face allegations of fraud and a man once dubbed London's "number two crook".

BBC business editor Robert Peston said: "It is really quite difficult to tell from this disclosure whether or not this is an example of HSBC yet again having, shall we say, laxer or weaker controls over who it takes money from.

"The American authorities do think HSBC was, for too many years, too prone, or in a sense, too easily duped by terrorists and criminals who wanted to launder money. We just don't have enough information whether or not this is an another example of those weak controls."

Our business editor said he had been told by HSBC that this appeared to be a case of "whistle-blowers handing over bunches of bank names for whatever reasons".

He added: "They don't think they will emerge from this investigation to be shown to be particularly lax in their controls."

Earlier this year, a US Senate report alleged that staff at HSBC's global operations had laundered billions of dollars for drug cartels and terrorists in a "pervasively polluted" culture that persisted for years.

The report detailed how HSBC's subsidiaries cleared suspicious travellers' cheques worth billions, and allowed Mexican drug lords to buy planes with money laundered through Cayman Islands accounts.

David Bagley, HSBC's head of compliance since 2002, resigned from his post when he appeared before the US Senate committee in July.

HMRC has received the HSBC data only very recently. But even if it has come with names and addresses attached, it will not necessarily be an easy matter to identity the people who own the accounts.

Complex task

Ronnie Ludwig, a tax partner at the accountants Saffery Champness, believes the accounts are likely to be in the names of nominee companies and trusts, which hide the identity of the beneficial owner.

He thinks the accounts could have a trigger clause, which means the money is moved swiftly to accounts in other offshore tax havens, such as the British Virgin Islands or the Cayman Island, if HMRC intensifies its scrutiny.

Mr Ludwig told the BBC that HMRC would have quite a task on its hands to sort through each account.

"HMRC is facing an uphill struggle in terms of its resources, because these cases will be very complex, difficult and ultimately time-consuming to unravel," he said.

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31 October 2012 Last updated at 20:23 ET

Jimmy Savile estate frozen after abuse claims

Jimmy Savile's estate is worth about £4m and is handled by NatWest bank

Continue reading the main story

Jimmy Savile scandal

• Child protection: The road to hypervigilance
• Savile: Alleged victims' stories
• Mark Easton: Giving victims a voice
• Entwistle evidence: Key extracts

The estate of television presenter Jimmy Savile has been frozen in response to the sex abuse claims made against him, NatWest bank says.

The bank, which is acting as the late DJ's executor, said: "Given the claims raised, distribution of the estate has been put on hold."

Savile's estate is thought to be worth about £4 million.

Lawyers representing those who claim they were attacked by Savile are planning to sue the estate for damages.

Police believe the BBC presenter and DJ could have abused as many as 300 people over a 40-year-period.

Scotland Yard has said it is following about 400 lines of inquiry as part of the operation - which is looking into claims Savile, who died last year aged 84, abused hundreds of young girls and some boys.

Police described Savile as a "predatory sex offender".

He is alleged to have carried out abuse at a number of institutions, such as the high security psychiatric hospital Broadmoor, Stoke Mandeville Hospital and Leeds General Infirmary.

The TV presenter and DJ, who was knighted in 1996, had been a household name since he presented the first edition of Top Of The Pops in 1964.

The BBC has already announced inquiries into the Savile abuse claims. The first, led by former Sky News head Nick Pollard, is examining whether there were any failings in the BBC's management of the Newsnight investigation into Savile abuse claims.

Former Court of Appeal judge Dame Janet Smith has begun a review into the culture and practices of the corporation during Savile's time at the BBC. A further review will examine sexual harassment policies at the BBC.

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