Man who accused Leon Brittan claims he was encouraged to make abuse allegation by campaigner

A vulnerable man who accused former home secretary Leon Brittan of sexual abuse has claimed he was encouraged to make the allegations by campaigners.

The man - identified as David - claimed he named Brittan after being shown a photograph by campaigners, who also suggested a number of names to him.

"He’s a well-known MP and I might have seen him on TV through the years and stuff and I might just have been confused,” David told BBC Panorama, in a programme aired on Tuesday night.

Brittan, who served as home secretary in Margaret Thatcher's government in the 1980s, was linked to sex abuse before his death earlier this year.

Scotland Yard hit back at the allegations, saying it had "serious concerns" about the programme as it accused the BBC of undermining its investigation into historical sex abuse.

It claimed the broadcaster could "compromise the evidential chain should a case ever proceed to court”.

The Met also criticised the BBC's newsgathering methods, saying they had a detrimental effect on vulnerable witnesses and would deter others from coming forward.