The widow of Leon Brittan has signalled she may intensify her battle to make senior police officers pay for the hounding of her husband over false claims of sexual abuse. Lord Brittan, a former home secretary, died in January 2015 with his reputation under a cloud after being targeted by Scotland Yard in a VIP sexual abuse investigation triggered by the testimony of a fantasist, Carl Beech. Lady Brittan, whose public statements have been rare, used an extensive newspaper interview to accuse Scotland Yard of a “culture of cover-up” and its leadership of lacking a “moral spine”. Beech falsely claimed to detectives that he was the childhood victim of an establishment paedophile ring, which police fell for. Detectives raided properties linked to Brittan, the D-day veteran Lord Bramall, and the former Conservative MP Harvey Proctor. The investigation into Beech’s bogus claims launched in 2014 was called Operation Midland and despite intense criticism the Met insisted it was right to pursue it. But Midland collapsed in March 2016 without charges or even an arrest, and Beech was unmasked as having made up his account and was later jailed for 18 years for multiple counts of lying and one of fraud. Midland investigated claims a VIP paedophile ring abused children in the 1970s and 80s and even murdered youngsters. A detective described Beech’s claims as “credible and true” and came after the revelations about Jimmy Savile, who got away with his crimes. Lady Brittan told the Daily Mail: “In the end, it’s the leadership of any police force. That’s where the buck stops. But I think a lot of this comes down to culture. And one of the things that interests me is, as an outcome, is the police appear to have a culture which is cover up and flick away. “I suppose as a former magistrate, indeed the wife of an ex-home secretary, I’ve always believed that a strong moral compass is essential to every public body and especially to police forces, and above all, to its leadership. I think it’s very important. “However, it just seems to me the Metropolitan police has preferred its corporate or personal ambitions to a strong moral compass. I suppose the question I must ask myself, and maybe I ask publicly, is when and how is the corporate culture going to change?” She is angered that no officer faced serious punishment and said: “Not a single person in this case has resigned, lost their job, been fired, demoted or disciplined. Nobody whatsoever. “There has been a little bit of hand-wringing which does not amount to a row of beans. If, in a case like this, accountability does not involve firings or resignations at the point of responsibility, what then is accountability?” The Met has apologised to those wrongly targeted and paid compensation to them or their families. It admitted a string of blunders in 2016 after a damning report by a retired high court judge. Lady Brittan also accused the police watchdog, now called the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which investigated the scandal of a whitewash. It has stood by its findings. She also criticised the former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson, who as a backbench MP pressed for a criminal investigation into Beech’s claims. Lady Brittan said: “It was about the most despicable thing I think a human being could do to another.” Watson has previously said he felt “very, very sorry” about the way events turned out, adding: “I genuinely feel very deeply for the people who have had injustices done to them as a result of the failed police inquires – I really do.” Police say they have been extensively investigated over the scandal and have put in place reforms.