Michael Heseltine questions police treatment of Joe Anderson in House of Lords debate

Conservative grandee Michael Heseltine made a surprise intervention in the House of Lords, asking about the police's treatment of former Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson.

Lord Heseltine, a former Deputy Prime Minister and a key figure in Margaret Thatcher's government, spoke in the Lords today and raised the case of Mr Anderson, who was arrested by Merseyside Police in December 2020 as part of a corruption investigation. He has always denied wrongdoing and has not been charged.

Mr Anderson was mayor of the city at the time he was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit bribery and witness intimidation. He subsequently stepped down from his position and remains under investigation today.

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The arrest was one of many linked to the city council, which all form part of Merseyside Police's Operation Aloft, which is investigating building contracts in Liverpool over a number of years.

Lord Heseltine is credited by many in Liverpool for helping to revive the city during the problems it faced in the 1980s. In 2012 the former so-called Minister for Merseyside was awarded the Freedom of Liverpool for his work.

Giving him that award on that day was Joe Anderson, with the two men forming a bond over the years.

In the House of Lords today, Mr Heseltine raised a question related to "the conduct of the police in their treatment of former Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson."

Responding for the government was Lorde Sharpe of Epsom, the parliamentary under-secretary for the Home Department, who said: "An investigation regarding Mr Anderson remains ongoing and it would therefore be inappropriate to comment while that remains the case. The police are rightly independent of government and decisions concerning investigations are operational ones for the respective police forces to make."

Responding, Lord Heseltine said: "The Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson was arrested on serious charges including fraud and bribery. That was three years and four months ago. He lost his job, his reputation and his income. No charge has been laid since then, I would like to ask the minister, does he think that's justice?"

The minister said: "I am unable to comment on whether this is justice or not. The fact is the force has advised that this investigation is ongoing and live and that includes ongoing investigations with the Crown Prosecution Service.

"By way of further context, Mr Anderson has previously challenged the decision to arrest him by way of judicial review including an appeal and was unsuccessful in the courts. Since then neither he nor anyone acting on his behalf has made a complaint to the police."

He added: "However the force have confirmed that they are seeking to conclude this investigation as expeditiously as possible."

Other lords then entered the debate, including Labour peer Tony Woodley, who declared an interest as a friend of Joe Anderson. He said: "He is a man who has been destroyed, his reputation is completely and totally destroyed and everything that goes with it having not been charged with a single thing. It reminds me of Cliff Richard.

"Don't start giving allegations across anywhere to anyone if you haven't got proof and you can't substantiate what you are saying. It is an absolute disgrace what has happened to this man."

Also speaking up was Lord David Alton of Liverpool, who served as an MP in the city for 18 years. He said: "I would reflect on the words of the Liverpool-born Prime Minister William Gladstone, who said that justice delayed was justice denied and is it not outrageous that after all this time, this has been hanging over someone and their family and that the expedition of this case is the issue that the noble lord has raised, not whether it is right or wrong?

"It does not help politics or good governance for a case to fester like this for so long, undoing some of the achievements of Lord Heseltine. Anything that impedes those achievements would I think be a very negative thing for Liverpool and the country."

There was cross-bench support for this position, with Conservative peer Lord Deben also intervening. He said: "This is unacceptable. We really cannot have a justice system which punishes people, guilty or not guilty, without knowing what the case is, what the charge is and why it has been held up for so long. The police really do have to come to some conclusion rapidly."

The minister again responded to say he could not comment on the specifics of the investigation but repeated that Merseyside Police was looking to conclude its investigations as quickly as possible.

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