Britain’s
independent police watchdog agency said on Monday that it would
investigate an allegation that the police in Wiltshire had dropped a
criminal investigation in the 1990s when the subject threatened to go
public with accusations that the former Conservative prime minister
Edward Heath had sexually abused children.
Mr.
Heath was prime minister from 1970 to 1974. He remained a member of
Parliament until 2001, living out the rest of his life in Salisbury, in
Wiltshire. He died in 2005 at 89, leaving his ancient house, Arundells, with its fine art and memorabilia, to a charity for public viewing.