Hodge apologises to abuse victim

Mrs Hodge says she's up to the job

Margaret Hodge has agreed to give £10,000 to charity after it emerged she falsely branded a sex abuse victim as "extremely disturbed".

The children's minister has also agreed to a courtroom apology to victim Demetrious Panton, about whom she made the remarks in a letter to the BBC.

He had said he would sue Mrs Hodge if she failed to explain her comments.

The former leader of Islington Council has faced calls for her resignation after the publication of the letter.

Her remarks came when she complained about an inquiry into a child abuse scandal in London's Borough of Islington.

After the conclusion of talks between her solicitors and those representing Mr Panton, Mrs Hodge also agreed to pay his legal costs.

'Delighted'

Mr Panton said: "I am delighted that she has retracted the statement, that she has paid £10,000 to a charity of my choice and that she has paid all my legal costs.

"Mrs Hodge has also agreed to write to me by 1600 tomorrow to explain why she described me as "extremely disturbed".

"My lawyers had requested that this be a public explanation, but Mrs Hodge has requested that the contents of the letter remain private.

"To bring this matter to a close I am happy to meet this request."

In her statement Mrs Hodge confirmed the money would go to crime prevention charity Nacro and that she would reiterate her an apology she had made last Friday.

On Sunday Labour's former deputy leader Roy Hattersley stopped short of calling on Mrs Hodge to resign but said she was now "vulnerable".

That came after Tory calls for the minister to quit

'Toughness'

Lord Hattersley said: "She's not perhaps vulnerable in the short term, but she has to do a number of things which many individuals would regard as such a humiliation as to be too great to endure - or at least too great to endure in office - perhaps endure from the backbenches."

He stressed: "It's perhaps a sign of her toughness, her resilience, her principles, that she wants to go on fighting...

"But I think some people would find that easier to endure on the backbenches than on the front."

I know you suffered appalling abuse in the 1970s Margaret Hodge apology Full text of Mrs Hodge's letter Profile: Margaret Hodge

Mr Panton said at first he assumed someone from social services had told Mrs Hodge he was "extremely disturbed", but it has emerged that this was not the case.

On Saturday, he told the BBC: "There is a moral context in our society and that makes it clear that you do not malice an individual who has already been through such a traumatic experience.

"If she can't provide a satisfactory explanation as to why she described me as an extremely disturbed person then I am left with no alternative but to think that she did so out of pure malice."

Mrs Hodge's "extremely disturbed" comments came in a letter to BBC chairman Gavyn Davies, read out on Radio 4's Today programme.

'Incompatible'

Mrs Hodge said the letter was never meant to be published.

A Downing Street spokesman dismissed speculation she would be sacked by Prime Minister Tony Blair.

"He appointed Margaret Hodge to this job. The fact that she continues to do that job, and will continue to do that job at the end of today, I think indicates the prime minister's confidence in her ability."

But on Sunday, Tory shadow education and health secretary Tim Yeo repeated calls for Mrs Hodge to step down, describing her behaviour as "incompatible" with her role as children's minister.

"I think if Tony Blair is serious about taking child abuse as an important issue, he should sack her this week," he told Sky News Sunday with Adam Boulton.