Exaro or Exaro News was a British website based in London between 2011 and 2016. It purportedly undertook political investigative journalism, but is now primarily known (together with its editor Mark Watts) for its direct involvement in the false allegations of sexual abuse put forward by "Nick" (Carl Beech) in Operation Midland. Introduction Launched in October 2011, Exaro, under its motto "Holding Power to Account", claimed to specialise in "carrying out in-depth investigations". Its website claimed it 'set out to produce "evidence-based, open-access journalism – not spin, not churnalism, not hacking – just journalism about what should be transparent but isn't"'. Exaro was reportedly set up by City entrepreneur Jerome Booth. In articles by journalist Mark Conrad, Exaro became the first publication to report claims made by Carl Beech (under the pseudonym "Nick") that a paedophile ring composed of powerful individuals had abused children at Elm Guest House in Barnes in the late 1970s and early 1980s. MP Tom Watson (Labour), having been passed information from Exaro journalists, raised the allegations in parliament. Police subsequently launched a scoping exercise under the name "Operation Fairbank"; later, a full-scale criminal investigation specifically addressing allegations relating to Elm Guest House was launched under the name "Operation Fernbridge". The latter investigation was subsequently closed after no evidence to support the claims was found. False allegations of sex crimes and murder committed by the fictional paedophile ring made by Beech later became the basis for the Metropolitan Police's Operation Midland, a £2 million probe which closed in 2016 with no charges brought. A later inquiry found that the accused were victims of false allegations. The Metropolitan Police Commissioner issued an apology to Beech's victims. In July 2019, Beech was convicted of charges related to his false claims and was jailed for eighteen years. Former MP Harvey Proctor (Conservative), whose home was raided as part of the failed investigation, charged that Exaro acted as Beech's "support team". ''Exaros then-editor-in-chief, Mark Watts, stood by the website's coverage and said they "never asserted" that Beech's claims were true, but also called Beech's conviction 'wholly unsafe' because he did not think Beech got a fair trial after the judge had allowed jurors to hear that he had pleaded guilty to child pornography offences in a separate trial. Former MP John Hemming (Liberal Democrats), who had been falsely accused of abuse in an article by Exaro journalist David Hencke, succeeded