 Several months prior to his retirement , Benn was a signatory to a letter , alongside Niki Adams ( Legal Action for Women ) , Ian Macdonald QC , Gareth Peirce , and other legal professionals , that was published in The Guardian newspaper on 22 February 2001 " condemning " raids of more than 50 brothels in the central London area of Soho . At the time , a police spokesman said : " As far as we know , this is the biggest simultaneous crackdown on brothels and prostitution in this country in recent times " , the arrest of 28 people in an operation that involved around 110 police officers . The letter read : 
