"Lord Healey was asked about this and he insists that the two things are not connected. I'm inclined to agree with him as the saga is history now and Healey is an old man - he has no motive to tell fibs about it any longer".
....apart from making sure he goes down in history the way he wants to. There's still plenty of motive for Healey to spin it, however ancient he might be.
I'd not trust any politician (or ex-politican) to have stopped telling fibs unless I screwed down the coffin lid and buried it myself.