New book claims Cyril Smith had ‘insatiable’ appetite for young boys

Apr 20, 2014 19:42 

By Dean Kirby

Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk and his parliamentary aid Matt Baker have launched an explosive new book on Smith’s sex crimes

 

A shocking new book about Cyril Smith shames him as a predatory paedophile who escaped justice for more than 50 years.

Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk and his parliamentary aid Matt Baker have launched an explosive new book on Smith’s sex crimes, which claims he had an ‘insatiable’ appetite for young boys.

Those desires, they say, resulted in dozens of vulnerable boys being targeted by Smith at the former Cambridge House Boys Hostel, Elm Guest House in London and even the House of Commons.

Mr Danczuk’s and Mr Baker’s book on Smith, ‘Smile for the Camera: The Double Life of Cyril Smith’, claims that abuse ranged from disciplinarian ‘spankings’ to forcing boys to perform sex acts on him.

Cyril Smith’s family have said they are ‘saddened and concerned’ by the claims made in the book so long after the larger than life MP’s death when he is ‘no longer able to defend himself’.

But Mr Danczuk has argued the former MP, who died in 2010 aged 82, would have known he would one day be outed for his crimes.

Here he explains why he felt the story had to be told...

“Many of your younger readers won’t know who Cyril Smith is. After all, he stood down as an MP in 1992 and died in 2010. For students of politics, though, he’s not easily forgotten. Cyril Smith was unlike any politician before or since.

"At 29 stone and over six feet tall, he was the largest man to ever sit in the House of Commons. Blunt and outspoken, Cyril was a charismatic, straight talking northern politician that became a household name. He had an inimitable style and liked to blur politics with show business.

"He was on every chat show host’s sofa, frequently on television and even appeared on Top of the Pops dancing with the biggest girl band in the world at the time, Bananarama.

"But his celebrity status allowed him to keep a very dark secret well hidden. Cyril Smith was a predatory paedophile.

MP Simon Danczuk and aid Matt Baker with their new book detailing 

Cyril Smith's alleged sex crimes

 "As the MP for Cyril’s old seat of Rochdale it was a heavy burden to discover this. I’d long heard the rumours but in the wake of the 2012 Rochdale grooming scandal clear evidence was presented to me of the scale of his abuse. After meeting victims and speaking to honest police officers that tried to prosecute him and saw their efforts blocked, I knew this chilling story had to be told.

"The book on Cyril Smith I’ve written with Matt Baker has already created quite a stir in Westminster. Pillars of the establishment certainly need shaking. And big questions remain. Why was a paedophile politician investigated by police for the best part of 40-years never prosecuted? I’ve seen the horrific consequences of child abuse and how it ruins lives.

"And that’s why I’m taking a strong stand. There’s no place for paedophiles in public life - and they cannot and should not be protected by the establishment.

"But here’s the rub. Until political parties show they’re not prepared to turn a blind eye to abuse like this by star performers we can’t be certain that Cyril’s double life won’t be repeated. I don’t think we’re anywhere near to getting to the bottom of this scandal.

"I’m certain there were other politicians involved as well as Cyril as part of a paedophile network. Whether the full truth of this eventually emerges will ultimately depend on the courage of the political classes and the authorities. Let’s hope some good men and women are prepared to do something about it."

Smile for the Camera: the double life of Cyril Smith is published by Biteback

Source

• Police told of 11 new suspects in Cyril Smith abuse probe
• Civil claim on council by Smith's abuse victims
• MP's book tells 'dark truth' of Cyril Smith