Cyril Smith: Calls for an independent inquiry growing with Nick Clegg under fire over 'legalistic' excuses

• Cyril Smith was a member of the Liberal Party when he was first elected
• The Liberal Party merged with the Social Democratic Party in 1989
• Smith was then a member of the Lib Dems until 1992 when he retired
• But Nick Clegg's initial investigation only looked at archives from 1989
• More than 7,500 have signed a petition calling for an independent probe

By Daniel Martin and Jaya Narain

Published: 00:38, 17 April 2014 | Updated: 00:42, 17 April 2014

Campaign: Calls are growing for an independent inquiry into Cyril Smith, pictured in 1971, as his victims demand 'proper justice'

The Liberal Democrats faced growing demands last night for an independent inquiry into the Cyril Smith paedophilia scandal.

MPs, campaigners and lawyers for the victims dismissed Nick Clegg’s ‘legalistic’ attempts to deny responsibility on the grounds that the horrifying abuse happened before he was party leader.

They criticised Mr Clegg’s cursory initial investigation into Smith’s activities in 2012 – which the Lib Dem leader said had not found evidence that the party knew of the predatory politician’s four decades of molesting children.

Sir Alistair Graham, former chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, said the Lib Dems had ‘not got a good record in this area’.

And he said the party should set up an independent probe because they were ‘relying on internal people who may have a vested interest in arriving at a particular conclusion’.

He also criticised Mr Clegg for making a ‘legalistic’ distinction between the Liberal Party and the Liberal Democrats who were formed in 1989 following a merger between the Liberals and the Social Democratic Party.

‘People would see a political continuum from the Liberals to the Liberal Democrats,’ Sir Alistair said.

‘In an organisational sense, many of the same people were there, so it is appropriate to properly investigate whether there had been any wrongdoing at that time.’

Solicitor Alan Collins of law firm Slater and Gordon, who is representing six men abused by Smith as boys, echoed Sir Alistair’s call for an independent probe. He said it was ‘inconceivable’ that senior Liberals heard nothing about the allegations.

More...

• A promiscuous mother and the childhood taunts that turned Cyril Smith into a twisted predator
• Squirming of the Lib Dems: Clegg and Co's claims that they knew nothing about Cyril Smith's paedophilia crumble
• The man who knew nothing: As Cyril Smith furore grows, MPs and child campaigners scorn Clegg for claiming that he was too young to know about his abuse

Mr Clegg said on Tuesday that Lib Dem whips contacted every current MP and peer and trawled through all the party’s records after Smith’s vile sexual abuse was finally exposed by Labour MP Simon Danczuk in Parliament in 2012.

No one admitted to hearing anything about the allegations – even though former Liberal leader David Steel was told in 1979 about complaints that Smith had abused boys.

And a Lib Dem spokesman later admitted the archives that were searched contained material dating almost exclusively from after the party’s formation in 1989.

Under pressure: Nick Clegg, pictured during an interview on LBC 97.3, has been criticised for making 'legalistic' excuses over the Cyril Smith scandal

The records examined did not include documents from the old Liberal Party to which Smith belonged when he was elected as MP for Rochdale in 1972. He served for 20 years until 1992 by which time he was a Liberal Democrat, and died in 2010 aged 82.

Martin Bell, the former BBC reporter and anti-sleaze MP, said the Lib Dems should follow the example of the BBC over Jimmy Savile and hold a proper inquiry into how Smith’s sex abuse was allowed to continue unchecked for so long.

More than 7,500 people have signed a new online petition calling on David Cameron to launch a public inquiry into Smith’s sexual abuse so that his victims can get ‘proper justice’.

Lord Steel, who nominated Smith for a knighthood in 1988, refused to comment when approached by the Daily Mail on Tuesday. He has previously said that he received no complaints about Smith’s activities as a Liberal MP and that the obese politician denied any wrongdoing when he questioned him in 1979 about the allegations of ‘unusual behaviour with boys’.

A Liberal Democrat spokesman said last night: ‘Cyril Smith’s acts were vile and repugnant and we have nothing but sympathy for those whose lives he ruined. His actions were not known to, or condoned by, the Liberal Party or the Liberal Democrats.

‘These are extremely serious allegations and include suggestions that there was a cover-up by the police and security services.

‘Allegations made in the Daily Mail and elsewhere also include prominent members of the Labour and Conservative parties.

‘Such serious allegations, involving a range of institutions, must be a matter for the police.’

Open secret: Campaigners argue that rumours of Smith's abuse of young boys were widely known both in Westminster and his constituency Liberal conference ‘told of claims – but did nothing’

Fresh evidence that rumours of Cyril Smith’s sickening activities were widely known emerged yesterday, raising damaging new questions for Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats.

It was alleged that claims that Smith abused boys were raised on the floor of a Liberal Party conference, but that nothing was done about it.

Separately, a former campaigner for the Social Democratic Party described how senior party officials panicked during the 1983 election because of fears Smith would be exposed as a child abuser.

The SDP was in an electoral alliance with the Liberal Party, which Smith represented as MP for Rochdale, and would later merge with it to form the Liberal Democrats.

Charles Baker, an SDP activist in Hertfordshire, said a warning came down from party headquarters in London.

‘There was kind of an alert, an alarm that one of the other parties had got hold of the fact that Cyril Smith had interfered with boys yet again,’ he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. 

'Turning a blind eye': It is alleged that claims about Smith, pictured relaxing in a deckchair at Brighton ahead of a party conference, abusing boys was raised on the floor of a Liberal Party conference but no action was taken

Meanwhile, new details were also revealed yesterday of Smith’s fears that he would be ruined when a local Rochdale newspaper published an article in 1979 disclosing that the police had investigated complaints that he abused boys at a hostel in the town.

Elwyn Watkins, who was 15 and working for Smith’s election campaign team at the time, recalled that Smith was terrified of the effect the story would have on his political career if it was followed up by national newspapers.

‘He said something along the lines of “this will destroy me”. He was white as a sheet,’ he said.

But about two days later Smith’s brother Norman walked into the campaign office and said they had ‘seen to it that the story would go nowhere’. Mr Watkins added: ‘After that day, Cyril was back to his old self.’

Labour MP for Rochdale Simon Danczuk told the BBC yesterday he believed the rumours of Smith’s activities were raised at a Liberal Party conference.

He said: ‘I spoke to a Liberal student activist from the mid-70s who said these allegations actually got raised on the floor of conference for the Liberals. Lots of people are aware of it.’

Mr Danczuk, author of an explosive new book about the cover-up of Smith’s abuse serialised by the Daily Mail, said the rumours were well known in Rochdale.

He also alleged that Smith was protected in Westminster because he was part of a ‘paedophile network’ there after becoming an MP in 1972. He said he believed it included other senior figures – and that to have exposed it could have toppled the government.

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