Plea to Brittan on 'abuse dossier'

 

 

01 July 2014

Former home secretary Leon Brittan should reveal what he knows about a dossier making claims of a paedophile ring involving Westminster figures, an MP who has investigated historic sex abuse has said.

The former Cabinet minister, now a Tory peer, should "share his knowledge" about the file which was passed to the Home Office while he was in charge, according to Labour's Simon Danczuk who has investigated claims of abuse by ex-MP Cyril Smith.

Mr Danczuk claimed that politics was the "last refuge of child sexual abuse deniers" and there was a view that "we should sweep it under the carpet".

The Rochdale MP claimed "there is pressure applied whether I name people or not" as he appeared before the Home Affairs Select Committee.

Mr Danczuk, who called for a "Hillsborough-style" over-arching inquiry into the issue, said t he police and local authorities were changing the way they dealt with the issue and the media was keen to investigate cases.

"But in terms of politics I think there is a continual view that we should sweep it under the carpet, that we shouldn't speak about it, that we shouldn't name people, that there shouldn't be a discussion about what's gone on in terms of child sex abuse.

"There's pressure applied to people," he added. "Of course there is pressure applied in terms of whether I name people or not, of course there is."

Mr Danczuk, whose book on Smith's activities detailed a series of accusations of sexual abuse by the Liberal politician against young boys, said that arrests were "imminent" in an investigation at a residential school linked to the former MP.

But he claimed that Smith had been protected by people "higher up the food chain" in the networks he belonged to, and claimed the former Rochdale MP had attended a south-west London guest house at the centre of allegations of abuse.

"He attended Elm Guest House, we know that, the Metropolitan Police have confirmed that. I spoke to a victim he abused at Elm Guest House.

"There were other high profile figures that it is alleged attended Elm Guest House."

Mr Danczuk said Tory MP Geoffrey Dickens "produced a dossier in the 1980s which he presented to the home secretary about the Paedophile Information Exchange (Pie), about paedophiles operating a network within and around Westminster".

He added: "The home secretary was Sir Leon Brittan and I think it would be helpful if he stepped forward and shared his thoughts on where that dossier is.

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