Tebbit hints at political cover-

up over child abuse in 1980s

Ex-Thatcher minister says politicians' instincts were to protect
'the system' as it emerged that 114 more documents were lost
Lord Tebbit with Baroness Kennedy on The Andrew arr !how" 'There may well ha#e been $a co#er-up%& But it was almost
unconscious& 't was the thing that people did at that time&' (hotograph" )e** +#ers,BB-,(A
!unday . )uly /014
The *ormer -onser#ati#e cabinet minister Lord Tebbit has said he belie#es there 1may
well1 ha#e been a political co#er-up o#er child abuse in the 1230s&
4orman Tebbit5 who ser#ed in a series o* ministerial posts under argaret Thatcher5
said the instinct o* people at the time was to protect 1the system1 and not to del#e too
deeply into uncom*ortable allegations&
6is comment came as the 6ome +**ice announced a *resh legal re#iew into what
happened to a *ile alleging paedophile acti#ity at 7estminster in the 1230s that was
handed to the then home secretary5 Leon 8now Lord9 Brittan5 by the Tory ( :eo**rey
;ic<ens&
But as it emerged on !unday that a *urther 114 possibly rele#ant *iles ha#e also gone
missing *rom go#ernment records= the go#ernment again ruled out a public in>uiry
into the allegations&
ichael :o#e told the BB-1's Andrew arr !how that the in>uiry5 to be led by a senior
lawyer5 would su**ice5 highlighting the *act that there were ongoing criminal in>uiries&
6e said that he and the health secretary5 )eremy 6unt5 were also re#iewing
current child protection practice to ensure that children were properly protected&
Also appearing on The Andrew arr !how5 Tebbit said" 1At that time ' thin< most
people would ha#e thought that the establishment5 the system5 was to be protected
and i* a *ew things had gone wrong here and there that it was more important to
protect the system than to del#e too *ar into it&
1That #iew5 ' thin<5 was wrong then and it is spectacularly shown to be wrong because
the abuses ha#e grown&1
As<ed i* he thought there had been a 1big political co#er-up1 at the time5 he said" 1'
thin< there may well ha#e been& But it was almost unconscious& 't was the thing that
people did at that time&1
The missing dossier compiled by ;ic<ens is thought to ha#e detailed allegations o* a
1230s 7estminster paedophile ring and is now <nown to be one o* 114 potentially
rele#ant 6ome +**ice *iles destroyed5 lost or missing5 it has emerged&
;a#id -ameron has already ordered ar< !edwill5 permanent secretary o* the 6ome
+**ice5 to loo< into what happened to the lost dossier but the re#elation that *urther
rele#ant documents ha#e disappeared will raise *resh *ears o* an establishment co#er-
up&
!imon ;anc?u<5 the ( *or @ochdale5 who is calling *or an o#erarching national
in>uiry into historical child abuse5 said" 1' had absolutely no idea these other *iles were
also missing& The public #iew will be that there is something *ishy going on& The public
will understandably thin< these documents ha#e gone missing because it helps protect
the names o* those identi*ied in them& That is the conclusion that many will come to5
and who could blame them&1
Tom 7atson5 the Labour ( central to the unco#ering o* the phone-hac<ing scandal5
said it was increasingly clear that only a 6illsborough-style in>uiry would reassure the
public& 6e said" 1+nly an o#erarching in>uiry will get to the *acts5 e#erything else the
go#ernment says or does on this is a di#ersion&1
;ic<ens5 who died in 122A5 had told his *amily that the in*ormation he handed to the
home secretary in 123B and 1234 would 1blow the lid o**1 the li#es o* power*ul and
*amous child abusers5 including eight well-<nown *igures&
'n a letter to ;ic<ens at the time5 Brittan suggested his in*ormation would be passed to
the police5 but !cotland Card said it has no record o* any in#estigation into the
allegations& +n !aturday5 the 6ome +**ice made public a letter to Keith Da?5 the
chairman o* the home a**airs select committee5 in which the department con*irmed that
correspondence *rom ;ic<ens had not been retained and it had *ound 1no record o*
speci*ic allegations by r ;ic<ens o* child sex abuse by prominent public *igures1&
!edwill admitted5 howe#er5 that a *urther 114 documents rele#ant to allegations o* child
abuse were missing *rom the department's records& That disco#ery was made last
year by an independent re#iew into in*ormation recei#ed about organised child sex
abuse but was not published in its report& !edwill told Da? that the missing documents
were some o* the B.5000 records that o**icials presumed were lost5 destroyed or
missing& They were not part o* the /E35000 documents the 6ome +**ice destroyed as
part o* its 1retention and destruction1 policy&
6owe#er5 !edwill told Da? in a letter published on !aturday that the department had
*ound 1no e#idence o* the inappropriate remo#al or destruction o* material1&
6e also wrote to the prime minister to tell him he would engage a senior independent
legal *igure to assess whether last year's conclusions 1remain sound1&
!edwill told Da?" 1Li<e any other citi?en5 ' am horri*ied by what we ha#e learned in the
past couple o* years about the systematic abuse o* children and #ulnerable adults by
prominent public *igures5 and the state's *ailure to protect them& !ome ha#e been
brought to Fustice5 and ' hope that the police in#estigations now under way across the
country are e>ually success*ul& The 6ome +**ice has and will cooperate *ully with any
police in>uiry&1
Da? said the number o* *iles lost were on an 1industrial scale1& 6e told BB- Brea<*ast
that he welcomed the letter *rom !edwill5 adding" 17e will want to pose *urther
>uestions5 o* course5 because there's a lot o* in*ormation that we didn't <now was in
existence that he's gi#en us in this letter&
1But also ' thin< that the go#ernment and r !edwill should wor< with parliament in
*ashioning a set o* terms o* re*erence that will satis*y all those who are dissatis*ied
with the way in which matters ha#e been progressed so *ar - so ' thin< it's an important
step which we welcome&1
argaret 6odge5 the Labour ( who chairs the public accounts committee5 criticised
the 1#eil o* secrecy1 o#er the issue&
Appearing on !<y 4ews's urnaghan programme5 she added" 1Than< :od it is
coming out into the open& ' thin< the really interesting thing about it is there has been a
#eil o* secrecy o#er the establishment *or *ar too long&
14ow the establishment5 who thought they were always protected G *ind actually they
are subFect to the same rigours o* the law5 and that's right&
17hat we really need to get right as well is how children are cared *or today& Let's
learn *rom the historic abuse5 let's actually gi#e #ictims the right to ha#e their #oice on
that5 but let's actually also *ocus on the present&1