This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-28125537

The article has changed 13 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Home Office launches trawl for "paedophile dossier' Leon Brittan passed abuse concerns to police
(34 minutes later)
The Home Office has ordered a trawl of files dating back to 1979 to find out what happened to a dossier about alleged paedophiles at Westminster. Lord Brittan passed concerns raised by a campaigning MP about alleged paedophiles at Westminster to the police, it has emerged.
The document was handed to former Home Secretary Lord Brittan. The former home secretary asked officials in the 1980s to "look carefully" at a dossier handed to him by MP Geoffrey Dickens.
Lord Brittan said he had asked his officials to "look carefully" at it but did not recall any further action. The Home Office says a review last year concluded that the matter had been dealt with properly.
Labour MP Simon Danczuk said it may contain evidence that could identify sex abusers and ministers had a duty to "show what it is in there". But it said the dossier was not "retained".
Labour MP Simon Danczuk has been calling on Lord Brittan to say what he know about the contents of the dossier, which he says may contain evidence that would indentify sex abusers.
The Conservative peer said in a statement that he had received a "substantial bundle of papers" from Mr Dickens, which he had asked Home Office officials to examine and "report back to me" if "action needed to be taken".
He said he "did not recall" being "contacted further about these matters".
Mr Danzzuk, who is calling for a Hillsborough-style inquiry into the allegations, has called on the Home Office to publish the dossier as it had a "duty and responsibility" to let the public know what was in it.
But the Home Office said it had been unable to locate the document.
In a statement, the Home Office said: "In response to concerns raised in Parliament and the media relating to the handling by the department of historical allegations of abuse, the permanent secretary commissioned an independent review of all relevant papers received by the department between 1979 to 1999 to identify any information received and the outcome.In a statement, the Home Office said: "In response to concerns raised in Parliament and the media relating to the handling by the department of historical allegations of abuse, the permanent secretary commissioned an independent review of all relevant papers received by the department between 1979 to 1999 to identify any information received and the outcome.
'Entirely consistent'
"The review concluded the Home Office acted appropriately, referring information received during this period to the relevant authorities.""The review concluded the Home Office acted appropriately, referring information received during this period to the relevant authorities."
'Conspiracy' In a second statement, Lord Brittan said: "In the last hour I have been alerted to a Home Office independent review conducted last year into what information it received about organised child sex abuse between 1979 and 1999.
Lord Brittan says he received a "substantial bundle of papers" from a Conservative MP, Geoffrey Dickens, which he asked Home Office officials to examine. "The review found information had been dealt with properly.
In a statement, Lord Brittan said he had asked officials to "report back to me" if "action needed to be taken". "It also disclosed that material received from Mr Dickens in November 1983 and January 1984 had not been retained.
He said he "did not recall" being "contacted further about these matters". "However, a letter was sent from myself to Mr Dickens on March 20, 1984, explaining what had been done in relation to the files.
Mr Danczuk said the Conservative peer's statement was "disappointing" and he questioned why he had not asked officials to "come back to him within a week". "The Home Office independent review is entirely consistent with the action I set out in my earlier statement. Whilst I could not recall what further action was taken 30 years ago, the information contained in this report shows that appropriate action and follow-up happened."
He said the document should not be difficult to find as it was "from the 1980s not the 1880s" and the Home Office had a "duty and a responsibility to show us what is in there".
He said if the dossier had been destroyed, it would "fuel the flames of conspiracy" and "people will think names have been protected".
The Labour MP, who helped expose the late Liberal MP Cyril Smith as a child sex abuser, has called for a national overarching "Hillsborough-style" inquiry into allegations of child sex abuse.
On Monday, he urged Lord Brittan to "share his knowledge of the allegations" contained in the 1980s report by late Tory MP Geoffrey Dickens.
He told the influential Commons Home Affairs Select Committee on Tuesday that politics was "the last refuge of child sex abuse deniers" and there was a view among many politicians that alleged offenders should not be named.
He said Rochdale MP Smith, who died in 2010, had escaped prosecution because he had been "part of a network of people protecting each other".
And he referred to a police investigation into a former guest house in south London where children were allegedly abused in the 1980s.
The police have confirmed that Smith had been a visitor to Elm Guest House.