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Leon Brittan passed abuse concerns to police Leon Brittan passed abuse concerns to 'relevant authorities'
(35 minutes later)
Lord Brittan passed concerns raised by a campaigning MP about alleged paedophiles at Westminster to the police, it has emerged. Lord Brittan passed concerns raised by an MP about alleged paedophiles at Westminster to the director of public prosecutions, it has emerged.
The former home secretary asked officials in the 1980s to "look carefully" at a dossier handed to him by MP Geoffrey Dickens.The former home secretary asked officials in the 1980s to "look carefully" at a dossier handed to him by MP Geoffrey Dickens.
The Home Office says a review last year concluded that the matter had been dealt with properly.The Home Office says a review last year concluded that the matter had been dealt with properly.
But it said the dossier was not "retained". But it said the dossier was "not retained".
Labour MP Simon Danczuk has been calling on Lord Brittan to say what he knows about the contents of the dossier, which he says may contain evidence that would indentify sex abusers. Labour MP Simon Danczuk has been calling on Lord Brittan to say what he knows about the contents of the dossier, which he says may contain evidence that would identify 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". Mr Danczuk told BBC News that the Home Office had a "duty and a responsibility to show us what is in there" and if the dossier had been destroyed it would "fuel the flames of conspiracy" and "people will think names have been protected".
He said he "did not recall" being "contacted further about these matters". In an earlier version of this story, we reported that the Home Office had launched a trawl of its files to find the missing dossier.
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. In fact, such a review was carried out last year and the file was not discovered.
But the Home Office said it had been unable to locate the document. 'Acted appropriately'
The Home Office found only a letter from Leon Brittan to Mr Dickens, dated March 1984, in which he said: "In general terms, the view of the director of public prosecutions is that two of the letters you forwarded could form the basis for inquiries by the police and they are now being passed to the appropriate authorities.
"In other cases, there either seems to be inadequate evidence to pursue prosecution, for example the lady who wrote about PIE [Paedophile Information Exchange] advertising but did not secure any example of the material complained of, or they have already been dealt with in some way by the courts or the police."
A Home Office report on the 2013 independent review noted that it had "found no evidence of Mr Dickens expressing dissatisfaction about the action taken in respect of the information he had passed on".
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."
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. Mr Danczuk, 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 Tuesday, he urged Lord Brittan to "share his knowledge of the allegations" contained in Mr Dickens' report.
What were the Dickens Dossiers?
Analysis by Matt Prodger, Home Affairs Correspondent
Geoffrey Dickens was Conservative MP for Huddersfield West from 1979 until 1983, when he was then elected for Littleborough and Saddleworth and held the seat until his death in 1995.
According to press reports at the time, he handed two dossiers to the Home Office in 1983-84. One of them, he reportedly said, concerned a civil servant and another one related to an employee of Buckingham Palace. They also contained allegations concerning the Paedophile Information Exchange, a group that campaigned to make sex between adults and children legal.
But in an interview with the Daily Express in August 1983 he also said he would expose eight prominent figures if the home secretary failed to act. He told the paper: "I've got eight names of big people, really important names, public figures. And I am going to expose them in Parliament.
"One of these people is a friend of mine but you have to be merciless protecting the young. These people must not be allowed to get away with it just because they are important in public life."
In response, Lord Brittan 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 never did expose them in Parliament.
Mr Danczuk told the Commons Home Affairs Committee 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 he "did not recall" being "contacted further about these matters".
In a second statement on Wednesday morning, 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.
"The review found information had been dealt with properly."The review found information had been dealt with properly.
"It also disclosed that material received from Mr Dickens in November 1983 and January 1984 had not been retained."It also disclosed that material received from Mr Dickens in November 1983 and January 1984 had not been retained.
"However, a letter was sent from myself to Mr Dickens on March 20, 1984, explaining what had been done in relation to the files."However, a letter was sent from myself to Mr Dickens on March 20, 1984, explaining what had been done in relation to the files.
"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.""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."