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Keith Vaz criticises Home Office for losing sex abuse files Keith Vaz criticises Home Office for losing sex abuse files
(about 1 hour later)
Files which may be linked to child abuse claims seem to have been lost "on an industrial scale" at the Home Office, the chairman of the Commons home affairs select committee has said.Files which may be linked to child abuse claims seem to have been lost "on an industrial scale" at the Home Office, the chairman of the Commons home affairs select committee has said.
The Home Office has said its own review last year found that 114 potentially relevant files could not be located.The Home Office has said its own review last year found that 114 potentially relevant files could not be located.
Keith Vaz MP said it was "a huge surprise" that so much potential evidence had gone missing.Keith Vaz MP said it was "a huge surprise" that so much potential evidence had gone missing.
Lord Tebbit said he hoped any inquiry would be conducted quickly. Lord Tebbit said he hoped any review would be conducted quickly.
The former Tory minister and party chairman also said there may have been a political cover-up of abuse in the 1980s. The former Tory minister and party chairman also said there may have been a political cover-up of abuse in the past.
He told the Andrew Marr programme: "At that time most people would have thought that the establishment, the system, was to be protected.He told the Andrew Marr programme: "At that time most people would have thought that the establishment, the system, was to be protected.
"And if a few things had gone wrong here and there that it was more important to protect the system than to delve too far into them."And if a few things had gone wrong here and there that it was more important to protect the system than to delve too far into them.
"That view was wrong then and it has spectacularly shown to have been wrong because the abuses have grown." "That view was wrong," he said.
Lord Tebbit added that "it was the thing that people did at that time, you didn't talk about those sort of things".
Labour MP Margaret Hodge, who chairs the Public Accounts Committee, said she was relieved these allegations were now coming to light.Labour MP Margaret Hodge, who chairs the Public Accounts Committee, said she was relieved these allegations were now coming to light.
She told the Sky News Murnaghan programme: "Thank God it is coming out into the open. I think the really interesting thing about it is there has been a veil of secrecy over the establishment for far too long.She told the Sky News Murnaghan programme: "Thank God it is coming out into the open. I think the really interesting thing about it is there has been a veil of secrecy over the establishment for far too long.
"Now the establishment who thought they were always protected... find actually they are subject to the same rigours of the law and that's right.""Now the establishment who thought they were always protected... find actually they are subject to the same rigours of the law and that's right."
Inquiry rejected Inquiry calls
Number 10 has rejected calls for an over-arching public inquiry into historical child abuse claims, but a new review, to be carried out by a senior legal figure from outside Whitehall, will look into the Home Office's handling last year of historical claims of child sex abuse allegations involving politicians and other senior figures. Number 10 has rejected calls for an over-arching public inquiry into historical child abuse claims, but a new review, to be carried out by a senior legal figure from outside Whitehall, will look into the Home Office's handling last year of any claims made between 1979 and 1999 of organised child sex abuse.
Education Secretary Michael Gove also told Andrew Marr that there should not be a public inquiry into the child sex abuse allegations. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said he "wouldn't rule anything out" in the investigation into child abuse claims, saying "whatever it takes" to uncover the truth and deliver justice should be done.
"What will put people's minds at rest is to investigate properly what happened in the past," he said. But Education Secretary Michael Gove said he did not support a public inquiry.
"The most important thing we need to do is make sure the work we do is proportionate and focused, and that we look at those allegations that cause real and genuine concern," he said.
Mr Gove also said anyone with specific concerns "about individuals or about practices" should contact the police.Mr Gove also said anyone with specific concerns "about individuals or about practices" should contact the police.
The prime minister has asked the Home Office to "find answers" about what happened to the material supplied by the late MP Geoffrey Dickens.
Mr Dickens passed the abuse claims to the then home secretary Leon Brittan in the 1980s, who says he in turn handed them to officials - but its whereabouts are currently unknown.
Mr Vaz said the new review was "the right thing to do" and that he was "a little disappointed" that he had not been made aware of last year's review at the time.Mr Vaz said the new review was "the right thing to do" and that he was "a little disappointed" that he had not been made aware of last year's review at the time.
He said the new review should be carried out quickly and thoroughly. 'Sets of correspondence'
The 2013 investigation identified 13 items of information about alleged child abuse. The new review was set up after the prime minister asked the Home Office to "find answers" to questions such as what happened to material reportedly supplied in a dossier by the late MP Geoffrey Dickens.
Nine of those 13 were known or reported to the police, including four cases involving Home Office staff, according to Home Office permanent secretary Mark Sedwill. Former home secretary Leon Brittan says he received a "substantial bundle of papers" in the 1980s from Mr Dickens, reportedly containing abuse claims. Lord Brittan says he handed them on to officials - but their whereabouts are currently unknown.
The remaining four items, which had not been previously disclosed, have since been passed to police. Home Office permanent secretary Mark Sedwill, in a letter to Mr Vaz, said the 2013 Home Office report "did not find a single dossier from Mr Dickens, but several sets of correspondence over a number of years to several home secretaries containing allegations of sexual offences".
The new review will assess whether the 2013 Home Office report on what happened to historical papers containing the claims was sound. The 2013 investigation searched a central database for files concerning Mr Dickens, and organised child sex abuse more generally, Mr Sedwill said.
That report found no record of specific claims of abuse by prominent public figures. But it said that although 527 potentially relevant files were kept by the Home Office, a further 114 were identified as missing, destroyed or simply "not found". It found 527 potentially relevant files which were kept by the Home Office, but a further 114 were identified as missing, destroyed or simply "not found".
The missing files relate to Mr Dickens's dossier of paedophile allegations. It identified 13 items of information about alleged child abuse - nine of which were known or had been reported to the police, including four cases involving Home Office staff.
His son has said that his father claimed the information he was passing on would "blow the lid off" the lives of powerful and famous child abusers. The remaining four items, which had not been previously disclosed, were passed to police, Mr Sedwill said.
Former Tory minister David Mellor, who served under Lord Brittan as a home office minister in the 1980s, said there had been a "witch hunt" surrounding the handling of the dossier and that the former home secretary was being unfairly "pilloried". The report found no record of specific claims of abuse by prominent public figures. It also found the Home Office had passed to the appropriate authorities information received about child abuse which was "credible" and had "realistic potential for further investigation".
However, the new review will assess whether the 2013 investigation's conclusion is "still valid", Mr Sedwill said, "particularly in view of information now in the public domain since its completion last year".
Mr Dickens' son has said that his father claimed the information he was passing on would "blow the lid off" the lives of powerful and famous child abusers.
But former Tory minister David Mellor, who served under Lord Brittan as a home office minister in the 1980s, said there had been a "witch hunt" surrounding the handling of the missing information and that the former home secretary was being unfairly "pilloried".
He said the material was spoken of within the department at the time, but it was "not a very substantive thing at all".He said the material was spoken of within the department at the time, but it was "not a very substantive thing at all".