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-28182373
The article has changed 15 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 6 | Version 7 |
|---|---|
| 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 review would be conducted quickly. | Lord Tebbit said he hoped any review would be conducted quickly. |
| Number 10 has rejected calls for an over-arching public inquiry into historical child abuse claims. | Number 10 has rejected calls for an over-arching public inquiry into historical child abuse claims. |
| However, a new review, to be carried out by a senior legal figure from outside Whitehall, will look into a Home Office review last year of claims made to it in the 1980s and 1990s of organised child sex abuse. | |
| Police 'assessing information' | |
| The Home Office's 2013 review found 527 potentially relevant files which it had kept, but a further 114 were missing, destroyed or "not found", according to the Home Office's most senior civil servant Mark Sedwill. | The Home Office's 2013 review found 527 potentially relevant files which it had kept, but a further 114 were missing, destroyed or "not found", according to the Home Office's most senior civil servant Mark Sedwill. |
| Among the files found, there were 13 pieces 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, he said in a letter to Mr Vaz. | Among the files found, there were 13 pieces 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, he said in a letter to Mr Vaz. |
| The four other items, which had not been previously disclosed, "have now been" passed to police, he said. | The four other items, which had not been previously disclosed, "have now been" passed to police, he said. |
| The Metropolitan Police declined to comment on the Home Office files but said it was "assessing information" as part of Operation Fairbank - which was set up in 2012 after Labour MP Tom Watson made claims about a "powerful paedophile ring" linked to a previous prime minister's "senior adviser" and Parliament. | |
| Lord Tebbit, a former Tory minister and party chairman, said there may have been a political cover-up of abuse in the past. | Lord Tebbit, a former Tory minister and party chairman, 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," he said. | "That view was wrong," he said. |
| Labour MP Margaret Hodge, who chairs the Public Accounts Committee, said there had been a "veil of secrecy over the establishment" for far too long. | Labour MP Margaret Hodge, who chairs the Public Accounts Committee, said there had been a "veil of secrecy over the establishment" for far too long. |
| Inquiry calls | Inquiry calls |
| Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said he had an "open mind" about what other inquiries should take place, saying "whatever it takes" to uncover the truth and deliver justice should be done. | Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said he had an "open mind" about what other inquiries should take place, saying "whatever it takes" to uncover the truth and deliver justice should be done. |
| But Education Secretary Michael Gove said he did not support a public inquiry. | 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. | "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 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. |
| 'Sets of correspondence' | 'Sets of correspondence' |
| The new review, announced this weekend, was set up after the prime minister asked Mr Sedwill to "find answers" to questions such as what happened to material reportedly supplied in a dossier by the late MP Geoffrey Dickens. | The new review, announced this weekend, was set up after the prime minister asked Mr Sedwill to "find answers" to questions such as what happened to material reportedly supplied in a dossier by the late MP Geoffrey Dickens. |
| 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. | 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. |
| Mr Sedwill said last year's Home Office investigation searched a central database for files concerning Mr Dickens, and organised child sex abuse more generally. | Mr Sedwill said last year's Home Office investigation searched a central database for files concerning Mr Dickens, and organised child sex abuse more generally. |
| It "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", he said. | It "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", he said. |
| The report found no record of specific claims of abuse by prominent public figures, he said. | The report found no record of specific claims of abuse by prominent public figures, he said. |
| 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". | 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 this investigation's conclusion is "still valid", Mr Sedwill said, "particularly in view of information now in the public domain since its completion last year". | However, the new review will assess whether this 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. | 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. |
| Labour MP Simon Danczuk has been urging the Home Office to locate what he calls Mr Dickens's "dossier" of information about child abuse and consider publishing it. | |
| He told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme: "In politics we have an unhealthy view of child sex abuse, to the point that some politicians would rather sweep it under the carpet, than getting it out there and confronting it." | |
| He also said getting information about the missing information out of the Home Office or former home secretary Leon Brittan had been like "pulling teeth". | |
| 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". |