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-28189072

The article has changed 22 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Theresa May to address MPs on sex abuse claims Theresa May to address MPs on sex abuse claims
(about 1 hour later)
Home Secretary Theresa May is to address Parliament on the row over her department's handling of historical sex abuse claims.Home Secretary Theresa May is to address Parliament on the row over her department's handling of historical sex abuse claims.
The Home Office faces accusations it failed to act on evidence of child abuse allegations by public figures. The Home Office faces accusations it failed to act on allegations of a Westminster paedophile ring when they first emerged in the 1980s.
Mrs May is expected to address the department's response to the claims when they first emerged in the 1980s.
She is also set to announce a review into public bodies and their duty of care towards children.She is also set to announce a review into public bodies and their duty of care towards children.
Labour has called for a "wide-ranging" inquiry.
'Cover-up concerns''Cover-up concerns'
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the government must uncover "any institutional failure". Ministers have rejected calls for an over-arching inquiry into the various abuse allegations from the era, pointing to ongoing police investigations.
She said: "We need a wide-ranging review that can look at how all the allegations put to the Home Office in the 80s and 90s were handled. But BBC Radio 4's chief political correspondent Gary O'Donoghue said there was "growing momentum" to pull the various investigations together into an overarching inquiry.
"Any stones left unturned will leave concerns of institutional malaise, or worse a cover-up, unaddressed." Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has called for a "wide-ranging review" to ascertain how abuse claims were handled by the government when they were first put to the Home Office.
The government has, however, rejected calls for an over-arching public inquiry into the various allegations of child abuse from that era. "Any stones left unturned will leave concerns of institutional malaise, or worse a cover-up, unaddressed," the shadow home secretary said.
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 any information it received in the 1980s and 1990s about organised child sex abuse. Over the weekend it was announced that a senior legal figure from outside Whitehall is to look again into a Home Office review last year of any information it received in the 1980s and 1990s about organised child sex abuse.
The review, announced on Saturday, was set up after the prime minister asked the Home Office's top civil servant Mark Sedwill to "find answers" to questions such as what happened to material reportedly supplied in a dossier by the late Tory MP Geoffrey Dickens. It is to look at what happened to a dossier of abuse claims reportedly passed to then Home Secretary Leon Brittan in the 1980s by the late Tory MP Geoffrey Dickens.
Former Home Secretary Leon Brittan said he received a "substantial bundle of papers" in the 1980s from Mr Dickens, reportedly containing abuse claims. Lord Brittan said he handed the papers to officials - but their whereabouts are currently unknown.
Lord Brittan said he handed them on to officials - but their whereabouts are currently unknown.
In a separate development, the BBC has seen a written account by the former leader of a pro-paedophile campaign group who claims he stored material at the Home Office while working there as an electrical contractor in the late 1970s and early 1980s.In a separate development, the BBC has seen a written account by the former leader of a pro-paedophile campaign group who claims he stored material at the Home Office while working there as an electrical contractor in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
'Duty of care' Duty of care
A Home Office spokesman said of Mrs May's statement in the Commons: "It is right that the detail of her statement should wait until she speaks in the House of Commons, but her statement will address the two key public concerns. A Home Office spokesman Mrs May's statement would address: "The Home Office's response in the 1980s to papers containing allegations of child abuse.
"First, the Home Office's response in the 1980s to papers containing allegations of child abuse.
"And second, the wider issue of whether public bodies and other institutions have taken seriously their duty of care towards children.""And second, the wider issue of whether public bodies and other institutions have taken seriously their duty of care towards children."
The spokesman added that "nothing is more important than the protection of children from abuse".
On Sunday, former Conservative cabinet minister Lord Tebbit said there "may well have been" a political cover-up.On Sunday, former Conservative cabinet minister Lord Tebbit said there "may well have been" a political cover-up.
Lord Tebbit, who served in various ministerial roles under Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, said at the time people had an "almost unconscious" tendency to protect "the system".Lord Tebbit, who served in various ministerial roles under Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, said at the time people had an "almost unconscious" tendency to protect "the system".
"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," he said. "That view was wrong."
Last year's Home Office review found 527 potentially relevant files which it had kept, but a further 114 were missing, destroyed or "not found".Last year's Home Office review found 527 potentially relevant files which it had kept, but a further 114 were missing, destroyed or "not found".
Mr Vaz, chair of the Home Affairs Committee, said this represented loss of files "on an industrial scale" and it was "a huge surprise" that so much potential evidence had gone missing. Among the files found, there were 13 pieces of information about alleged child abuse, the Home Office's top civil servant Mark Sedwill said in a letter to the chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee.
Among the files found, there were 13 pieces of information about alleged child abuse - nine of which were already known or had been reported to the police, including four cases involving Home Office staff, Mr Sedwill said in a letter to Mr Vaz. Nine of those 13 were already known or had been reported to the police. They included four cases involving Home Office staff, Mr Sedwill said.
The four other items, which had not been previously disclosed, "have now been" passed to police, Mr Sedwill said - although a Home Office spokeswoman said "now" meant during the 2013 review, as opposed to at the time the allegations were received. The remaining four items, which had not been previously disclosed, have now been passed to police, Mr Sedwill added - although a Home Office spokeswoman said "now" meant during the 2013 review, as opposed to at the time the allegations were received.
'Flabbergasting''Flabbergasting'
The Metropolitan Police declined to comment on the Home Office files specifically, 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. The Metropolitan Police declined to comment on the Home Office files but said it was "assessing information" as part of Operation Fairbank - 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.
Mr Watson has set up an online petition calling on the prime minister to "make amends for historic failures" by establishing a national inquiry, which has now been signed by more than 55,000 people.Mr Watson has set up an online petition calling on the prime minister to "make amends for historic failures" by establishing a national inquiry, which has now been signed by more than 55,000 people.
Labour MP, Simon Danczuk, who has campaigned for claims of abuse at Westminster to be investigated, has described the situation as "flabbergasting".Labour MP, Simon Danczuk, who has campaigned for claims of abuse at Westminster to be investigated, has described the situation as "flabbergasting".
He told the BBC: "We know from child abusers that if they aren't stopped in their tracks, then they will carry on abusing.He told the BBC: "We know from child abusers that if they aren't stopped in their tracks, then they will carry on abusing.
"So the potential here is for the Home Office to have lost files that could have stopped abusers from carrying on abusing children."So the potential here is for the Home Office to have lost files that could have stopped abusers from carrying on abusing children.
"I can't think of anything more devastating than that. The public will believe that they've been lost deliberately in an attempt to hide the names of the people named in the files - and you can't blame the public for reaching that conclusion.""I can't think of anything more devastating than that. The public will believe that they've been lost deliberately in an attempt to hide the names of the people named in the files - and you can't blame the public for reaching that conclusion."