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May under pressure to include Belfast care home abuse in Westminster inquiry May under pressure to include Belfast care home abuse in Westminster inquiry
(about 1 hour later)
The home secretary, Theresa May, is facing fresh calls to include allegations of sexual abuse by Westminster establishment figures at the Kincora care home in Belfast as part of the Home Office inquiry into historical abuse by VIPs. The disclosure of secret state files on abuse allegations at a notorious Belfast boys’ home will not prompt a government rethink on its exclusion from a UK-wide abuse inquiry.
Government files naming establishment figures who were allegedly abusing boys at the notorious east Belfast home run by a paedophile ring The Northern Ireland secretary, Theresa Villiers, said the best forum to examine claims of political involvement in a paedophile ring that operated from Kincora boys’ home was an ongoing Stormont-established inquiry, chaired by the retired judge Sir Anthony Hart, not the nationwide probe being chaired by the New Zealand judge Lowell Goddard.
were discovered in a new search of Home Office files relating to child abuse within UK politics. They are understood to include information from a former army intelligence officer, Colin Wallace, documenting abuse of boys at Kincora. Campaigners for Kincora’s inclusion in the UK-wide inquiry have highlighted that the Northern Ireland-specific probe does not have the powers to compel security services witnesses to give evidence or produce documents.
“The Hart inquiry is doing an exceptionally good job,” Ms Villiers said. “We feel that it is the right forum to investigate the despicable events that took place at Kincora.
“Like everyone else, we want to ensure that the truth is discovered, that these events are fully investigated and we believe the Hart inquiry is the best forum to do that.”
Paedophiles abused boys from the Kincora home in east Belfast during the 1970s. While three staff members were convicted in 1981, it has long been alleged that well-known figures in the British establishment – including senior politicians – were also involved.
Related: Leon Brittan among senior Westminster figures named in new child abuse filesRelated: Leon Brittan among senior Westminster figures named in new child abuse files
May has resisted including the Kincora scandal in the Westminster inquiry and has instead asked the Northern Ireland Historical Abuse Inquiry (HAI) to investigate it. Moreover, it has been claimed that the UK security services knew about the crimes but did nothing to stop them, instead using the knowledge to blackmail and extract intelligence from influential men who were committing the abuse.
Victims and human rights organisations such as Amnesty International believe that keeping Kincora out of the Westminster inquiry will prevent sensitive intelligence files on the scandal from ever being aired. They have further alleged that there was a direct link between a London-based establishment paedophile ring and children abused at Kincora. Amnesty International is among campaigners making fresh calls for Kincora’s inclusion in Justice Goddard’s inquiry, following the discovery of a series of confidential government files.
East Belfast Alliance member of the Northern Ireland Assembly Chris Lyttle said claims that the state covered up the Kincora scandal have been bolstered by the new files because they show the Thatcher government was discussing the care home in the 1980s. Amnesty’s Northern Ireland director, Patrick Corrigan, questioned the government’s stance.
“Nothing less than a full public inquiry – with all the powers of compulsionthat brings – can finally reveal what happened at Kincora,” he said.
“It is not too late for the government to reconsider its position.”
The Home Office said the papers were uncovered during a fresh search of the archives, carried out after a file emerged that should have been submitted to a government-established inquiry examining whether evidence linking prominent figures to child abuse was deliberately destroyed.
The contents of the freshly located files have not been made public but the Cabinet Office has provided brief descriptions. The papers included a file about the former Northern Ireland minister and Conservative MP Sir William Van Straubenzee, which also “contained references to the Kincora boys’ home”.
Another group of papers contain allegations made by the former military intelligence officer, Colin Wallace, about Kincora. It is known that Wallace claimed the intelligence services blocked police investigations in the 1970s into alleged abuse at the home.
The Cabinet Office said that group of the papers also make reference to Van Straubenzee, as well as the former cabinet minister Leon Brittan; Peter Morrison, an aide to Margaret Thatcher; and ex-diplomat and former deputy director of MI6, Sir Peter Hayman.
A former resident of Kincora, Gary Hoy, is currently making a legal challenge against the government’s refusal to include the facility in the Justice Goddard probe.
Villiers said all relevant documentation was being made available to the Hart inquiry.
“The government is determined to do all it can to cooperate with the Hart inquiry on these matters and provide whatever we can in terms of disclosure,” she said.
Chris Lyttle, the East Belfast Alliance member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, said claims that the state covered up the Kincora scandal have been bolstered by the new files because they show the Thatcher government was discussing the care home in the 1980s.
Lyttle said the files on Wallace name government figures allegedly involved in paedophile rings in Belfast and London.Lyttle said the files on Wallace name government figures allegedly involved in paedophile rings in Belfast and London.
Related: Thousands of child abuse victims to be invited to testify in truth project
“Systematic abuse took place at this house. The nature of that abuse and alleged cover-up are unable to be investigated in the way they should be by the HAI.“Systematic abuse took place at this house. The nature of that abuse and alleged cover-up are unable to be investigated in the way they should be by the HAI.
“Only the Home Office’s inquiry has the power of compulsion to ask the people who need to be quizzed the questions that will bring truth and justice to the survivors and victims of Kincora.”“Only the Home Office’s inquiry has the power of compulsion to ask the people who need to be quizzed the questions that will bring truth and justice to the survivors and victims of Kincora.”
A number of the survivors of abuse at the care home run by prominent loyalists including Orangeman and convicted paedophile William McGrath, have claimed they were taken from east Belfast to London in order to be abused by establishment figures at places such as Dolphin Square where a paedophile ring operated in the 1970s. A number of the survivors of abuse at the care home, run by prominent loyalists including the Orangeman and convicted paedophile William McGrath, have claimed they were taken from east Belfast to London in order to be abused by establishment figures at places such as Dolphin Square where a paedophile ring operated in the 1970s.
Related: Thousands of child abuse victims to be invited to testify in truth project Wallace first raised his concerns about what was going on at Kincora as early as 1973. He and other military intelligence officers alleged that the paedophiles abusing boys at Kincora were being blackmailed by RUC special branch and MI5 to spy on fellow hardline loyalists during the 1970s.
These latest files that contain Wallace’s whistleblowing allegations have never been made public. The Kincora scandal is also mentioned in a file about the late former Northern Ireland minister and Conservative MP Sir William van Straubanzee, who died in 1999. Those particular files were meant to have been destroyed in 2013. Three senior care staff at Kincora, including McGrath, who was an agent/informer for MI5 and special branch, were jailed in 1981 for abusing 11 boys.
Wallace first raised his concerns about what was going on at Kincora as early as 1973. He and other military intelligence officers alleged that the paedophiles abusing boys at Kincora were being blackmailed by RUC Special Branch and MI5 to spy on fellow hardline loyalists during the 1970s.
Amnesty International’s Patrick Corrigan said: “The [HIA] inquiry headed by Sir Anthony Hart simply does not have the power to compel the production of documents such as these or indeed witnesses from central government to come forward and lay bare what happened at Kincora.
“The Westminster inquiry does have those powers – it is absurd that the government continues to exclude Kincora from that inquiry that actually does have the powers to finally reveal the truth.”
Three senior care staff at Kincora including McGrath, who was an agent/informer for MI5 and Special Branch, were jailed in 1981 for abusing 11 boys.
At least 29 boys were abused at the home between the late 1950s and the early 1980s. A number of the victims later killed themselves.At least 29 boys were abused at the home between the late 1950s and the early 1980s. A number of the victims later killed themselves.