81 MP's and climbing call for an Independent Inquiry into the cover-up of Child sexual abuse

The strategy of propaganda, disinformation and obfuscation orchestrated by the top level peadophiles in Parliament, the civil service, the Police, the Courts  and MI5 is beginning to flounder. 

The corrupt MP's are being sifted out from the corrupt as a call for an Independent, Hillsborough style' inquiry into the decades of cover-up of child abuse grows in strength. 

Supporters of an Inquiry  (not one MP from the Welsh party Plaid Cymru?)
(The original group of seven MPs who initiated this are italicised)

Conservatives: 19
Zac Goldsmith (Richmond Park)
Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham)
Bob Blackman (Harrow East)
Graham Brady (Altrincham and Sale West)
Robert Buckland (South Swindon)
Neil Carmichael (Stroud)
Douglas Carswell (Clacton)
Tracey Crouch (Chatham and Aylesforth)
Richard Drax (South Dorset)
George Freeman (Mid Norfolk)
Mark Garnier (Wyre Forest)
Charlotte Leslie (Bristol North West)
Jack Lopresti (Filton and Bradley Stoke)
Sir Peter Luff (Mid Worcestershire)
Jason McCartney (Colne Valley)
Paul Maynard (Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Caroline Nokes (Romsey and Southampton North)
Henry Smith (Crawley)
Craig Whittaker (Calder Valley)

Exaro are also reporting Gordon Henderson as a supporter (saying he has indicated that to Tim Loughton), but I have been forwarded a generic reply from a constituent (reproduced below); this constituent has since re-written to Henderson and I will update this blog if any further reply is received.

Liberal Democrats: 13
John Hemming (Birmingham Yardley)
Tessa Munt (Wells)
Annette Brooke (Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Paul Burstow (Sutton, Cheam & Worcester Park)
Stephen Gilbert (St Austell and Newquay)
Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (PPS to Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg)
Julian Huppert (Cambridge)
John Leech (Manchester Withington)
Greg Mulholland (Leeds North West)
Adrian Sanders (Torbay)
Ian Swales (Redcar)
Mike Thornton (Eastleigh)
Mark Williams (Ceredigion)

Labour: 40
Tom Watson (West Bromwich East)
Simon Danczuk (Rochdale)
Lyn Brown (West Ham)
Richard Burden (Birmingham Northfield)
Martin Caton (Gower)
Katy Clark (North Ayrshire and Arran)
John Cryer (Leyton and Wanstead)
Jim Cunningham (Coventry South)
Geraint Davies (Swansea West)
Natascha Engel (North-East Derbyshire)
Rob Flello (Stoke on Trent South)
Paul Flynn (Newport West)
Yvonne Fovargue (Makerfield)
Mary Glindon (North Tyneside)
Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish)
Emma Lewell-Buck (South Shields)
Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East)
Catherine McKinnell (Newcastle-Upon-Tyne North)
Khalid Mahmood (Birmingham Perry Barr)
Ian Mearns (Gateshead)
Grahame Morris (Easington)
Lisa Nandy (Wigan)
Sandra Osborne (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Albert Owen (Ynys Mõn)
Toby Perkins (Chesterfield)
Stephen Pound (Ealing North)
Yasmin Qureshi (Bolton South East)
Steve Reed (Croydon North)
Steve Rotherham (Liverpool Walton)
Lindsay Roy (Glenrothes)
Andy Sawford (Corbyn and East Northamptonshire)
Alison Seabeck (Plymouth Moor View)
Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield)
Gavin Shuker (Luton South)
Jim Sheridan (Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Mark Tami (Alyn and Deeside)
Karl Turner (Kingston upon Hull East)
Derek Twigg (Halton)
Stephen Twigg (Liverpool West Derby)
Iain Wright (Hartlepool)

Green: 1
Caroline Lucas (Brighton Pavilion)

Respect: 1
George Galloway (Bradford West)

Democratic Unionist Party: 3 (Northern Ireland)
Jeffrey Donaldson (Lagan Valley)
Ian Paisley Jr (North Antrim)
Jim Shannon (Strangford)

Social Democratic and Labour Party (Northern Ireland): 2
Mark Durkan (Foyle)
Margaret Ritchie (South Down)

Alliance: 1 (Northern Ireland)
Naomi Long (Belfast East)

Other supporters, not sitting MPs

Alan Hazelhurst (UKIP Parliamentary candidate for Wakefield)
Tony McNulty (former Labour MP for Harrow East)
Mike Parker (Plaid Cymru candidate for Ceredigion at 2015 election)
Peter Tatchell (former Green Party parliamentary candidate, Oxford East)

Comments from Supporters

Zac Goldsmith: ‘We now know of many cases of child abuse that went uninvestigated for far too long, not least relating to Jimmy Savile. But we also know that countless questions remain unanswered, and they must be – in full. The government should establish – and properly resource – an independent inquiry so that a line can be drawn, once and for all.’;
‘Very serious questions around Elm Guest House in Barnes have gone unanswered for so long that many have simply concluded that the authorities aren’t interested in uncovering answers. The same seems to be true of other inquiries into child sex abuse at institutions across the country. If it wants to draw a line and move on, the Government must establish a defining, properly resourced and all-encompassing inquiry, in which victims and the public can have confidence’.

Tim Loughton: ‘Virtually every week, the public is bombarded with new stories about sexual abuse of children coming to light, yet they stretch as far back as the 1960s. Few areas have been left untouched with increasingly alarming stories involving schools, churches, care homes, entertainment, sport and of course politicians and celebrities. Most alarming is a consistent theme of the reluctance or, more worringly, seeming complicity of police and other agencies to investigate the allegations seriously, and pursue the perpetrators rigorously. Documents go missing and investigations are curtailed with a chilling frequency, and that now threatens a serious undermining of the public’s confidence in our current child-protection system despite all the progress that has undoubtedly been made in recent years’.

Robert Buckland: ‘I think that an inquiry could be of real value, but the terms of reference need to be carefully considered first. Many victims have been used to getting their expectations raised, and then being let down. Before any inquiry is set up, there needs to be agreement and understanding as to the desired outcomes. I firmly believe that, wherever possible, criminal prosecution is the preferable means of redress, but the case of Savile is clearly one that cannot be covered by such an option… Sometimes we vest too much into judicial inquiries. They are not a panacea for all ills, sadly. My instinctive support for the victims makes me supportive of this sort of pressure, however.’

Neil Carmichael: ‘child care is a top concern of @CommonsEd & I am happy to promote a wider inquiry into child abuse’.

Tracey Crouch: ‘I do agree with the sentiment behind the call for such an inquiry. My mother was a social worker and I do very much appreciate the importance of this issue – I will therefore speak with my colleagues, asking to be kept informed of any updates regarding their letter’.

Jason McCartney: ‘I do support a full inquiry into historical child abuse that was not properly investigated at the time’.

Henry Smith: ‘I support independent inquiries into child abuse particularly in light of the horrendous discoveries recently’.

John Hemming: ‘The whole area is still not in any way properly accountable or subject to independent checks. The sagas with Kincora and Cyril Smith do seem to have a pattern of similarities that needs a proper independent investigation. Our system, however, is very tolerant of misconduct in public office’.

Paul Burstow: ‘I support the need for an inquiry’.

Julian Huppert: ‘Happy to support it’.

John Leech: ‘Support national inquiry into child abuse. Too many mistakes too often’.

Sir Peter Luff: ‘Yes I certainly do; this systematic failure to protect the vulnerable must be investigated’.

Greg Mulholland: ‘Yes happy to support this’.

Adrian Sanders: ‘Very happy to support’.

Mark Williams: ‘I support an enquiry in principle’.

Tom Watson: ‘There is a growing consensus among MPs of all political parties that the party leaders should agree to resource adequately searching investigations into historical allegations of child sexual abuse. The failure to act needs to be urgently addressed, and there is a belief that much more needs to be done to uncover what has happened in previous investigations’;
‘I deeply admire Zac Goldsmith adding his weight to this important issue. The fact that we now have a cross-party coalition asking for a national investigation makes it very hard for the police and ministers to ignore’; ‘They [the police] are very dedicated and hardworking but I now believe they are chronically under-resourced and have not got the capacity to deal with the weight and volume of allegations made’.

Simon Danczuk: ‘I am pleased that we have politicians from across the political divide who are coming together to try to get to the bottom of what is a murky and nasty abuse of power. As we have seen from the story that we told about Cyril Smith, there was a network at the highest level that was out to protect him at every turn. We now need the home secretary to step up to the mark and instigate an investigation that leaves no stone unturned. I look forward to seeing what her response is’.

Richard Burden: ‘I have spoken to @tom_watson; support the efforts he & others are making to get to the truth about organised child abuse’.

Katy Clark: ‘I agree with the call for a national inquiry and happy to support the campaign to achieve this’.

John Cryer: ‘I agree with you [constituent] and the MPs asking for this inquiry, so I have written to the Home Office and will write to you again when I have a reply’.

Geraint Davies: ‘I support a national independent inquiry into past & present organised child abuse in public & private institutions’.

Emma Lewell-Buck: ‘Crimes of child sexual abuse are often hidden, yet they are profoundly damaging. I am wholeheartedly in support of a national enquiry. Victims should be heard and those responsible held to account.’

Catherine McKinnell: ‘Yes, after appalling constituency case-need overarching one drawing all others together ensuring we really do learn from past’.

Khalid Mahmood: ‘There is a real need for this so that people who suffered a life of torment can have a proper resolution. There is also a policing issue where it appears that some people are treated as ‘off limits’ by the police because of their high-profile personalities and stardom’.

Lisa Nandy: ‘I called on the Government to set up an overarching inquiry last year, and I still hold that view’.

Albert Owen: ‘I support the campaign for an independent national inquiry into child abuse. I will work with parliamentary colleagues and others’.

Toby Perkins: ‘Happy to support the call for enquiry into historic child abuse cases, have remained hidden for too long’.

Yasmin Qureshi: ‘I have been arguing for long time about how much sexual abuse there is within home and institutions’; ‘In my previous life I saw so much abuse of the young, sexual and physical. Made me cry’.

Steve Reed: ‘I support having an inquiry yes, but there needs to be discussion over the scope so it’s powerful enough . . . it’s what Yvette called for 18 months ago, an overarching inquiry into all the abuse scandals . . . with the proviso that it’s in line with Yvette’s call in Nov 2012 for overarching inquiry . . . there are many victims’ advocacy groups that are supported by ppl who were abused . . . pls note I’m not supporting any particular remit until it’s been discussed with charities etc’.

Steve Rotherham: ‘Worked behind the scenes with Tom Watson on the issue, so happy to support an independent inquiry’.

Andy Sawford: ‘ My view is that the time is right for a properly structured inquiry that draws together fragmented investigations into institutions throughout the country. The scale of Jimmy Savile’s abuse should be a wake-up call to everyone. The Home Secretary should step in and establish an overarching inquiry led by child protection experts so we can make sure vulnerable young people are listened to and better protected from these horrible crimes’. (See Sawford’s blog post on the subject)

Barry Sheerman: ‘Yes as long as it doesn’t involve police trawling or destruction of people’s lives bailed but not charged!’

Jim Sheridan: ‘I am happy to support and I will do what I can to help the campaign’.

Gavin Shuker: ‘I’m supportive. Thanks’.

Karl Turner: ‘happy to support absolutely’

Stephen Twigg: ‘please keep in touch about the campaign; thank you for contacting me’.

Ian Wright: ‘I fully support the idea of a full independent and open inquiry into child abuse’.

Jim Shannon: ‘I am keen to have answers. Those who have been abused deserve to have those who were involved exposed for what they have done’.

Naomi Long: ‘I do support such an inquiry. The Kincora Boys’ Home was in my own constituency’.

Opponents

Conservatives:

Liberal Democrats

Labour

‘Not Yet’ (have not ruled out future support for an inquiry, but not supporting one yet)

Conservatives:
David Cameron (Prime Minister, Witney)
Simon Burns (Chelmsford)
Stephen Crabb (Preseli Pembrokeshire)
Mike Freer (Finchley and Golders Green)
Gordon Henderson (Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Gareth Johnson (Dartford)
Andrew Lansley (South Cambridgeshire)
Mark Prisk (Hertford and Stortford)
Alok Sharma (Reading West)

Liberal Democrats
Norman Baker (Lewes) (on the basis of a meeting with Peter McKelvie and Liz Davies – further clarification to follow)

Labour
Sarah Champion (Rotherham)
Emily Thornberry (Islington South and Finsbury)

No Reply to Query

Conservatives:
John Redwood (Wokingham)

Liberal Democrats

Labour

Undecided Yet

Conservatives:

Liberal Democrats

Labour

Comments from Others

The Crime Prevention Minister, Liberal Democrat Norman Baker was not yet prepared to commit, quoted in the Richmond and Twickenham Times as saying: ‘There are a number of inquiries taking place into historic child sex abuse cases, including criminal investigations. It is important we allow these to run their course before taking further action’.

Sarah Champion: ‘I completely support the motivation and rationalisation for your inquiry but, as it stands, it is too broad. I would be happy to work with you to refine the wording so that the inquiry would have a better chance of uncovering the perpetrators of this vile crime and preventing it from happening in the future.’

Emily Thornberry: [To constituent, written letter dated 11/6/14, received 19/6/14] ‘Thank you for your email about the investigation into allegations of child abuse. I note that concerns over this investigation have been brought to the attention of the Home Secretary on more than one occasion, and I have drawn your email to her attention.

I enclose a copy of my letter, and I will be back in touch as soon as I receive a reply’

[Letter to Home Secretary from Emily Thornberry, 11/6/14: 'X has recently contacted me about the call for an inquiry into the investigation of allegations relating to the organised abuse of children. I enclose a copy of his email.

I would be grateful if you could confirm that you have received this call for an inquiry, and I would appreciate any information you are able to provide about the steps being taken to ensure that this investigation is effective and complete.

Thank you for your help in this matter. I look forward to hearing from you.]

Response from constituent to this communication from Thornberry: ‘For what ever reason, she has declined to acknowledge the contents of my email properly, specifically ‘My grave concerns about the issue of widespread organised abuse of children, in the hope that you will be prepared to support calls for a national inquiry into the subject”

Alok Sharma: ‘There are a number of inquiries taking place into child abuse cases, including criminal investigations. It is important we allow these to run their course before taking further action’.

Gareth Johnson: ‘I appreciate your concern about this issue. Child abuse is an abhorrent crime, no matter when, or where, it occurs. It is important that the Government is committed to tackling it, in whatever form it takes.

Both the historical cases of child abuse and recent cases of organised sexual exploitation raise a number of important issues for the Government, social services, the police, the criminal justice system and others. It is important that we learn lessons from these reviews of historic child abuse cases. That is why the Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice, Damian Green, is leading a National Group which will work across government to urgently address any missed opportunities to protect children and vulnerable people.

There are a number of inquires taking place into historic child sex abuse cases, including criminal investigations. It is important we allow these to run their course before taking further action.’

Andrew Lansley: ‘I do appreciate your concern about this important issue. Child abuse is an abhorrent crime, no matter when, or where, it occurs. I can assure you that the Government is committed to tackling it, in whatever form it takes.

Historical cases of child abuse and recent cases of organised sexual exploitation raise a number of important issues for the Government, social services, the police, the criminal justice system and others. That is why the Prime Minister has asked Damian Green, Home Office Policing and Criminal Justice Minister, to lead Ministers across Government and a new national group to address urgently the missed opportunities to protect vulnerable children.

The Sexual Violence Against Children and Vulnerable People national group is a panel of experts brought together by the Home Office to co-ordinate and implement the lessons from recent inquiries into historic sexual abuse and current sexual violence prevention issues. It will work to improve cross Government delivery, identify problems and solutions and act swiftly to resolve them.’

Mike Freer: ‘Child abuse is an abhorrent crime, no matter when, or where, it occurs. It is important that the Government is committed to tackling it, in whatever form it takes.
Both the historical cases of child abuse and recent cases of organised sexual exploitation raise a number of important issues for the Government, social services, the police, the criminal justice system and others. It is important that we learn lessons from these reviews of historic child abuse cases. That is why the Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice, Damian Green, is leading a National Group which will work across government to urgently address any missed opportunities to protect children and vulnerable people.

There are a number of inquiries taking place into historic child sex abuse cases, including criminal investigations. It is important we allow these to run their course before taking further action.

I join the Government in urging anyone with concerns or information to report them to the police. I am glad that the Government has made clear that if anyone has concerns about police handling of such complaints they should report them to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. It is important that these authorities act on the information provided to them.’

+ (second communication) ‘There is a longstanding practice that overarching inquiries are not undertaken whilst existing inquiries – which may result in criminal prosecutions. This has been respected so as not to jeopardise any prosecutions. The most important thing for any victim is surely to see perpetrators prosecuted.’

Mark Prisk: ‘It is important that the Government is committed to tackling it, in whatever form it takes. Damian Green is leading a National Group which will work across government to urgently address any missed opportunities to protect children and vulnerable people’.

Gordon Henderson: said [according to a constituent] that he appreciated my [constituent's] concern about the issue.that it was an abhorrent crime. That he was confident the government is committed to tackling it and was not aware of any cover up by the current government. He said: “Both the historical cases of child abuse and recent cases of organised sexual exploitation raise a number of important issues for the government, social services, the police, the criminal justice system and others. It is important that we learn lessons from these reviews of historic child abuse cases. That is why the minister for policing and criminal justice Damian Green is leading a national group which will work across government to urgently address any missed opportunities to protect children and vulnerable people. There are a number of inquiries taking place into historic child sex abuse cases, including criminal investigations. It is important we allow these to run their course before taking further action. I join the government in urging anyone with concerns or information to report them to the police. I am glad that the government has made clear that if anyone has concerns about police handling of such complaints they should report them to the Independent Police Complaints Commission . It is important that these authorities act on the information provided to them.”

(I am keeping another blog post with the standardised template responses such as some of those above)

Questions in the House of Commons

The following exchange took place at the House of Commons on June 11th, 2014:

Mr Duncan Hames (Liberal Democrat, Chippenham): Mr Speaker, the Prime Minister will have heard calls from Honourable Members on all sides of this House for an independent inquiry on the Hillsborough model into organised child sexual abuse in this country. Can he truly be satisfied that current police investigations are sufficient for the public to have confidence that we are both willing and able to get to the truth?

The Right Hon David Cameron (Prime Minister): I think my Honourable Friend makes a very important point and I have looked at this carefully with Ministerial colleagues, because of course we have a series of inquiries taking place into what happened in various hospitals and care homes and indeed media organisations, and I think it’s very important that Government keeps a clear view about how these are being co-ordinated and how the lessons are being learned. If there is a need for any more over-arching process to be put in place, I’m very happy to look at that, but at the moment, I think led by the Home Secretary and her colleagues, we do have a proper view of what’s happening at all these organisations

A Selection of Important Articles

Eileen Fairweather, ‘WITNESS: Stalinist reluctance to study the facts’, The Independent, May 30th, 1995.
Nick Davies, ‘The sheer scale of child sexual abuse in Britain’, The Guardian, April 1998.
Christian Wolmar, ‘Forgotten Children – the background to the children’s homes scandals’,Independent on Sunday, October 8th, 2000.
Stephen Wright and Richard Pendlebury, ‘Timebomb at Elm Guest House: Pop stars, a bishop and a top politician appear on a list seized by police investigating child abuse at the London hotel in the 1980s’, Daily Mail, February 2nd, 2013.
‘Tory MP warned of powerful paedophile ring 30 years ago. New evidence supports claim former backbencher’s life was threatened’, The Independent, February 22nd, 2013.
‘The Peter Righton Cover-Up’, Spotlight, April 4th, 2013 (includes link to 1994 documentary; for more vital information on Righton, see the collections of articles here, here and here).
Meabh Ritchie, ‘Abuse scandals: Britain’s elite music education in crisis’, Channel 4 News, May 9th, 2013.
‘An open letter to David Cameron’, from Tom Watson’s source, Spotlight, September 16th, 2013.
Mark Conrad, ‘Met’s ‘VIP paedophiles’ probe turns into murder investigation. Police on Operations ‘Fernbridge’ and ‘Fairbank’ examine sadistic killing of young boy’, Exaro News, January 11th, 2014.
Andrew Norfolk, ’130 private schools in child abuse scandal’, The Times, January 20th, 2014.
Ian Pace, ‘NCCL and PIE – documentary evidence 1′, Desiring Progress, February 25th, 2014.
Keir Mudie and Mark Conrad, ‘Ex-Tory minister ‘pictured in child sex abuse video’ confiscated by customs at Dover in 1982′, Sunday People, March 29th, 2014.
Simon Danczuk, ‘How Cyril Smith evaded the law: Sickening folly of the Left who aided his cause by advocating paedophilia’, Daily Mail, April 12th, 2014.
Tom Pettifor, ‘Tony Blair demands investigation into claims one of his ministers sexually abused children’, Daily Mirror, May 1st, 2014.
Mark Conrad and David Hencke, ”Rapist’ ex-cabinet minister named in Tom Watson’s DPP letter. MP launches blistering attack on Met for failing to interview ex-minister over rape claim’, Exaro News, May 20th, 2014.
Andrew Norfolk, ‘Colet Court and St Paul’s: a culture of child abuse’, The Times, May 20th, 2014.
Tom Pettifor, ‘Was Bulic Forsythe killed to protect paedophile ring ‘linked to future minister in Tony Blair’s government?’, Daily Mirror, May 21st, 2014.

Cross party group of MP's call for an Inquiry into the decades of child abuse cover-up

Zac Goldsmith has led a cross-party group of 25 MPs to call for a national inquiry into historical child sex abuse and authority cover-ups.

The Richmond Park MP heads a group of seven calling on Home Secretary Theresa May to set up an independent panel to investigate historical sex abuse claims and analyse why important documents have disappeared.

But crime prevention minister Norman Baker said: “There are a number of inquiries taking place into historic child sex abuse cases, including criminal investigations.

“It is important we allow these to run their course before taking further action.” BAKER does not believe that evidence of child abuse, including th Dickens dossiers, should be given to the police investigating historic child abuse.  He believes tapes and videos of VIP pedophiles should be safely away from investigators and remain where they have been buried  with MI5 and the Crown Prosecution Service.  

This week it emerged a report into abuse at Knowl View School in Rochdale, where prolific paedophile Cyril Smith was a governor, was suppressed.

e late MP was also a regular visitor to Elm Guest House, according to a book by Labour MP Simon Danzcuk, who now sits in his Rochdale seat.

The guest house in Rocks Lane,Barnes, is the centre of a police investigation into child sex abuse that dates back to the 70s and 80s.

It has been alleged the guest house, advertised as a place for gay men to have parties, was the centre of a VIP paedophile ring.

Mr Goldsmith said: “Very serious questions around Elm Guest House in Barnes have gone unanswered for so long that many have simply concluded that the authorities aren’t interested in uncovering answers.

“The same seems to be true of other inquiries into child sex abuse at institutions across the country.

A growing number of MPs have backed the letter, which asks for an independent panel, similar the Hillsborough Inquiry, to look into the historical cases.“If it wants to draw a line and move on, the Government must establish a defining, properly resourced and all-encompassing inquiry, in which victims and the public can have confidence.”

The panel has been asked to investigate various claims including why police surveillance videos said to be of prominent people involved in a paedophile ring have gone missing.

Tom Watson, MP for West Bromwich, said: “I deeply admire Zac Goldsmith adding his weight to this important issue.

“The fact that we now have a cross-party coalition asking for a national investigation makes it very hard for the police and ministers to ignore.”

The Labour MP, who aired child abuse allegations in Parliament in October 2012 that sparked a police investigation, said police desperately needed more resources to deal with the weight and mass of historical allegations – something a national inquiry could support.

He said: “They are very dedicated and hardworking but I now believe they are chronically under-resourced and have not got the capacity to deal with the weight and volume of allegations made.” 

 Of course there are greater number of highly resourced police and CPS professionals who have unlimited funds to pursue  whistle-blowers victims and activists. They are charged with obtaining witness statements  and obtaining evidence so that they can best judge how to do a damage limitation exercise. As with the lady raped as a girl by Leon Brittan they police conduct smear campaigns against victims. Where possible the CPS  prosecute anyone who might expose the cover-up they have been involved in for decades.

Please contact your MP to ask for their support for a national inquiry into child abuse

By Ian Pace 

Following the announcement of the letter by a group of seven cross-party MPs to Home Secretary Teresa May, calling for a national inquiry into child abuse and questions to be answered concerning existing investigations and loss of crucial materials and evidence, I would like to ask all who agree to write to their own MPs to ask them to lend their support to this call. The more MPs who support this, the greater the likelihood of it occurring, and also the greater the media attention it is likely to get. You can write to your MP using the following site – https://www.writetothem.com/ – just by entering your postcode, or if you want to simply find their name and e-mail address, go to this site –http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/ .

Below I include a template for a letter, based on part of that which I have sent to my own MP Jeremy Corbyn (Labour, Islington North) (my own letter also included some specific material about work as a campaigner, and about Islington). You may want to send something else entirely, this is just one suggestion for the type of letter. It is especially important to ask your MP that if they do not support this call for an inquiry, to give their reasons. You can also tweet your MP to ask them if on Twitter – to find their Twitter ID, just Google their name followed by ‘Twitter’, and tweet something like ‘@jeremycorbyn Will you support these seven MPs’ call for a national inquiry into organised child abuse?http://www.exaronews.com/articles/5274/mps-call-on-theresa-may-to-set-up-inquiry-into-child-sex-abuse ‘ . Once again, please do let me know any answers (my own Twitter ID is @ian_pace ).

I would be immensely grateful if you could contact me (ian@ianpace.com ) if you get a reply, to indicate its content, or if you have received no reply within one month of sending your query. I will keep a list on this blog of all sympathetic MPs, and with permission will reproduce replies. Exaro News , who have been the leading organisation pursuing these stories, are also interested in all responses from MPs to this, and I will naturally be drawing their attention to the list as it progresses.

Draft Letter

Dear [....],

I am writing to you as a constituent to express my grave concerns about the issue of widespread organised abuse of children, in the hope that you will be prepared to support calls for a national inquiry on this subject. Almost every week brings new revelations of horrifying abuse – in children’s homes all over the country, in hundreds of private and state schools, in the Catholic Church, in the Church of England, in the entertainment industry, in the classical music world, and even involving some senior politicians. There has been much evidence to suggest that abuse in different places is linked through networks of abusers, and the complexities of the allegations can only be addressed on a national basis.

Recently a group of seven MPs – Conservatives Zac Goldsmith and Tim Loughton, Liberal Democrats John Hemming and Tessa Munt, Labour Tom Watson and Simon Danczuk, and Green Party Caroline Lucas – have collectively written to Home Secretary Theresa May to express their concern about how investigation of many of these allegations has been slow and seemingly obstructed, with files, videos and other materials going missing, and reluctance on the part of police and other agencies to investigate allegations seriously. Some of these MPs have gone so far as to suggest the sinister possibility that there may have been cover-ups to protect some high-profile individuals. This is detailed in the following article – http://www.exaronews.com/articles/5274/mps-call-on-theresa-may-to-set-up-inquiry-into-child-sex-abuse .

These MPs suggest an inquiry on the model of that conducted into the 1989 disaster at Hillsborough. I am asking you to let me know if you are prepared to support them in this call, and if you would thus be prepared to make public such support? I would respect your decision if you think otherwise, but would be very grateful if you could let me know your reasons.

Yours sincerely,

Supporters of an Inquiry

Conservatives:
Zac Goldsmith (Richmond Park)
Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham)
Neil Carmichael (Stroud)
Henry Smith (Crawley)
Craig Whittaker (Calder Valley)

Liberal Democrats
John Hemming (Birmingham Yardley)
Tessa Munt (Wells)
Annette Brook (Mid Dorset and North Poole)
John Leech (Manchester Withington)
Adrian Sanders (Torbay)

Labour
Tom Watson (West Bromwich East)
Simon Danczuk (Rochdale)
Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish)
Yasmin Qureshi (Bolton South East)
Steve Rotherham (Liverpool Walton)
Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield)
Stephen Twigg (Liverpool West Derby)

Green
Caroline Lucas (Brighton Pavilion)

Alliance (Northern Ireland)
Naomi Long (Belfast East)

Other supporters, not sitting MPs
Peter Tatchell (former Green Party parliamentary candidate, Oxford East)
Mike Parker (Plaid Cymru candidate for Ceredigion at 2015 election)

Comments from Supporters

Zac Goldsmith: ‘We now know of many cases of child abuse that went uninvestigated for far too long, not least relating to Jimmy Savile. But we also know that countless questions remain unanswered, and they must be – in full. The government should establish – and properly resource – an independent inquiry so that a line can be drawn, once and for all.’

Tim Loughton: ‘Virtually every week, the public is bombarded with new stories about sexual abuse of children coming to light, yet they stretch as far back as the 1960s. Few areas have been left untouched with increasingly alarming stories involving schools, churches, care homes, entertainment, sport and of course politicians and celebrities. Most alarming is a consistent theme of the reluctance or, more worringly, seeming complicity of police and other agencies to investigate the allegations seriously, and pursue the perpetrators rigorously. Documents go missing and investigations are curtailed with a chilling frequency, and that now threatens a serious undermining of the public’s confidence in our current child-protection system despite all the progress that has undoubtedly been made in recent years’.

Neil Carmichael: ‘child care is a top concern of @CommonsEd & I am happy to promote a wider inquiry into child abuse’.

Henry Smith: ‘I support independent inquiries into child abuse particularly in light of the horrendous discoveries recently’.

John Hemming: ‘The whole area is still not in any way properly accountable or subject to independent checks. The sagas with Kincora and Cyril Smith do seem to have a pattern of similarities that needs a proper independent investigation. Our system, however, is very tolerant of misconduct in public office’.

John Leech: ‘Support national inquiry into child abuse. Too many mistakes too often’.

Adrian Sanders: ‘Very happy to support’.

Tom Watson: ‘There is a growing consensus among MPs of all political parties that the party leaders should agree to resource adequately searching investigations into historical allegations of child sexual abuse. The failure to act needs to be urgently addressed, and there is a belief that much more needs to be done to uncover what has happened in previous investigations’.

Simon Danczuk: ‘I am pleased that we have politicians from across the political divide who are coming together to try to get to the bottom of what is a murky and nasty abuse of power. As we have seen from the story that we told about Cyril Smith, there was a network at the highest level that was out to protect him at every turn. We now need the home secretary to step up to the mark and instigate an investigation that leaves no stone unturned. I look forward to seeing what her response is’.

Yasmin Qureshi: ‘I have been arguing for long time about how much sexual abuse there is within home and institutions’; ‘In my previous life I saw so much abuse of the young, sexual and physical. Made me cry’.

Steve Rotherham: ‘Worked behind the scenes with Tom Watson on the issue, so happy to support an independent inquiry’.

Barry Sheerman: ‘Yes as long as it doesn’t involve police trawling or destruction of people’s lives bailed but not charged!’

Stephen Twigg: ‘please keep in touch about the campaign & thank you for contacting me’.

Naomi Long: ‘I do support such an inquiry. The Kincora Boys’ Home was in my own constituency’.

Opponents

Conservatives:

Liberal Democrats

Labour

No Reply to Query

Conservatives:
John Redwood (Wokingham)

Ian Pace http://ianpace.wordpress.com/2014/06/05/please-contact-your-mp-to-ask-for-their-support-for-a-national-inquiry-into-child-abuse/

New Cross-Party Group of MPs calling for Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse

Ian Pace 

The pioneering news organisation Exaro have published two important articles today by David Hencke relating to a cross-party group of seven MPs who have written jointly to Home Secretary Theresa May called for a proper inquiry into child abuse, citing the Hillsborough inquiry as a model (see Hencke, ‘Police keep failing ‘to follow evidence’ in abuse cases, say MPs: Call for wide inquiry into ‘schools, churches, children’s homes, politicians and celebrities’, 3/6/14, and ‘MPs call on Theresa May to set inquiry into child sex abuse: Tim Loughton and Zac Goldsmith in cross-party group that highlights failures by police’, 3/6/14; see also Jason Beattie, ‘MPs demand inquiry into historic claims of child sex abuse by Cabinet Ministers’, Daily Mirror, 4/6/14).

The seven MPs in question (who Hencke has elsewhere called the ‘Magnificent Seven’) are:

Conservatives:
Zac Goldsmith, MP for Richmond Park, whose constituency contains Elm Guest House, Grafton Close Children’s Home, and Colet Court and St Paul’s Schools (Twitter @ZacGoldsmith ).
Tim Loughton, MP for East Worthing and Shoreham and former Children’s Commissioner, who spoke powerfully in the House of Commons in September 2013 about many ongoing revelations of abuse (Website here; Twitter @timloughton ).

Liberal Democrats:
John Hemming, MP for Birmingham Yardley, who made representations on behalf of financial journalist Leah McGrath Goodman on the grounds of her being banned from the UK following investigation into child abuse at Haut de la Garenne, Jersey, but has also been critical of UK family courts when dealing with allegations of abuse against parents. (Website here; Twitter @johnhemmingmp )
Tessa Munt, MP for Wells, who as a member of the Education Select Committee has taken a special interest in child safeguarding, and whose constituency contains Wells Cathedral School, one of the five specialist music schools, all of which have been connected to abuse (Websitehere; Twitter @tessamunt )

Labour:
Tom Watson, MP for West Bromwich East, who has been indefatigable in his commitment to this issue ever since raising in Westminster in October 2012 the issues of a high-level paedophile ring(see Watson’s blog and articles here and many other places online; Twitter @tom_watson ).
Simon Danczuk, MP for Rochdale, co-author with Matthew Baker of Smile for the Camera: The Double Life of Cyril Smith (London: Biteback, 2014), who has written of how Smith was connected toPeter Righton and also a wider paedophile ring including prominent politicians (see this article by Watson in praise of Danczuk) (Website here, Twitter @simondanczuk )

Green:
Caroline Lucas, MP for Brighton Pavilion. (Website here; Twitter @carolinelucas ).

These seven MPs are concerned about how important files, surveillance videos and other material have gone missing, lack of charges brought as a result of Operation Fernbridge, and in general an apparent reluctance on the part of the police and others to pursue cases of serious abuse. Watson has written to the Director of Public Prosecutions naming a former cabinet minister alleged to have raped a woman going by the name of ‘Jane’ (see also the detailed five-part account linked to at the bottom of this article and the video interview with ‘Jane’); this is the same senior cabinet minister who has been linked to the VIP paedophile ring related to Elm Guest House (as confirmed by Mark Watts on Twitter on 18/5/14). The Metropolitan Police have chosen not to pursue Jane’s allegations further, nor even interview the alleged perpetrator, raising serious questions about whether proper procedure has been followed; Exaro have also claimed that there was a shocking concerted police smear campaign aimed at discrediting ‘Jane’. Furthermore, there are serious questions about the whereabouts of a series of documents submitted to the Home Office by the late Geoffrey Dickens MP (see here, here and here), one of the few MPs who continued to pursue this issue in the 1980s. Loughton has spoken of his alarm at consistent ‘reluctance, or more worryingly, the seeming complicity of police and other agencies to investigate the allegations seriously, and pursue the perpetrators rigorously’, and how ‘Documents go missing and investigations are curtailed with a chilling frequency, and that now threatens a serious undermining of the public’s confidence in our current child-protection system despite all the progress that has undoubtedly been made in recent years’.

The range of areas of public life in which there have been major allegations of abuse is frighteningly large: these include children’s homes in Islington (see also here and this article by whistleblower Liz Davies), Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark, Haute de la Garenne in Jersey, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Suffolk, Staffordshire (the ‘Pindown’ scandal)Birmingham, Leicestershire, North Wales, South Wales, Cheshire, Leeds, Sunderland,Northumberland, Lothian, Renfrewshire, Isle of Lewis, the Kincora Boy’s Home in Belfast,Stockgrove Park School, Buckinghamshire, Stanbridge Earls School near Romsey, Hampshire, New Barns School, Gloucestershire, Castle Hill School, Shropshire, St George’s School, Suffolk, Knowl View School in Rochdale, in Cleveland, many of the leading public schools (see also the range of articles here), the Catholic Church, not least in Scottish abbeys,the Church of England, the entertainment industry (not least involving Jimmy Savile), grooming gangs in the North West and Oxford, music education, a ring around Piccadilly Circus, major networks trading images of child abuse, and more. Some of these cases have been investigated, with some prosecutions, but there is good reason to believe some of these investigations have been half-hearted, whilst other cases have simply been ignored. There are many individuals linked to multiple networks (not least the sinister figure of Peter Righton), continuing talk of the VIP paedophile ring connected to Elm Guest House and elsewhere, major information concerning late MPs Cyril Smith andPeter Morrison and serious allegations about others who are living (not least the severe claim that a Blair era cabinet minister was being investigated for abusing children in a home in Lambeth, leading to a detective being taken off the case, and even that a council official looking to expose a ring involving the minister was murdered). The activities of members of the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE), about whom I have blogged in detail remain shady, and there are many suggestions that this organisation might be linked to a great number of cases of abuse. Furthermore, it is now clear that PIE had deep links to the Home Office, receiving large amounts of money from the organisation, with at least three members working on its premises (with a phone line there), its magazine printed there, and some civil servants receiving images of child abuse delivered to the building!

It is heartening to see such a diverse cross-party group of MPs coming together on this issue. Yet it is more than a little disappointing that there are not more, and that the most senior politicians in all the major parties do not appear to be taking seriously what can only be called an epidemic (if even less than half of the allegations were true). I would urge everyone reading this to write to their own MP and implore them to support the seven courageous figures above (any of whom I would gladly vote for). I have earlier blogged on the need for Ed Miliband, the leader of the party to which I belong (Labour), to put all of his weight behind calls for a proper inquiry, but also how there is near-silence from the upper echelons of Labour, perhaps related to the fact that senior Labour politicians are under investigation and also that the current Deputy Leader, Harriet Harman, has been linked to PIE during her time as Legal Officer at the NCCL, during which period NCCL took out an advert in PIE’s journal Magpie and also their policy on images of children reflects aspects of PIE thinking. But this should not be stopping Miliband, nor should worries about the former Thatcher era cabinet minister, and Peter Morrison and others, be stopping David Cameron (and in light of revelations about Cyril Smith, Nick Clegg should be firmly behind this).

Leading experts, researchers and campaigners on child abuse Peter McKelvie and Liz Davies met recently with Home Office minister Norman Baker. They were granted a mere ten minutes of time, despite having built up huge bodies of evidence about child abuse, but it was made clear that there was no intention to undertake either a national police investigation (absolutely necessary because so many complex cases are interlinked) nor a public inquiry. I would urge people to read the account above. Nonetheless, I have been informed that both individuals spoke very highly of Zac Goldsmith’s commitment to the issues in particular.

The media have reported much about the relatively small number of cases coming to court as a result of Operation Yewtree. But these are just a tiny fraction of the wider allegations of serious and sustained abuse (and non-sexual abuse should not be treated any less seriously). All credit to these seven MPs, but as for the others – if our MPs do not care about protecting children in the most vulnerable situations, what do they care about?

The Magnificent 7 MP's calling on the Government to investigate the cover-up

By David Hencke

An important step was taken today when seven MPs wrote to Theresa May asking for an independent panel  inquiry to be launched into repeated failures by police to investigate thoroughly historic cases of child sexual abuse. They want the equivalent of the investigation into the Hillsborough disaster.The initiative came from Zac Goldsmith, the Conservative MP for Richmond, who has become acutely aware that the Met Police have still not got to the bottom of the historic child sex scandal at Elm Guest House in his constituency despite two people  due to stand trial.

He decided that the issue was too important to become a political football and that an all party approach – it involves MPs from four parties- Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green- was the best way forward.

Caroline Lucas MP

 The result is revealed on the Exarowebsite today in two reports by me outlining the letter and the key cases where they have been repeated failures – every time police investigation have come near VIPs. evidence seems to have gone missing, dossiers lost,surveillance material disappearing, seized child porn DVDs lost and even police investigation reports possibly censored.

John Hemming MP

The first report on Exaro details the letter sent to Theresa May and the type of inquiry MPs want. The second report goes into more detail about what MPs want investigated. well as Zac, the other six MPs, are the former coalition children’s minister,Conservative MP Tim Loughton; Labour’s Tom Watson, who raised the question of a paedophile ring run by the late Peter Righton; Labour MP Simon Danczuk, the Rochdale MP who exposed further scandals around the late Sir Cyril Smith; Tess Munt, Liberal Democrat MP for Wells and parliamentary private secretary to Vince Cable, who has concerns about physical and sexual abuse in military schools; John Hemming, Liberal Democrat MP for Birmingham, Yardley, who has raised similar issues of child sexual abuse, and Caroline Lucas, the Green MP, who expresses concern about the issue.

Simon Danczuk MP

 These magnificent MPs have put their political differences aside and put their heads above the parapet. They do not mince their words about the unsatisfactory situation that still persists. 

Tim Loughton MP

 As Tim Loughton puts it:“Virtually every week, the public is bombarded with new stories about sexual abuse of children coming to light, yet they stretch as far back as the 1960’s.“Few areas have been left untouched with increasingly alarming stories involving schools, churches, care homes, entertainment, sport and of course politicians and celebrities.“Most alarming is a consistent theme of the reluctance or, more worryingly, the seeming complicity of police and other agencies to investigate the allegations seriously, and pursue the perpetrators rigorously.

“Documents go missing and investigations are curtailed with a chilling frequency, and that now threatens a serious undermining of the public’s confidence in our current child-protection system despite all the progress that has undoubtedly been made in recent years.”

Tessa Munt MP

It is really time to act.  Teflon Theresa May – not known as a shrinking violet in dealing with tough and controversial issues – should very seriously consider what the MPs want and why they feel driven to ask for it.

Tom Watson MP