Two more ministers accused in the VIP child abuse scandal: MP wants Secrets Act lifted to let police speak out
Two politicians join 22 others named in allegations of abuse in 1980s
Form part of powerful ring of Westminster paedophiles, it is claimed
MP John Mann said he was approached by victim who says he was abused
Called for retired detectives to be granted amnesty from Secrets Act
Scotland Yard is investigating allegations made by handful of 'victims'
The men, all now adults, say they were routinely abused by politicians
Scotland Yard has been handed the names of two more former Government ministers accused of sexually abusing children.
Campaigning
MP John Mann said he was approached last week by a victim who claims to
have been abused by the politicians – one a peer – in the 1980s and has
passed the detailed allegations to detectives.
The
latest phase in his search for the truth about a suspected Westminster
child sex ring came as he called for retired detectives to be granted an
unprecedented amnesty from the Official Secrets Act to help lift the
lid on alleged VIP abusers
Another
two former ministers have been named in allegations of sexual abuse of
children by Westminster VIPs in the 1980s. Above, the Dolphin Square
apartment complex where much of the abuse is alleged to have taken place
Allowing
former Special Branch officers who witnessed the alleged events to
speak out could be central to bringing prosecutions, said Mr Mann. He
has now called on Home Secretary Theresa May to lift Official Secrets
Act restrictions.
The
new allegations of child abuse emerged after the Bassetlaw MP handed a
carefully-researched dossier about five paedophile rings to police with
the names of 22 MPs. It includes 13 ex-ministers, at least two of whom
are claimed to have gone to 'abuse parties' held at Dolphin Square, the
luxury riverside estate in Pimlico which has been home to dozens of MPs.
However, Mr
Mann said the latest claims, which involve two former politicians who
are still alive, are 'entirely separate'. 'Someone has contacted me with
some very precise allegations – not just the names but the basis of the
allegations – and it is going straight to the police,' he said.
He
said the key to unlocking the truth behind the saga lies with retired
Special Branch detectives who witnessed events and could be 'absolutely
critical' in providing information to an investigation.
He
said 'a number' of officers have contacted him, including one who has
read a 50-page dossier of evidence amassed by Tory MP Geoffrey Dickens
which is now said to be missing.
He
added: 'It is clear there are a lot of people who could provide a lot
of information, potentially vital information, to support ongoing
criminal investigations.
'But
they are not doing so because of the Official Secrets Act. They are
fearful of not only breaking the law but the potential effect on their
pension. This is absolutely crucial if we are to get some of these
ex-officers coming forward and to get prosecutions of some of the former
MPs.'
Scotland
Yard is already investigating sweeping allegations made by one man who
claims he suffered systematic and organised abuse over nine years until
1984.
They
want to trace witnesses to corroborate his astonishing claim that three
boys were murdered by a sex ring that operated in London and the Home
Counties.
Mrs May has already said the Official Secrets Act 'should not get in the way' of anybody giving evidence to an official inquiry.
But campaigners say the offer does not go far enough and want a guaranteed amnesty.
Those
who sign the Act could face up to 14 years in prison if they breach it
by revealing sensitive information, which could include the movements of
top politicians.
One
former Special Branch detective, now aged 81, said he was 'shocked and
surprised' to be contacted out of the blue and warned not to speak out
about disgraced Liberal MP Cyril Smith.
Tony
Robinson, who claimed to have found files relating to the MP
'deliberately hidden' in a safe in Preston in the early 1970s, said he
was told by his 'old HQ' the information was still protected by the
Official Secrets Act.
The
Government is under huge pressure to put its ill-fated child sex abuse
inquiry back on track after two panel chairmen stepped down over
potential conflicts of interest.
A meeting involving more than 100 people including alleged victims will be held on January 14.
THE WHISTLEBLOWER: MAN AT CENTRE OF THE INQUIRY
The man at the centre of the Dolphin Square inquiry says he was abused at depraved sex 'parties' from the age of seven.
Known
only by the pseudonym Nick, he claims to have witnessed horrific acts
at the luxury estate in central London between 1975 and 1984.
After
being abused by his father, Nick says he was handed to a gang of top
Establishment figures. He has described being driven by a chauffeur,
along with a terrified 12-year-old boy, to a luxury townhouse where he
watched as a Tory MP strangled the other child.
Nick
also said he saw a second boy being brutally murdered in front of a
Tory Cabinet minister in 1981. A third boy, aged ten or 11, had died in
1979 after being deliberately run over by a member of the paedophile
gang in a 'warning' to victims not to speak out, he alleges.
He
says he was taken to Dolphin Square at least ten times for 'abuse
parties'. He claimed one MP told him to thrash another boy - and
'sexually punished' him when he refused.
After
receiving counselling he contacted the investigative website Exaro in
May, whose investigators described him as 'intelligent and articulate',
before going to the police
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