Paedophile MP Sir Cyril Smith never got punished

A Labour MP has claimed that liberal MP Sir Cyril Smith was part of a high-level paedophile ring operating at Westminster in the 1970s.

Simon Danzcuk alleges in a new book Sir Cyril used his influence to escape prosecution, for sexually abusing boys.

Today, MP Simon told BBC Radio 4 that the MP was part of an "informal" network of sex abusers. Also, that police were pressured by the authorities to drop investigations into his activities!

"Had he been prosecuted, then the house of cards would have fallen, in terms of that paedophile network, and it could have brought the government down", Mr. Simon added today.

He also claimed child abuse allegations against Sir Cyril were widely known at the time and were even raised in public, at a Liberal party conference.

Sir Cyril's family have said they are "saddened" by Mr Danzcuk's allegations "made so long after Sir Cyril Smith's death and at a time he is no longer able to defend himself. Sir Cyril always denied accusations made against him while he was living", they added in a statement.

Police received at least 144 complaints about the late Liberal MP, but MI5 and Special Branch put pressure on police officers to drop investigations into the alleged abuse.

"When he was initially arrested, he used the local power that he had, in the Sixties, to be able to convince people that he shouldn't be prosecuted", he told the Today programme.

"But once he became a member of Parliament in 1972, I think he joined an, obviously informal, network of paedophiles that existed in and around Westminster".

In 2012, the Metropolitan Police launched an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse by politicians in the late 1970s and 1980s, after Labour MP Tom Watson raised concerns in the House of Commons about a "powerful paedophile network linked to Parliament and No 10".

The Metropolitan Police has confirmed Sir Cyril was among those who visited the premises. Sir Cyril died in 2010 aged 82.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, the current Lib Dem leader, said that when all Lib Dem MPs and peers were asked two years ago whether they had heard of the abuse claims against Sir Cyril "no-one said they did".