Margaret Thatcher 'turned a blind eye' to paedophile MPs

Simon Danczuk said that former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher failed to act against politicians who 'she knew' were sexually abusing children.

15:38 09 March 2015

Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk has stated that Margaret Thatcher knew about politicians sexually abusing children but failed to act against them.

Danczuk, who exposed Sir Cyril Smith as a prolific child abuser, said: "There is no doubt about it now, from what we know, that she turned a blind eye to people who were quite clearly paedophiles. That is absolutely clear.

"It is a real stain on Margaret Thatcher's legacy and I don't get any pleasure from saying that, but she turned a blind eye to it."

He also made claims that the Government ruled against the publishing of files on historic child abuse because it was worried that certain information can affect the results of May’s General Election.

He added: "(The Cabinet Office) have resisted publishing these documents for over 12 months - that's not acceptable.

"They refused to tell the public who nominated Cyril Smith for a knighthood. A journalist managed to get that out of them after going to the Information Commissioner. It was indeed David Steel.

"And we now know they are resisting publishing at least four other files relating to historic child sexual abuse.

"We have to ask the question: Is the Cabinet Office fit for purpose?"

"Cameron has spoken on this issue and said we'll leave no stone unturned. But his lack of action says otherwise.

"Nick Clegg has failed continually to really put any action in place. He's the Deputy Prime Minister. David Cameron is the Prime Minister.

"They are at the top of government. The buck stops with them. Why aren't they calling for all these documents to be published? Why aren't they insisting on more action?"