HORRIFIED MPs have called in police after receiving information that a top

Labour politician is a paedophile who preys on young boys — and has a liking

for “young ragamuffins”.

Detectives have been passed details of a string of alleged offences spanning

at least 12 years.

It is the latest in a series of sex abuse scandals to rock Westminster — and

the most serious because the accused is still a serving MP.

Two other MPs independently reported the former minister to police after being

shocked by information they had received. The allegations, from a variety of

sources, “made their blood run cold”.

The two have accused their Parliamentary colleague, who cannot be named for

legal reasons, of a wave of sickening offences.

They have told detectives they believe that the MP:

— HAD lads “delivered” to his room at a hotel near a police

station

— ABUSED boys at a hospital’s mental health unit

— LEFT one so terrified he fears for his life if he ever speaks

out

— SHOWED an “unhealthy” interest in the two young sons of a local

councillor

— DISPLAYED a liking for “young ragamuffins”, and

— WAS seen as untouchable by police because of his revered

position.

The first MP, who has asked not to be named, went to police almost two weeks

ago after hearing a string of allegations against his colleague.

The consistency of the information he received convinced him that the claims

were more than just salacious gossip.

He told The Sun on Sunday: “Several people who have never met one another were

all telling me the same, or similar, stories of corruption, indecency and

paedophile offences.

“I was told that as far back as ten years ago, he was having young boys

delivered to a hotel just a few hundred yards from a local police

headquarters. But some of the cases were as recent as 18 months ago.

“The final straw came when I heard allegations that he had been abusing two

youngsters in a mental health unit.

“After I was told about this, I thought for an hour or two and decided I would

never forgive myself if this turned out to be another case like Jimmy Savile.

“I picked up the phone and made a call to a very senior police officer.”

The MP went into the force’s headquarters and spent 45 minutes giving names

and details of the allegations to two detectives.

He said the officers made full notes of everything, but refused to respond

when he asked them what would happen next.

A second MP says he has given information to the same force, but refused to

give full details.

Last night a police spokesman declined to comment. But one of the MPs said a

senior officer has since told him: “We are all over this MP.”

The latest allegations will intensify demands for a major inquiry into

allegations of a Westminster paedophile ring.

Police have already been told about sick orgies involving household names

abusing youngsters at Dolphin Square flats near Westminster in the 1990s.

It was revealed that heavyweight Liberal MP Cyril Smith was arrested at a sex

party with teenage boys in the 1980s.

But police were told to cover it up and threatened with prosecution under the

Official Secrets Act.

Former Tory Home Secretary Leon Brittan was one of a number of high-profile

people named as regular visitors at Elm Guest House, where children were

allegedly abused by a paedophile ring in the early 1980s.

The boarding house in Barnes, West London, was run as a gay brothel in the

1970s and ’80s.

Last month it was announced that peer and former Labour MP Greville Janner is

to be prosecuted for alleged sexual offences against boys aged under 16,

said to have been committed between 1963 and 1988.

Alison Saunders, the Director of Public Prosecutions, reversed a previous

decision not to prosecute him following a review conducted by David Perry

QC. But the latest allegations involve an MP who is still serving and —

according to his accusers — has committed offences much more recently.

One of the MPs who reported him said: “There have been stories doing the

rounds about this fellow for some time.

“You hear lots of gossip in Westminster — but all of this had a ring of truth

about it. In our job you quickly get adept at weeding out the fact from the

fiction.

“I heard lots of different stories from all sorts of people. I’ve got no

concrete evidence but the sheer weight of numbers made me think I couldn’t

just sit there and do nothing.

“There were a whole range of allegations from corruption to cottaging, using

rent boys and abusing minors.

“I’ve been told how former police officers say he has been arrested before for

indecent behaviour and has on occasions assaulted them.

But, if the stories are correct, he has been let off after pulling strings at

the highest level.

“There was another story about him intervening to stop a man who was running a

male brothel from being evicted over rent arrears.

“I was also contacted by self-help organisations who told me the MP had a

liking for young ragamuffins, which I took to mean vulnerable young boys.

“The final straw came when I heard about his alleged involvement with two

youngsters at a mental health centre.

“They are about 17 now and one is in fear of his life. I’m told he thinks the

MP will have him killed if he speaks. It made my blood run cold.

“It was this that convinced me to go to police and tell them everything I

know. It’s now down to them to get to the bottom of this by talking to

everyone concerned.”

One of the MPs who went to police was told offences were committed as recently

as 18 months ago.

He said: “I told them I have no direct evidence but felt I had to pass on what

I had been told because it was so serious. They assured me I had done the

right thing.”

The MP at the centre of the allegations did not respond to requests for a

comment last night.

david.wooding@the-sun.co.uk

World of evil VIPs must be exposed



By TIM LOUGHTON, Ex Children’s Minister

THIS latest Sun on Sunday investigation about child abuse in the corridors of

power must be acted on urgently.

If politicians carried out these crimes then used their positions to cover

them up, we have to make sure every stone is turned over however grubby it

becomes.

The revelations about Cyril Smith have shown the high level at which some

people got away with systematic abuse.

When it comes to something as serious as this, complete transparency is

essential.

The Government has made a good start. The Child Sexual Exploitation Action

Plan I launched back in November 2011 preceded the Jimmy Savile avalanche.

Police, social workers, and teachers are now better trained to intervene

against abuse.

More paedophile rings are being busted. More perpetrators are coming to court

and I have no doubt children are safer than when Savile was plying his evil

trade.

None of us ever imagined the extent of the problem in the UK.

That is why the overarching inquiry into historic child abuse, which I was the

first to call for, is so important. It is now under way under impressive New

Zealand judge Lowell Goddard.

The Home Secretary has said all government departments will open their files

to the inquiry.

That must also include the potentially more explosive files kept by

Parliamentary whips on activities of fellow MPs. There can be no excuses.

Brushing these crimes under the carpet would be to undermine those vulnerable

children that politicians are there to protect. Above all it is in the

interests of all politicians to get this right.

Until we do, we risk politics being tainted by the crimes of a few. Conspiracy

theories will continue to abound and the ability of Government to continue

to do the right thing to protect children will be compromised.