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A 1980s dossier prepared by a former Huddersfield West MP alleging paedophile activity in Westminster appears to have been destroyed, the Government has admitted.

Former home secretary Lord Brittan has now defended his handling of the 1980s dossier alleging paedophile activity in Westminster.

The Tory peer issued a statement today after being challenged to “share what he knows” about a file prepared by MP Geoffrey Dickens.

He caused confusion by initially claiming he passed it on to officials in November 1983 and heard nothing more, before admitting he had misremembered and in fact the material was assessed by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and handed to police.

Mr Dickens was the Huddersfield West MP from 1979 until the seat was abolished in 1983. He was then elected MP for Littleborough and Saddleworth, a set he held until his death in 1995.

The clarification about the files presented by Mr Dickens came after an independent review commissioned by the Home Office last year came to light.

It revealed that the files had “not been retained” by the department, but also concluded that all information received between 1979 and 1999 had been handled correctly.

An extract from a letter included in the report showed Lord Brittan wrote to Mr Dickens in March 1984 saying: “You drew my attention to a number of allegations concerning paedophilia when you called here on November 23 and in subsequent letters.

“I am now able to tell you that, in general terms, the view of the Director of Public Prosecutions is that two of the letters you forwarded could form the basis for inquiries by the police and they are now being passed to the appropriate authorities.

“In other cases there either seems to be inadequate evidence to pursue prosecution, for example the lady who wrote about PIE1 advertising but did not secure any example of the material complained of, or they have already been dealt with in some way by the courts or the police.”

The review concluded: “The letter confirms that the information was considered at the time and that any matters requiring investigation were referred to the police.”

Lord Brittan initially stated that he had asked officials to look into the issue, and did not “recall being contacted further about these matters by Home Office officials or by Mr Dickens or by anyone else”.

But he said later: “The Home Office independent review is entirely consistent with the action I set out in my earlier statement.

“Whilst I could not recall what further action was taken 30 years ago, the information contained in this report shows that appropriate action and follow-up happened.”

Lord Brittan’s intervention came after Labour MP Simon Danczuk urged him to spell out what he knew about the Dickens dossier — believed to have contained information about the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) and abuse networks operating around Westminster.

Mr Danczuk, who has investigated claims of abuse by ex-MP Cyril Smith, is calling for a “Hillsborough-style” inquiry to prevent allegations involving politicians being “swept under the carpet”.

He insisted there was “no reason” why the dossier should have been destroyed by the Home Office.

A Home Office spokesman said the Dickens file had not been retained “in line with departmental policy” on record keeping, but could not give further details.

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