'I won't quit', says head of sex abuse inquiry after brother is linked to paedophile cover-up she is investigating

Baroness Butler-Sloss faced demands to resign hours after appointment

H er late brother, Sir Michael Havers, was Attorney General under Thatcher

It was during this time that the abuse claims were first made

Sir Michael has been accused of presiding over ‘cover-up of the century’

The retired judge leading an inquiry into historic sex abuse said she will not quit yesterday, after her brother was linked to an Establishment ‘cover-up’ of the paedophile ring she will be investigating.

Baroness Butler-Sloss faced demands for her resignation less than 24 hours after she was appointed to lead the Government’s probe into abuse by politicians and other powerful figures.

MPs and legal experts said it was inappropriate for her to keep the post given that her late brother, Sir Michael Havers, was Attorney General under Margaret Thatcher when many of the abuse claims were first made.

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Baroness Butler-Sloss faced demands for her resignation less than 24 hours after she was appointed to lead the Government's probe into abuse by politicians and other powerful figures

Sir Michael was accused of presiding over a ‘whitewash’ and ‘the cover-up of the century’ in the 1980s by Geoffrey Dickens MP, who led a campaign to identify members of a paedophile ring allegedly operating in Whitehall, and including an MI6 officer.

Actor Nigel Havers, Sir Michael’s son, defended his aunt yesterday. He said she ‘had no political ties to my father and knew nothing about what was going on in the House of Commons at that time’, adding: ‘She has every right to lead the inquiry.’

But Labour MP Simon Danczuk, who exposed Cyril Smith’s abuse and led calls for a full inquiry into the alleged official cover-up of child abuse, said: ‘It’s astonishing the Government didn’t realise they were appointing the sister of someone who had tried to deter the prosecution of a significant paedophile. It’s far too Establishment – and the Government need to think again.’

Further doubt was cast on Lady Butler-Sloss’s suitability last night when it emerged she had made significant errors in an inquiry into a Church of England paedophile scandal three years ago.

Eight months after her report was published, the peer had to issue a six-page addendum in which she apologised for ‘inaccuracies’ that arose from her failure to corroborate information provided by senior Anglican figures.

MPs and legal experts said it was inappropriate for her to keep the post given that her late brother, Sir Michael Havers, was Attorney General under Margaret Thatcher when many of the abuse claims were first made

Mr Danczuk said the mistakes ‘raise more concerns’ about her ability to lead an inquiry into failures by Westminster, Whitehall, the BBC, Church and other public bodies to protect children from abuse. Alison Millar, a lawyer who has represented many victims of child abuse, added: ‘The concern is that she is just too close to the Establishment and in particular, [there is] concern over her connection to Sir Michael.’

However, Lady Butler-Sloss – who also headed the Cleveland inquiry into false accusations of child abuse – said yesterday: ‘If people think I am not suitable then that’s up to them.’



Whitehall sources insisted the allegations relating to Sir Michael had been considered before her appointment was announced. A Downing Street spokesman said: ‘She commands the very highest respect for her professional expertise and integrity.’

Labour MP Simon Danczuk, who exposed Cyril Smith's abuse and led calls for a full inquiry into the alleged official cover-up of child abuse, said: 'It's astonishing the Government didn't realise they were appointing the sister of someone who had tried to deter the prosecution of a significant paedophile'

Last week the Mail reported the story of Sir Peter Hayman, the deputy under-secretary of state at the Foreign Office, who was also believed to be a senior officer in MI6.



In 1978, Hayman – a subscriber to the notorious Paedophile Information Exchange – was caught sending and receiving obscene literature through the post after a package was found on a London bus.

He was named in a report submitted by the Metropolitan Police to the Director of Public Prosecutions – but never prosecuted. Mr Dickens used Parliamentary privilege to name Hayman and asked Sir Michael if he would prosecute him. In a written answer, Sir Michael replied that he agreed with the Director of Public Prosecutions that there was no need to do so. Mr Dickens called his decision the ‘cover-up of the century’.

n David Cameron yesterday backed the NSPCC’s demand for new laws to make it an offence not to report child abuse in a children’s home, hospital or boarding school. The charity’s proposed rules would, however, be limited to so-called closed institutions, where children stay overnight.

Home Office accused of giving funds direct to PIE

A whistleblower has accused the Home Office of giving tens of thousands of pounds of public money directly to the Paedophile Information Exchange.

Former civil servant Tim Hulbert said the payments were made to the group at the request of the Metropolitan Police’s Special Branch.

His comments cast doubts on the credibility of an internal Home Office inquiry this week that found it did not give any grants directly to PIE, which wanted to decriminalise sex between children and adults.

Former civil servant Tim Hulbert has accused the Home Office of giving tens of thousands of pounds of public money directly to the Paedophile Information Exchange

The report found that while two groups linked to PIE received almost £500,000 from the Home Office, the paedophile group itself did not get any cash.



But Mr Hulbert believes paperwork that could prove grants were paid straight to PIE may be among 114 files relating to child sex abuse lost by the Home Office.

Breaking 35 years of silence, he said he had raised concerns with Clifford Hindley, his boss at the Voluntary Services Unit at the Home Office, when asked to renew a grant in 1979 for PIE, thought to have been worth around £30,000.

He told ITV News he went to Mr Hindley and said: ‘Look, Clifford, what the hell are we doing funding an organisation like PIE?’



He added: ‘I had young children and PIE were openly campaigning for the reduction of the age of consent to four.



‘Secondly, it seemed crazy that we should be funding an organisation that was advocating a lessening of the constraints around child abuse when one of our constituent organisations was the Department of Health, which was spending a lot of money to prevent child abuse.

‘I remember having a frank exchange with him about this and his arguments [for continuing payments] were, one, it was recognised as a legitimate if not necessarily appropriate campaigning organisation. Secondly, I have a very clear recollection that he told me it was being funded at the request of Special Branch.’



He said Mr Hindley ordered the grant to be paid.



But the fact that it was a renewal suggests money had also been paid by the Labour government of James Callaghan, which left office in 1979.

It is not known why Special Branch would request the payment, although suspicions have been raised that undercover officers were trying to infiltrate the group to find prominent members who could be blackmailed.

















