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The MP for Crewe and Nantwich has condemned the ‘disgraceful’ and ‘heartless’ comments made by Boris Johnson about money spent on historic child sex abuse investigations and demanded the Tories take ‘swift action’ against him.

The former Foreign Secretary said the money spent investigating historic cases of child abuse would be better spent elsewhere.

In an interview on LBC, Mr Johnson said: “I think an awful lot of money and an awful lot of police time now goes into these historic offences and all this malarkey.

“You know, £60 million I saw was being spaffed up a wall on some investigation into historic child abuse.”

Crewe and Nantwich MP Laura Smith (Lab) is furious and has written to Conservative chief whip Julian Smith urging the Conservative party ‘on behalf of all those who have had their lives ruined at the hands of paedophiles’ to take ‘swift action against Boris Johnson and to make sure that more is done to help the victims of historic child sexual abuse rather than hinder their calls for justice’.

Ms Smith, who represents a constituency appalled by the horrors suffered by young footballers abused by paedophile Barry Bennell, said: “His remarks are deeply offensive to all those victims of historic sexual abuse and the sentiment and language that he has used is abhorrent and should be condemned in the strongest possible terms.”

Referring to the horrific crimes of former Crewe Alex youth coach Barry Bennell, Ms Smith said: “[The victims] bravely spoke up about his terrible crimes, resulting in his imprisonment in 2018.

“The sexual abuse that these men suffered at his hands when they were children is sickening and the courage that it took for them to come forward after years of suffering in silence is truly inspirational.

“There are many who still suffer in silence due to the abuse that they have suffered and I find it frankly disgraceful that an elected Member of Parliament could make such heartless and dismissive comments.”

The Labour MP later posted her letter on Twitter and explained that she was supporting former footballers Gary Cliffe, who lived in Nantwich as a boy, and Steve Walters, a former Crewe Alexandra player, who were both abused by Bennell, and waived their right to anonymity.

She tweeted: “I have today written to the government chief whip @JulianSmithUK regarding the disgraceful comments made by @BorisJohnson on @LBC today.

“I write for @garycliffe1 @steven_walters4 and all of the other victims of child abuse in my constituency and those up and down the country.”