London -
Allegations of child sex abuse by a Westminster paedophile ring represent only the “tip of the iceberg”, Home Secretary Theresa May revealed on Sunday.
A group of former MPs and VIPs are alleged to have sexually abused children and killed three boys in the Seventies and Eighties.
But on Sunday Mrs May suggested even worse claims would follow as she said it was crucial for society to “get the truth”.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe insisted Scotland Yard was taking the claims seriously and promised there would be no cover-up.
On Sunday night, Labour MP John Mann said: “It would now be extraordinary if there are not arrests soon of prominent people.”
Mrs May said she was determined to ensure that the issues were fully investigated, telling the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “How was it that in the past, but continuing today, the very institutions of the state that should be protecting children were not doing so?
“Why was it that these abuses were able to take place and that nobody was brought to justice as a result of that?
“We must as a society, I believe, get to the truth of that and because I think what we’re seeing is... only the tip of the iceberg on this issue.”
Sir Bernard said dozens of detectives were investigating the historic Westminster child abuse allegations, adding: “We have 40 detectives looking into these relatively new claims. There are a series of claims over a relatively long period of time and not all of them are linked - although in the public’s imagination they may be.
“We have now had more recently this discussion or these claims about murder and, of course, that makes it even more serious.”
Among the latest allegations are that police may have helped cover up the murder of an eight-year-old boy. It is claimed he was one of three killed by the network alleged to include former MPs and cabinet ministers. Detectives are searching through files on at least 200 missing children to try to identify the alleged victims.
A man who claims to have been sexually abused by the group has told police he saw a then-serving Conservative MP murder a boy during a sexual assault in London in around 1980.
He said he witnessed the murder of another boy in front of a former Conservative cabinet minister around one or two years later. He also alleged that a third boy had been killed.
The Government is still seeking a chairman for its wide-ranging inquiry into the handling of paedophile activity by members of the Establishment after two candidates quit over their links to senior figures from the period. Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said on Sunday: “The latest revelations on historical child abuse are alarming.
“And the Home Secretary is right that this is likely to be the tip of the iceberg.
“It is important the inquiry gets under way and that action is taken swiftly to make the system better now so we can protect our children and take what they say about anyone seriously.”
She spoke as it emerged that Labour figures were passed warnings about the Elm Guest House, which was allegedly used by the paedophiles.
A union official wrote to David Blunkett and John Prescott, the then home secretary and deputy prime minister, to warn that it was being used as a brothel.
Mr Blunkett, who replied personally in November 2002 and alerted Home Office staff, on Sunday said the tip-off did not include claims of child sex abuse. - Daily Mail