'10 politicians' on Westminster 'paedophile ring' list

More than 10 politicians are named on a list of alleged child abusers held by detectives investigating claims of a paedophile ring in Westminster circles, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Past and present MPs or peers from the three main parties are on the list, which includes former government ministers and household names. Some of those named, such as Cyril Smith and Sir Peter Morrison, are no longer alive, but others are still active in Westminster.

The whistleblower who prompted the Scotland Yard investigation believes there is enough evidence to arrest at least one senior politician.

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Peter McKelvie, the retired child protection team manager who has spent more than 20 years gathering evidence of alleged abuse by authority figures, said: “I believe there are sufficient grounds to carry out a formal investigation into allegations of up to 20 MPs and Lords over the last three to four decades, some still alive and some dead.”

The news comes days after it emerged that a dossier on an alleged Westminster paedophile network compiled by the late MP Geoffrey Dickens went missing after it was handed to the former home secretary Lord Brittan in 1983.

David Cameron has asked a senior civil servant to "find answers" about the missing dossier, as the Home Office faces calls to explain why it was "not retained" by officials. Labour leader Ed Miliband says a "serious review" is required. “We need to understand what happened to that information,” he said.