Monday 6 July 2015

Thank you, Simon Danczuk

This morning I learned that Simon Danczuk had decided to "step back" from his campaigning work on exposing the extent and depravity of child abuse in Britain's political classes due to the personal toll that his work had taken on him.

See, for example,  MP Simon Danczuk to step back from child abuse campaign.

I was sad to hear that news.

I want to put on record my thanks to Mr. Danczuk for his enormous amount of hard work on this issue.

Thank you, Mr. Danczuk, that you didn't turn your back on this issue when others, including many of your fellow Members of Parliament, have done so.

Thank you, Mr. Danczuk, that you took the time personally to listen to survivors of child abuse, despite the emotional toll that such listening takes.

Thank you, Mr. Danczuk, that you weren't silent when others were pressurising you to silence your criticisms of people like Leon Brittan.

Thank you, Mr. Danczuk, that you exposed the evils of the conduct of Cyril Smith. For me, your book "Smile for the camera" was a gripping (and horrifying) read.

You are wise to take time to deal with the emotional exhaustion that you're suffering from. It seems to me that it's an inevitable conseequence of seriously facing up to the evil of child abuse.

I don't assume you're a perfect human being but I do want to thank you for your courage and perseverance.

I believe that many others will feel similarly grateful to you.

Take time to recharge your batteries.

Get well soon.

I hope that, having "stepped back", in time you'll be able to "step forward" again and rejoin the fight to establish the truth about VIP child abuse and its cover-up.


Wednesday 1 July 2015

Did David Cameron help conceal Janner child abuse allegations in 1995?

In my most recent post, In 1995 did the Home Office suppress or conceal allegations of child abuse relating to Greville Janner?, I raised a number of questions about whether in 1995 the Home Office suppressed child abuse allegations regarding Greville Janner?

In this post I want to highlight this question:

Did David Cameron, then a Special Adviser to Home Secretary Michael Howard, play any part in 1995 in the suppression of child abuse allegations relating to Greville Janner?

It seems to me that some Member of Parliament should raise this matter with Mr. Cameron possibly at Prime Minister's Questions.

Could Mr. Cameron's discomfort about his past actions while at the Home Office go at least some way to explain his disreputable suggestion that the existence of a VIP padeophile ring was attributable to "conspiracy theorists"?


In 1995 did the Home Office suppress or conceal allegations of child abuse relating to Greville Janner?

The quantity of information relating to child abuse allegations can feel overwhelming at times.

In this post I want to explore some possibly important information which I hadn't previously given serious thought to which may place the Home Office at the centre of an alleged cover-up relating to alleged sexual offences by Greville Janner.

I won't address the substance of the allegations regarding Greville Janner. That is a matter for the "trial of facts" should such a process take place, as is currently anticipated.

The press report which is the foundation of this post is here:
Home Office chiefs ignored FOURTH warning on Janner: Officials were told of child sex claims in 1995 report

The facts, as reported by the Daily Mail, are


  1. An unnamed MP in 1995 was contacted by letter regarding allegations of child abuse by Greville Janner
  2. The MP (whom the article doesn't name) sent a "dossier" to the Home Office in 1995
  3. The "dossier" consisted of (or included) 11 pages of "detailed notes"
  4. The "dossier" wasn't confined to the Janner allegations but also named other alleged abusers
  5. The "dossier" was discovered by the Home Office during a review in 2013
  6. The "dossier" was passed to Leicestershire Police in 2013
It isn't explicitly stated in the article but I wonder if the dossier was found by the anonymous HMRC official who conducted a review of Home Office files.

I also wonder if the dossier was the foundation of the investigation by Leicestershire Police which has led us to the position where a "trial of facts" is contemplated.

A key question in my mind is what happened to the dossier in 1995.

Several questions arise including the following:
  1. To whom was the dossier sent?
  2. Was any reply sent to the MP?
  3. Was the dossier seen by the then Home Secretary, Michael Howard?
  4. Was the dossier seen by Michael Howard's then special adviser, David Cameron (now Prime Minister)?
  5. Was the dossier seen by Patrick Rock then special adviser to Michael Howard?
  6. Which civil servants saw the dossier?
  7. Was the dossier passed to the Police? If so, to which Police force was the dossier passed?
  8. If the dossier was not passed to the Police who took the decision that it be withheld from the Police?
It seems to me that something went seriously wrong in 1995.

Was there a cover-up at the Home Office?

Who in the Home Office was responsible for the cover-up, assuming it happened?

It seems to me that the actions and/or failures to act of the Home Office in 1995 are an important issue to be considered by the Child Abuse Inquiry.