Blair Under Pressure To Answer Questions On Child Sex Abuse Cover-Up Caims

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Blair Under Pressure To Answer Questions On Child Sex Abuse Cover-Up Caims

Former Prime Minister, Tony Blair is under increasing pressure to say exactly what he knew about allegations of child sex abuse at a London children’s home.

A child sex abuse probe was halted after a minister in Blairs government was named as a suspect.

The Mirror reports:

MPs joined forces with a victim of abuse to call on the former Prime Minister to reveal if he knew about the alleged cover up or of any allegations against the politician.

The demands followed our story that an ex-social services boss told police in 1998 the Blair minister made evening visits to a children’s home in Lambeth, south London, run by paedophile Michael John Carroll in the 1980s.

A spokesman for Mr Blair said yesterday that he would not comment.

The Metropolitan Police continued to remain silent about their review into the cover up claims which they launched over a year ago.

A former care home boy who was sexually assaulted by Carroll in the flat allegedly visited by the politician, said yesterday: “Mr Blair owes it to the children who have suffered to come out and say something about this.”

The 45-year-old delivery driver added: “He must tell us what he knew and the longer he doesn’t, the worse it will get for him.”

Conservative MP Charlie Elphicke, a former Lambeth councillor, said: “Scotland Yard should come clean about why they ended the investigation and Tony Blair should explain what actions, if any, he took.

“People need to know there hasn’t been a cover up and Tony Blair cannot stay silent on this any longer. Lambeth has a sorry history when it comes to child protection and too often it has failed.”

Labour MP and fellow former Lambeth councillor John Mann, said: “It would be helpful if the former Prime Minister Tony Blair was to confirm whether or not he was informed of any allegations .”

Tory MP Bob Neill, the Conservative vice chairman responsible for London, said: “These are clearly very seriously allegations and it’s important they are subject to a full and independent investigation.”

The probe would examine whether government ministers, senior police officers, Whitehall civil servants and Lambeth council executives closed ranks to protect the politician.

The Home Office yesterday refused to examine the Mirror’s revelations, saying Scotland Yard must investigate itself or hand the case to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

The Mirror revealed this week that a former Lambeth council social services manager said she saw the politician making evening visits to convicted paedophile Carroll in a flat in the home where boys were abused.

Carroll was finally arrested in the summer of 1998 and convicted of a string of child sex attacks dating back three decades including assaults on youngsters in Angell Road.

Experienced detective Clive­ ­Driscoll was removed from the ­investigation into abuse in Lambeth children’s homes and given other duties in 1998 after he named the Blair minister as a suspect.

A new investigation, Operation Middleton, was then set up by Scotland Yard, Lambeth council and the Social Services Inspectorate – the body ­responsible for overseeing children’s homes for the department of health. Officers on Middleton were contacted by more than 200 alleged victims and secured three convictions.

 

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