Government papers on Cyril Smith will be shared
DOCUMENTS WON’T BE WITHHELD FROM SEXUAL ABUSE INVESTIGATION
GOVERNMENT papers relating to the late Cyril Smith will not be withheld from investigations into his alleged sexual abuse, the prime minister has said.
Wigan MP Lisa Nandy told the Commons she had received a letter from Theresa May which stated the ‘work of the security services will not prevent information being shared.’
The letter prompted Ms Nandy to ask home secretary Amber Rudd whether she had been wrong to assert last month that some papers would be held back ‘under national security.’
Ms Nandy said: “Last month in this House the home secretary told me some papers would be withheld from the Cyril Smith inquiry for national security reasons. This week the prime minister has written to me to say we are clear that the work of the security services will not prevent information being shared with other such inquires.
“So can she can confirm to the survivors of Cyril Smith who have waited for justice for decades that she was wrong and that the prime minister is right?”
Ms Rudd replied: “Well I am happy to confirm the prime minister is always right and I will certainly look carefully at the letter that she has received to ensure we comply with it.”
Last month Ms Nandy – speaking as the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) was hearing evidence Smith, MP for Rochdale between 1972 and 1992, and others abused boys at Cambridge House boys hostel and Knowl View residential school in Rochdale over a number of years – had asked: “The home secretary will be aware that last week’s revelations about Cyril Smith in the child abuse inquiry demonstrate that the cover-up of decades of child abuse reached the highest levels of government.
“Will she commit to releasing papers held by all departments and agencies in relation to the case so that Cyril Smith’s many victims, who were denied justice in his lifetime, can now find it in theirs?”
During last month’s hearings Brian Altman QC, counsel for the inquiry, said: “I understand that the home secretary responded to a question in Parliament yesterday about whether government was committed to releasing papers held by all departments and agencies. For the avoidance of doubt, may I simply repeat what I said in my opening statement in this investigation, namely, that the inquiry made a request to MI5, the Security Service, to see if it had any information that was relevant to this investigation.
“The Security Service conducted the searches we requested and counsel and solicitor to the inquiry inspected the product of those searches.
“We identified material that was relevant and asked the Security Service to produce it to the inquiry so it could be disclosed in the investigation. The Security Service did and a number of documents were disclosed.”
The IICSA is expected to publish its findings on the Rochdale allegations before April next year.