Now Smith should lose his knighthood, says victims’ lawyer
CYRIL Smith’s knighthood should be annulled after the inquiry branded the decision to award him it in the first place as ‘remarkable’, the victims’ lawyer has said. The former Liberal MP was handed the honour in 1988 despite rumours he was a paedophile – because officials thought he should be given the ‘benefit of the doubt’. The independent report found that senior civil servants were ‘unwilling’ to consider that someone of his status might be a sexual predator. Smith was recommended for the honour by David Steel – now Lord Steel – the former Liberal leader. The Cabinet Office, which is in charge of honours policies, said it was not possible to strip a dead person of a knighthood. The report highlights a memo written to Margaret Thatcher’s then principal private secretary Sir Robin Butler. It stated that the Political Honours Select Committee wanted to know if there was ‘fire under this smoke’ in relation to sexual assault allegations made against Smith in a 1979 magazine article. Documents reveal that having been told of the 1970 decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions not to take the case forward, Sir Robin felt Smith should be given the benefit of the doubt. Mrs Thatcher duly agreed to the award.
The report adds: ‘What is remarkable is the extent to which Smith was given the benefit of the doubt, a phrase that is repeated in the documents and appears to have been a general policy.’
It also expresses surprise that Smith’s political career is cited as a reason for not believing victims.
Lord Steel has refused to admit he made a mistake by recommending Smith for a knighthood – despite hearing allegations nine years earlier that he abused children in the 1960s.
His office had reportedly then dismissed the allegations, adding: ‘All he seems to have done is spank a few bare bottoms.’
Three years ago Lord Steel defended his inaction. He said he had challenged Smith in 1979, but did not widen the probe because he led a political party and ‘not a detective agency’.
He said: ‘Not a single story emerged, about him misbehaving as an MP. If that had happened we would have enquired.’ Last night Lord Steel was unavailable for comment.
Richard Scorer, from Slater & Gordon, a law firm that represents eight victims, said: ‘Smith should now be stripped of his knighthood so that those he abused at least have the comfort of knowing that his depravity is now recognised by the establishment which protected him.’
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: ‘It’s all very well for civil servants to say the knighthood died with him, but he will be remembered in perpetuity as a knight of the realm.’