At least 20 prominent figures, including MPs and government ministers, abused young children for decades, a former child protection officer has claimed.
Peter McKelvie told the BBC there is evidence of a “powerful elite” that is guilty of the “worst form of abuse” against young boys, with former ministers linked to a paedophile network and others turning a blind eye.
He said:
“I would say we are looking at upwards of 20 (people) and a much larger number of people who have known about it and done nothing about it, who were in a position to do something about it”
McKelvie uncovered potential evidence of child abuse and links between paedophiles and a number of prominent public figures when he worked on the prosecution of convicted paedophile Peter Righton.
These allegations come as the government launches a review into how police and prosecutors handled allegations of sexual abuse and a wide-ranging Hillsborough-style inquiry into historical sex abuse allegations within government as well as at the BBC and NHS.