The Power of the Paedos - another high profile case hits the 'never happened' wall?

[David Guyatt]

Stand at attention lads.

This whole awful story is getting worse by the day.

From the Needle:

St George's School MOD

Interesting comments left by Pomps' on arrse.co.uk
Let's run it up the flagpole and see who salutes.
Just for clarity, pomps' comments contain no mention of Mr Sinclair and his wife.

St George's, Great Finborough, Suffolk

Not to mention St Georges School the MOD funded boarding school that some very very very senior brass used to frequently visit at weekends for special dinners with their hand picked junior boarders selected to attend their every need.
But hey, Sir Keith Joseph (conveniently deceased 1994) did a superb job managing that issue in late 1982. Police, Dept Education and Science (josephs gig at the time), MOD and House of Lords managed to do what was required to "manage" this in 1982 & 2010. Nice of them to hide what happened between 1977 and 1983 and a few instances beyond.
Josephs gave the school six weeks notice of its pending inspection announcing it in the Lords for all to hear and read in hansard. His report into the school was a fcuking white wash…. examined every aspect except discipline and welfare… never mind the kids were being hammered and beaten senseless, being loaned out to visiting important gentlemen. Not to mention the Labour politician Derek Sawyer.
Not alleged but fact.
Google Derek Slade, Derek Sawyer for the facts.
Slade was banged up for 21 years in sept 2010.
Even after the conviction and sentencing we were ordered NOT to mention those in high office.
Fact as news of this broke via the roger cook radio prog on R4 "checkpoint" our fathers were being sent south in 1982… MOD and brass could not be having them worrying about their sons being drugged and raped while preparing to get busy for maggie- so it was managed and tucked away as "case closed nothing wrong here" only to end up before the crown in 2010 to become a landmark case.
So far… Two now jailed, one not guilty, one topped himself (coward), others pending while the real offenders and enablers still have access to vulnerable today.
There will be many who will still say its all fairy cakes…. google is your friend.

arrse.co.uk

Couldn't help note that this was published on the website the Army Rumour Service website - the aptly named "arrse.co.uk" (you couldn't make this up, right), where there is this charming reminder of what started this whole affair:



So, who were those "very very very senior brass" who got caught with there pants down in the presence of school boys in a Ministry of Defence funded boys school in Suffolk? Nice to see tax-payers money being dispensed with such largesse...

The Maggie Thatcher government was surrounded by and over run with paedophiles and perverts.

Perhaps we now have an answer to the question I posed in the above post about the identity of "very, very, very senior brass"?

From the Needle:

Baron Bramall's Home Raided By Op Midland

On the same day as Harvey Proctor's home and the two homes of Leon Brittan were raided.

Cops have raided Tory Lord Leon *Brittan's homes over alleged child abuse just SIX weeks after he died.
Detectives swooped on the former Home Secretary's properties in London and North Yorkshire, the Sunday Mirror and news investigators Exaro can reveal
And in a dramatic development officers from Operation Midland set up to *investigate historic claims of child abuse by a group of powerful men also searched the home of 91-year-old D-Day veteran Lord Bramall, once Britain's highest-ranking Army officer.
The four raids were carried out at dawn on Wednesday at the same time officers swooped on the home of former Tory MP Harvey Proctor , 68.
Sources say the they were signed off by a "senior figure" in the Operation Midland team.
No arrests were made and there is no indication either Mr Proctor or Baron Bramall will have to give formal statements.
It is unclear why Lord Bramall is of interest to the officers or why his home is connected to the inquiry.

The Mirror

Field Marshall Baron Bramall served as Chief of the General Staff between 1979 and 1982 and Chief of the Defence Staff from 1982 and 1985 and then retired in November 1985 -- thus smack bang in the middle of the Thatcher government and Lord Leon Brittan's term as Thatcher's Home Secretary (1983-5) followed by the Lewd's demotion to Trade & Industry between 1985-6 and eventual banishment to the Europe Union thereafter.

But I might just be guilty of being biased of course?

[Magda Hassan]

Officers have identified a luxury flat in Pimlico, London, which is connected to a large cellar believed to have been used as a 'holding area' for abuse victims

New development: Police have pinpointed a London flat where they believe witness 'Nick' and other abuse victims were held Police investigating a VIP *paedophile ring have pinpointed a luxury flat where they believe boys were held before being *sexually abused by prominent men and in one case murdered.
The apartment is in upmarket Pimlico, central London, and is connected to a large cellar.
In a chilling development, detectives from Operation Midland believe the premises were used as a holding area for youngsters before they were driven a short distance to abuse parties.
The Sunday People and the Exaro *investigative website can reveal *detectives also suspect the apartment could be linked to a murder allegedly involving members of the paedophile network.
They are now preparing to take a former abuse victim to the property.
Officers want him to confirm their *suspicions that the address is a key site in their investigation.
One line of enquiry is whether a cellar at the flat was used to keep one or more boys before they were sexually abused at *another property nearby.
The exact location of the flat cannot be identified at this stage, nor can the *evidence that relates to it, for fear of *disrupting the police investigation.
Detectives regard the property as *potentially crucial but have identified other premises they want to look at.
They plan to take a key witness, known as Nick to protect his identity, on a *drive-around of locations in central London that may have been used by the paedophile network.
Nick came forward last year with a series of allegations.
He says a group of influential and wealthy men sexually abused him as a boy at Dolphin Square, the apartment *complex in Pimlico where many MPs have homes, and elsewhere.
He also claims to have seen members of a Westminster paedophile network murder three boys. And he is keen to help Operation Midland get to the truth.

In an open appeal, he said: "I would like to make a personal request to all the boys who were hurt alongside me to come forward if you can and if you have not done so already.
"You will not remember Nick'. It is not my real name. But you will recognise what went on and where.
"I totally understand why you might not feel able to, and I know the fear that they instilled in us back then stopped me from speaking out previously. But now is the right time to come forward.
"If the fear of certain members of the inner circle is holding you back, you need not worry.
"It did not stop me, and the police can explain more if you get in touch.
"There are some excellent detectives from the Metropolitan Police who are working on the information that I have given to them. They want to help, they want to listen, and they are not afraid to go where the evidence takes them.
"It is not an easy thing to do. It is really hard to find that courage to come forward and then have to go through with the police what happened.
"But they have made it as easy for me as they possibly could have done.
"They have listened to me. They have kept me updated, and ensured that I am safe. They have made sure that I have support and have maintained my anonymity.
"I also ask others to come forward if you have *information about what was going on.
"Were you one of my drivers? Were you suspicious at the comings and goings of boys at all times of the day and night? Any piece of information, no matter how insignificant you think it is, might be useful to the police."
The Pimlico flat will be among several properties to be included in the police drive-around.
Other places in the smart London district are also of interest as possible locations of child sex abuse involving the network of perverts.

Getty
Search for truth: Tom Watson MP Pimlico is now a key focus for Operation Midland.
The latest development comes after the Sunday People and Exaro last week revealed that Operation Midland had searched four homes, including two belonging to former Home Secretary Leon Brittan, who died two months ago aged 75.
Operation Midland was launched last year after Nick came forward, initially to Exaro, to give an account of child sex abuse at Dolphin Square and elsewhere.
Nick is one of three men who have given testimony about how they were sexually abused as boys by a group of people, including public figures, at Dolphin Square.
Police are also examining claims based on Nick's evidence that Mr Brittan was present when two unidentified men beat a boy to death following sexual abuse around 1981 or 1982.
Det Supt Kenny McDonald, who is overseeing Operation Midland, said *officers who had spoken to Nick thought his account was "credible and true".
During a Press conference in December, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Rodhouse said police were examining whether children were abused at a number of locations , including the South East, London and at military establishments.
Operation Midland, is a strand of the Operation Fairbank *inquiry investigating *allegations of historical child abuse.
Fairbank was set up *after Labour MP Tom Watson MP asked about the existence of a high-level child abuse network with links to Parliament and Downing Street.

Read more on this story with our investigative partner Exaro HERE

[David Guyatt]

From the BPC.co.uk/news:

16 March 2015 Last updated at 22:30

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Cyril Smith child abuse inquiry 'scrapped after his arrest'

By Nick Hopkins and Jake MorrisBBC NewsnightJump media player
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According to a former officer, police were told to hand over all their evidence, as Nick Hopkins reports

Continue reading the main story

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• Three Cyril Smith probes 'halted'
  
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An undercover police operation that gathered evidence of child abuse by Cyril Smith and other public figures was scrapped shortly after the MP was arrested, BBC Newsnight has been told.
The Liberal MP, who died in 2010, was held during a 1980s probe into alleged sex parties with teenage boys in south London, a source told the programme.
He was allegedly released within hours of being taken to a police station.
The Met is looking into the handling of historical child sex abuse cases.
The force would not comment on the details of the allegations about Smith put to them by Newsnight.
A spokesman said it was "investigating allegations that police officers acted inappropriately in relation to non-recent child abuse investigations" however, and asked for anyone with information to come forward.
'Secrets act' warningInformation has been passed to Newsnight by a former officer, who is familiar with the original investigation and its closure.
The order to scrap the inquiry, made after Smith and others had been arrested, came from a senior officer whom the undercover team had never met before, according to the source.
Officers were then ordered to hand over all their evidence - including notebooks and video footage - and were warned to keep quiet about the investigation or face prosecution under the Official Secrets Act, it is claimed.
Newsnight has been told the intelligence-led operation is believed to have started in 1981.
It involved a team of undercover regional crime squad officers, including some from Yorkshire who were based in London for the secret inquiry.
Part of the early 1980s investigation focused on Coronation Buildings in Lambeth
The detectives were stationed at Gilmour House, a large police headquarters building in Kennington, south London.
The team allegedly targeted six or more addresses in the south of the capital. One focus was a flat in Coronation Buildings, Lambeth - a run-down tenement block less than a mile from the House of Commons.
During a three-month inquiry, officers working in shifts gathered a substantial amount of evidence of men abusing boys aged about 14, the BBC has been told.
That evidence included pictures and video taken from inside the flat, as a hidden camera had been installed with the help of a caretaker.
Smith is said to have been one of those caught on camera, another being a senior member of Britain's intelligence agencies.
According to an account given to the BBC, Smith was later seized at a property in Streatham, south London, where he had reportedly been taking part in a sex party with teenage boys.
It is understood he was taken to the former Cannon Row police station - which is opposite the House of Commons.
But it was claimed he was released that night and a duty sergeant who wanted to keep him in custody was reprimanded.
The Met says it is "investigating allegations that police officers acted inappropriately in relation to non-recent child abuse investigations"
The BBC has been told that as well as Smith and the member of the intelligence agencies, the undercover team also had evidence on two senior police officers.
The squad believed that boys from care homes were being provided "to order" for sex parties, but the inquiry was abruptly shelved, the BBC has been told.
The team was called together at Gilmour House and told by a senior officer - whom they had never met before - to hand over their notebooks, photographs and video footage.
They were read passages from the Official Secrets Act to deter them from speaking out, according to one account.
There was a row at the police building but the inquiry was closed and officers were assured Smith "would not be playing a role in public life any more". In fact, he continued as MP for Rochdale until 1992.
Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

It is my view that Smith was being protected - and he was being protected by some fairly powerful people"

Labour MP Simon Danczuk
Newsnight's source spoke to the programme through an intermediary and is fearful of repercussions because of the scale of the alleged cover-up.
The BBC first approached the Met about the claims in January, but the force has refused to be drawn into providing details on any live inquiry.
Simon Danczuk, the Labour MP who has worked to expose Cyril Smith as a prolific paedophile, said: "Time and again what we have learned more recently is that a number of police officers investigated Smith, up and down the country, and those investigations were quashed and officers were told to stop investigating.
"It is my view that Smith was being protected and being protected by some fairly powerful people.
"He was protected because he knew of other paedophiles in the networks in which he operated and had he been prosecuted, then I think those other people would have been named by Smith and that's why they ensured that he was never put before the courts."
Labour MP Simon Danczuk has investigated child abuse by Cyril Smith
Newsnight asked former Scotland Yard detective Clive Driscoll, who investigated claims of child abuse in Lambeth in the 1980s and 1990s, to examine the allegations.
"I looked at them as I probably would have done when I was a police officer and, on the balance of probabilities, you would have to say they appear very credible," said Mr Driscoll, the officer whose inquiry led to the conviction of Stephen Lawrence's killers.
"Certainly the timing and the type of allegations that are made are ones that the Met would take very, very seriously."
He described the claimed as "very credible and very frightening".
"If you take all of the information that appears to be out there together it does look like collusion with police officers and other agencies to prevent what is a straightforward criminal case," he added.
Labour MP John Mann, who was also a councillor in Lambeth in the 1980s, said of the allegations: "It tells me the cloak of secrecy needs to be taken away but also suggests that there were people with things to hide at the time.
"For whatever reason, whatever judgement was made, there was a cover-up at the time. I don't know why, but it has happened time and again looking at these historic sex abuse cases and prominent people that files disappeared."
Watch Nick Hopkins's report on Newsnight or on BBC iPlayer.

[David Guyatt]

The Dead Paedophiles Society:

A major film that features prominent members of the establishment who can't recite poetry - but do know how to undo belt buckles, commit rape, torture and murder without the slightest concern for the long arm of the law ---- because that long arm was also touching little boy's willies.

***

Speaking of Willie's. It's interesting to see that the Willie Whitelaw case is being partially discussed again (see below). He must be dead. Oh dear he is. He died in 1999. So, that's okay then.

From The Needle:

Breakdown Of IPCC Investigations

We'll update this.
We're assuming all are Met related and that the IPCC complaints do not relate to ongoing police investigations.
Caveat: These are our best guesses.
1) Lambeth and Cyril Smith HERE Allegation of a potential cover up around failures to properly investigate child sex abuse offences in South London and further information about criminal allegations against a politician being dropped.
2) Complaint made by John Mann MP HERE - Allegation that aninvestigation involving a proactive operation targeting young men in Dolphin Square, was stopped because officers were too near prominent people.
3) Peter Righton HERE - Allegation that a document was found at an address of a paedophile that originated from the Houses of Parliament listing a number of highly prominent individuals (MPs and senior police officers) as being involved in a paedophile ring and no further action was taken.
4) Allegation that an account provided by an abuse victim had been altered to omit the name of a senior politician.
5) Hayman and PIE covictions HERE Allegation that an investigationinto a paedophile ring, in which a number of people were convicted, did not take action in relation to other more prominent individuals
6) Willie Whitelaw HERE Allegations that a politician had spoken with a senior MPS officer and demanded no action was taken regarding a paedophile ring and boys being procured and supplied to prominent persons in Westminster in the 1970s.
7) Cyril Smith HERE Allegation that in the late 1970s a surveillance operation that gathered intelligence on a politician being involved in paedophile activities was closed down by a senior MPS officer.
8) Don Hale Allegation Re: Barbara Castle file HERE Allegation that a dossier of allegations against senior figures and politicians involved in child abuse were taken by Special Branch officers.
9) Op Hedgerow HERE - Allegations that a surveillance operation of a child abuse ring was subsequently shut down due to high profile people being involved.
10) Leon Brittan HERE Allegations of child sex abuse against a senior politician and a subsequent cover-up of his crimes.
11) Allegations that during a sexual abuse investigation a senior officer instructed the investigation be halted and that that order had come from up high' in the MPS.
12) Cyril Smith HERE Allegation of a conspiracy within the MPS to prevent the prosecution of a politician suspected of offences.
13) Allegations against a former senior MPS officer regarding child sex abuse and that further members of the establishment including judges were involved. It is claimed that no further action was taken.
14) EGH/ Lee Towsey allegations HERE Allegation that police officers sexually abused a boy and carried out surveillance on him. Further allegations of financial corruption in a London borough police force.

"Senior police officers", eh. Plus very, very, very senior military officers, plus top government ministers = instant cover-up.

[David Guyatt]

From International Business Times:

UK judges sacked after viewing pornography on computers in their offices

• 
  By Lewis Dean
  March 17, 2015 10:14 GMT
  
• 
  

Three UK judges have been sacked and one has resigned after viewing pornography on work computers in their officesGetty
Three judges - including one who jailed a Peterborough teacher for downloading child pornography - have been sacked and one has resigned after they viewed pornographic material on their computers in their offices.
District Judge Timothy Bowles, immigration Judge Warren Grant and, deputy district Judge and Recorder Peter Bullock were sacked following an investigation into alleged misconduct while a fourth judge, Recorder Andrew Maw, resigned before he too was dismissed.
In 2004, Maw jailed biology teacher Matthew Curtis for eight months after he downloaded 17 illegal images, including nine images that showed adults sexually abusing children.
Their removal followed complaints to the udicial Conduct Investigations Office, the body that assesses whether the complaint falls within the system.
More than half do not because they are complaints about judicial decisions rather than judicial conduct.
A spokesperson for the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office said: "Three judges: District Judge Timothy Bowles; Immigration Judge Warren Grant; and, Deputy District Judge and Recorder Peter Bullock; have been removed from judicial office following an investigation into an allegation that they viewed pornographic material on judicial IT equipment in their offices.
"The Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice were satisfied that the material did not include images of children or any other illegal content, but concluded that this was an inexcusable misuse of their judicial IT accounts and wholly unacceptable conduct for a judicial office holder.
"A fourth judge, Recorder Andrew Maw, was also found to have viewed similar inappropriate material via his judicial IT account.
"The Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice would likewise have removed Recorder Maw had he not resigned before the conclusion of the disciplinary process. The judges were not linked in any way."
It is also possible the judges could ask for the Judicial Appointments and Complaints Ombudsman to review the decision made by the Office for Justice Complaints.

[Magda Hassan]

Child abuse scandal: Did a botched blackmail attempt by South African intelligence help Cyril Smith escape justice?

A fresh twist reveals the Liberal MP was targeted by the notorious apartheid-era intelligence agency Boss

JAMES HANNING , JONATHAN OWEN

Sunday 22 March 2015





British police became aware of the plot in the mid-1970s while questioning a man over an art theft. He was subsequently convicted for possession of stolen goods.
The individual, who cannot be named, told police he had film footage of Smith sexually abusing boys. Detectives established that the man had links with the South African embassy in London and appeared to be working on behalf of Boss, the notorious apartheid-era intelligence agency, which was attempting to undermine Liberal MPs and others they regarded as unsympathetic to the regime.
Malicious rumours were also circulated about the private lives of former prime ministers Harold Wilson (right) and Edward Heath (left), as well as the former Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe,

A senior source, speaking last night under condition of anonymity, revealed that in the event, Special Branch found the man had no credible evidence of Smith abusing children. The individual escaped prosecution for attempted blackmail and no action was taken against Smith. Subsequent allegations against the Liberal politician were either not proven or intentionally buried. "It isn't clear if there was a deliberate cover-up or not," said the source, "but after the South African episode, it seems that those who knew about it would have been inclined to dismiss claims against Smith as merely part of that politically motivated South African nonsense'."
The development comes after police were accused of dropping a subsequent investigation into Smith, seemingly under pressure from senior figures, heightening suggestions of a high-level conspiracy.

Independent on Sunday 22/03/15

[Magda Hassan]

EXCLUSIVE: Special Branch let vile paedo Cyril Smith off the hook SEVEN times

CYRIL Smith was held and freed seven times by police investigating claims he was a paedophile, we reveal today.
By Don Hale / Published 22nd March 2015
VILE: Loathsome former Rochdale MP Cyril Smith was allegedly a known paedophile [REX]

A retired spy has told how Special Branch repeatedly intervened to get him off the hook over a 30-year period.
Smith, the former Rochdale MP, died in September 2010. He has since been accused of a raft of claims that he sexually abused boys in care.
Last week the BBC's Newsnight programme reported how Smith and other prominent figures were arrested at a paedophile party in London in 1981 but were released without charge.
Our source, a former intelligence expert who wishes to remain anonymous, worked for both Special Branch and MI5.
He is ready to tell everything if he is granted immunity from prosecution.

"We knew he was a paedophile and our man was kept very busy at times suppressing claims of abuse"
An insider

The insider, who is in his 70s, fears losing his pension or being prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act if he speaks out.
The former spy told us Smith considered himself "untouchable" and had a Special Branch minder.
He also revealed: "Smith was given an emergency helpline' number.
"The irony was that his minder also handed details to Box 500 (MI5), who wanted to know what was happening within the corridors of power.
"They had a hold over him and thought he was potentially more useful as their pet spy'.
"Smith was loathed by all. We knew he was a paedophile and our man was kept very busy at times suppressing claims of abuse.
"I know of at least seven occasions when he was either arrested or questioned or both over very serious sexual matters involving children.
"They were all covered up, with police instructed to destroy all records."
Related articles

• EXCLUSIVE: Cops warned of Cyril Smith sex abuse cover up
  
• EXCLUSIVE: Cyril Smith was linked to paedo brothel murder probe says ex-cop
  
• Child abuse cops raid Lord Brittan's homes amid claims of Cyril Smith cover up
  

Similar claims were made by Jack Tasker, a former Lancashire detective who investigated Smith over allegations of sexual abuse against eight boys.
The Daily Star Sunday which has led the way in exposing Smith's vile past told 83-year-old Mr Tasker's story in December.
He said: "Smith was a big, bombastic bully who had a network of people protecting him. I believe he was a supplier of boys as well as being a paedophile.
"He administered corrective justice spanking naked boys. But when we were ready to prosecute we were ordered to hand over files and forget about it or risk being sacked or returned to uniform."
Mr Tasker's 1969 investigation was one of several into Smith's activities from 1959 onwards. His files ended up in a Special Branch safe in Blackburn.
Tony Robinson, a former Special Branch officer, claimed he found Smith's prosecution files hidden at his headquarters.
He said: "It was a prosecution-ready file and was put there to deliberately hide it what other reason could there be?"
Mr Robinson maintained he had the file for four years before his boss was ordered to hand it over to MI5 in London.

/432102/Special-Branch-covered-up-Cyril-Smith-crimes-seven-times

[Magda Hassan]

Ex-cop claims a ROYAL was in paedophile ring but inquiry was closed to shield Buckingham Palace from scandal

• 23:01, 21 March 2015
  
• By Nick Dorman , Mark Williams-Thomas
  

The former Met Police officer says a vice squad cop told him an investigation into Establishment figures was axed for reasons of national security

Cover-up? Actor Oliver Reed was investigated in separate probe A royal was in a suspected paedophile ring being investigated by police before an Establishment cover up, it was claimed.
A former Metropolitan Police officer said he was told a member of the Queen's family and an MP had both been identified as part of a major child abuse inquiry.
But the operation is said to have been shut down by the Crown Prosecution Service for national security reasons.
The claim came as the Met's deputy assistant commissioner made a fresh appeal for victims of historic child sex abuse to come forward, and vowed: "We'll go where the evidence takes us."
The ex-officer told the Sunday Mirror how a named detective sergeant based at London's Marylebone police station in the late 1980s spoke to him about the investigation and the fact it had been axed.
The former officer said: "I was in a car with two other vice squad officers. They were discussing a madam who had provided a girl of about 15 to Oliver Reed.
"The detective sergeant said he had just had a major child abuse investigation shut down by the CPS regarding a royal and an MP.
"He did not mention names, but he said the CPS had said it was not in the public's interest because it could destabilise national security'."
The former officer added: "What I was told has stayed with me to this day."
The Sunday Mirror has been given the names of his two colleagues and the officer we spoke to said he was passing his information to the police.
Sir Allan Green, Director of Public Prosecutions, when the probe was said to have been axed, told us he was not aware of any paedophile investigations shut down for national security reasons.
But he said had been asked by a "senior person" if he had heard anything about an MP being involved in child abuse. He said he had not.
Sir Allan would not name the MP, but said he has since died. He refused to say what year he was approached or if the interrogator worked for the CPS.
Reed was never prosecuted over underage sex. The probe into the madam was separate to the paedophile ring.

PA

No hiding place: The Met is targeting paedophiles Meanwhile the Met again insisted it was pursuing claims of abuse no matter who was said to be involved.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Rodhouse said: "We have seen lots of allegations of cover-ups, and I think it's helpful people are coming forward. We will go where the evidence takes us, without fear or favour, I think that is what the public expect."
Last week it was announced the Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating 14 separate referrals spanning four decades, amid cover-up claims.
The claims - referred to the IPCC by the Met allege the force suppressed evidence, hindered or halted investigations and covered up offences because of the involvement of MPs and police officers.
Sarah Green, deputy chairman of the IPCC, said: "I would like to reassure people our investigations will be thorough and robust."
Former Met deputy commissioner Albert Laugharne said that, while head of Lancashire police, he had been asked by a DPP officer to lie about allegations involving the late Lib dem MP Cyril Smith, later unmasked as a paedophile.
A surveillance operation that unmasked Leon Brittan's links to child sex abuse is said to have been shut down by Met detectives.

Mirror story: Leon Brittan sex allegations The Sunday Mirror revealed earlier this year how the former Home Secretary was snapped by officers during a 1986 investigation into rent boy orgies run in North London buildings.
But the day before swoops on alleged suspects were due to be carried out, officers on Operation Orchid were told it had been disbanded.
Now the Sunday Mirror and Exaro, a news investigation website, can reveal this is among 14 cover-up allegations against the Met passed to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
A police source told Exaro: "I am surprised this did not happen much earlier."
Paedophile MP Cyril Smith and top judges were also believed to have been photographed entering the underage sex dens. Sources claim up to 16 high profile figures were due to be arrested.
Brittan was under investigation by the Met over sex abuse allegations at the time of his death in January.
Earlier this month, detectives raided two of his homes.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ex-...ng-5379159

[David Guyatt]

Is there a member of the royal family critically ill, I wonder?

[Lauren Johnson]

Is there a member of the royal family critically ill, I wonder?

::coffeesplutter::