Former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Steele could be facing expulsion from his party over his failure to pass on his suspicions about paedophile Rochdale MP Cyril Smith.
Last year under oath he told the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse into that Cyril Smith, the former Rochdale MP, confessed to him in 1979 that the child abuse allegations against him were true.
He also admitted he still did nothing about it, and made no effort to investigate whether Smith posed any continuing risk to children.
Lord Steele also confirmed that he hasn’t read the Inquiry’s report into Cambridge House, Knowl View and Rochdale which looked at allegations of child sexual abuse involving Cyril Smith.
He also told the Inquiry that that he hadn’t heard on the grapevine, or via the whips, any rumours about Cyril Smith being under investigation by Lancashire Police for child sexual abuse but that he questioned Cyril Smith about an article in Private Eye where it was alleged he spanked boys in a children’s hostel.
Steele went on to say that he assumed that Cyril Smith had committed the offences against boys discussed in Private Eye in May 1979.but said that the alleged abuse took place in the 1960s, before Cyril Smith was a member of the Liberal Party.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) is set to publish its conclusions next week.
