Its not just LibDems, its a cross-party issue & also a problem in large organisations & charities.
25th February 2020 Daily Mail
(extract)
"The report identified how former prime minister Margaret Thatcher and ex-Conservative party chairman Norman (now Lord) Tebbit were aware of rumours about MP Peter Morrison having 'a penchant for small boys' but did nothing about it.
The report said the allegations 'should have rung alarm bells in government'.
But, instead, 'considerations of political embarrassment and the risk to security were paramount, while the activities of an alleged child sexual abuser who held senior positions in government and the Conservative Party were deliberately overlooked, as was the course of public justice'.
Indeed, the inquiry found there was a 'consistent culture for years' in the whips' offices to 'protect the image' of their party by 'playing down rumours and protecting politicians from gossip or scandal at all costs'.
It meant victims' interests were often overlooked, with many organisations failing to pass on allegations to police.
The report also found senior diplomat Sir Peter Hayman was the beneficiary of 'preferential, differential and unduly deferential treatment' over claims he sent obscene material in the post, following a meeting between his solicitor and the then-director of public prosecutions.
There was also 'striking evidence' of how 'wealth and social status insulated perpetrators of child sexual abuse' from being brought to justice, as in the case of Tory MP Victor Montagu.
The report stated: 'A consistent pattern that has emerged from the evidence we have heard is a failure by almost every institution to put the needs and safety of children who have survived sexual abuse first."
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8042803/Ex-Liberal-leader-David-Steel-QUITS-Lords-child-abuse-inquiry-criticism.html
26th February 2020Times,
'Abuse inquiry: Labour ministers led group that backed Paedophile Information Exchange'
(extracts)
The former Labour cabinet minister Patricia Hewitt must accept responsibility for the “foolish and misguided support” given to a paedophile campaign by a leading human rights group, the inquiry report said.
The report said that the NCCL’s leaders “should have known better” and: “There was a fundamental failure to see the problem and a lack of moral courage to confront it.”
The inquiry said that the NCCL, now known as Liberty, was guilty of a “deference to ideas”. Its desire to be open-minded and “push at the boundaries of what was considered appropriate” had “blinded them to the danger and led to some seriously flawed thinking”.
The report said: “It is difficult to come to any other conclusion than Hayman was treated differently from his co-defendants on the basis of who he was. In other words, his prominent position gave rise to . . . special treatment.”
The inquiry added: “There is no question but that Hayman was the beneficiary of preferential, differential and unduly deferential treatment as a person of public prominence.”
The case showed the “culture of deference” that allowed a number of paedophile politicians and officials to escape investigation and prosecution."
www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/abuse-inquiry-labour-ministers-led-group-that-backed-paedophile-information-exchange-d0vv229rr