Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg this morning rejected calls for a Hillsborough-style inquiry into historic sex abuse allegations - despite growing concern over the disappearance of a dossier detailing explosive claims of sex abuse by paedophiles within Westminster. Mr Clegg said the police should be in charge of getting to the bottom of what happened to vulnerable children in care homes, following claims that high profile individuals were part of a paedophile network targetting children. The Lib Dem leader's remarks came after former Home Secretary Leon Brittan admitted receiving a file containing allegations of a child abuse network operating in Westminster. He said he was given the file by the late Conservative MP Geoffrey Dickens in 1983 and launched an investigation into the claims. Nick Clegg said child sex abuse allegations should be handled by the police and rejected calls for a Hillsborough-style public inquiry . A dossier detailing explosive claims of sex abuse by paedophiles within Westminster has gone missing. Given to Home Secretary Leon Brittan in 1983, the files allegedly exposed a vile network at Parliament and Whitehall . Lord Brittan, 74, is now facing questions over his handling of the document and inconsistencies in his account of what he did with it.The Tory peer told journalists last year he had no recollection of being given the dossier. But in a statement yesterday morning, he changed his mind. He confirmed he was handed a ‘substantial bundle of papers’ by Mr Dickens in November 1983 and passed them to his officials for further investigation. He said: ‘I do not recall being contacted further about these matters by Home Office officials or by Mr Dickens or by anyone else.’ Hours later Lord Brittan amended his account again after proof emerged that he had written to Mr Dickens in March 1984 informing him the dossier had been assessed by prosecutors and handed to police. Home Office officials say they have searched for the dossier but cannot find it. Last night Labour MP Simon Danczuk, who has challenged Lord Brittan to explain how he dealt with the allegations, demanded to know what police had done with the information provided by the late Mr Dickens and called for a Hillsborough-style public inquiry into historic sex abuse. But Mr Clegg, who worked for Lord Brittan in Brussels when the Tory peer was a European Commissioner, rejected Mr Danczuk's call. He said: 'I would support anything that helps get to the truth and crucially delivers justice for those victims who - if these horrific allegations fo abuse in in childre's homes in various parts of the country turn out to be true - have suffered for years in silence, and their plight has gone unrecognised. 'My view is, given the very serious criminal nature of these allegations - namely that there was a circle of people who hid what they were doing, that what they were doing was abusing vulnerable children in children's homes - the only way to deliver justice, even in the years afterwards, is allow the police to get to the bottom of these things. 'That's why I would urge anybody who has any information, any evidence which they think might be relevant to this, to pass it to the police. 'The police already - as you probably know - are conducting inquiries into the children's homes in the north west, in south west London and elsewhere. 'I really want to see the police see that through. So that for me, I think, is the absolute priority for anybody who wants to see justice done.' The Tory peer told journalists last year he had no recollection of being given the dossier. But in a statement yesterday morning, he changed his mind. He confirmed he was handed a 'substantial bundle of papers' by MP Geoffrey Dickens (pictured) in November 1983 and passed them to his officials for further investigation . Mr Clegg said he could not provide 'too much additional insight into what happened in the Home Office in the mid-1980s'. But he added: 'My understanding is as Leon Brittan explained yesterday - and the Home Office explained - when he was Home Secretary, information was passed on and the relevant bits of information were passed onto the prosecuting authorities and the police, and that the Home Office is not in possession anymore - following an independent trawl through the records conducted last year - is not in possession anymore of the full documentation.' He added: 'Most importantly I want to see the police getting to the bottom of what was alleged to have happened - which is absolutely horrific in some of the children’s homes up and down the country. Mr Clegg said: 'I just want the truth to come out and justice to be done and I think when we are dealing with something of such a criminal nature - I don’t think there is any surrogate really for allowing police to get to the bottom of what happened.' But Labour's Mr Danczuk said Lord Brittan needed to explain what happened to the dossier. Mr Danczuk said: ‘The impression conveyed is that Sir Leon does not want to talk about this. It goes right to the heart of an attitude in politics that child abuse is a subject best avoided. 'He should reveal what he knew at the time about paedophile networks and what action he took.’ The Rochdale MP – who helped expose the full extent of Liberal MP Sir Cyril Smith’s paedophile attacks in a book earlier this year, serialised by the Daily Mail – is calling for a Hillsborough-style inquiry into child abuse allegations against politicians. Labour MP Simon Danczuk, who has challenged Lord Brittan to explain how he dealt with the allegations, demanded to know what police had done with the information provided by the late Mr Dickens . A lawyer representing alleged victims of abuse at the south-west London Elm Guesthouse reportedly named in the dossier, criticised the loss of the document. Alison Millar, head of the abuse team at Leigh Day, said: ‘My clients are incredulous at how this dossier can have simply disappeared. It seems inconceivable that a document of such importance can have simply disappeared. ‘I would strongly support the calls for a widespread inquiry into historic sexual abuse so that my clients could have their many questions answered about who knew what and that a very troubling veil is lifted from the corridors of power.’ The Prime Minister’s official spokesman declined to back Mr Danczuk’s demands for an over-arching inquiry – a call which has garnered the support of 120 MPs. He said independent inquiries were already under way into allegations relating to the BBC and the NHS. But when asked whether there should be an independent inquiry into allegations of Westminster paedophile rings, he referred to last year’s Home Office review. The Rochdale MP - who helped expose the full extent of Liberal MP Sir Cyril Smith's (pictured) paedophile attacks in a book earlier this year, serialised by the Daily Mail - is calling for a Hillsborough--style inquiry into child abuse allegations against politicians . Asked to comment on the Dickens dossier, Scotland Yard said last night: ‘The Metropolitan Police is currently assessing information and conducting a number of investigations under Operation Fairbank. Any material submitted to us, historic or current, is reviewed to establish if it is relevant to these.’ Tim Loughton, former children’s minister, told Channel 4 News: ‘In order to restore confidence in our child protection system, because things have got a lot better, we need an overarching inquiry that puts all this into context and makes recommendations so we can make sure we have a child protection service that is fit for purpose. ‘The victims must come first. And those many victims, many hundreds if not thousands who have been suffering often in silence going back to the 60s, 70s, 80s who have been emboldened to come forward. 'At last we are listening to them and their stories are being taken seriously but we need to find out why they weren’t taken seriously when these offences happened.’
Lord Brittan, 74, is facing questions over handling of 'explosive' document .
Tory peer told journalists last year he had no recollection of being given it .
In a statement yesterday morning, however, he changed his mind .
Confirmed he was given ‘bundle of papers’ by MP Geoffrey Dickens .
He now says he passed them to officials in 1983 for further investigation .
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg this morning rejected calls for a Hillsborough-style inquiry into historic sex abuse allegations - despite growing concern over the disappearance of a dossier detailing explosive claims of sex abuse by paedophiles within Westminster. Mr Clegg said the police should be in charge of getting to the bottom of what happened to vulnerable children in care homes, following claims that high profile individuals were part of a paedophile network targetting children. The Lib Dem leader's remarks came after former Home Secretary Leon Brittan admitted receiving a file containing allegations of a child abuse network operating in Westminster. He said he was given the file by the late Conservative MP Geoffrey Dickens in 1983 and launched an investigation into the claims. Nick Clegg said child sex abuse allegations should be handled by the police and rejected calls for a Hillsborough-style public inquiry . A dossier detailing explosive claims of sex abuse by paedophiles within Westminster has gone missing. Given to Home Secretary Leon Brittan in 1983, the files allegedly exposed a vile network at Parliament and Whitehall . Lord Brittan, 74, is now facing questions over his handling of the document and inconsistencies in his account of what he did with it.The Tory peer told journalists last year he had no recollection of being given the dossier. But in a statement yesterday morning, he changed his mind. He confirmed he was handed a ‘substantial bundle of papers’ by Mr Dickens in November 1983 and passed them to his officials for further investigation. He said: ‘I do not recall being contacted further about these matters by Home Office officials or by Mr Dickens or by anyone else.’ Hours later Lord Brittan amended his account again after proof emerged that he had written to Mr Dickens in March 1984 informing him the dossier had been assessed by prosecutors and handed to police. Home Office officials say they have searched for the dossier but cannot find it. Last night Labour MP Simon Danczuk, who has challenged Lord Brittan to explain how he dealt with the allegations, demanded to know what police had done with the information provided by the late Mr Dickens and called for a Hillsborough-style public inquiry into historic sex abuse. But Mr Clegg, who worked for Lord Brittan in Brussels when the Tory peer was a European Commissioner, rejected Mr Danczuk's call. He said: 'I would support anything that helps get to the truth and crucially delivers justice for those victims who - if these horrific allegations fo abuse in in childre's homes in various parts of the country turn out to be true - have suffered for years in silence, and their plight has gone unrecognised. 'My view is, given the very serious criminal nature of these allegations - namely that there was a circle of people who hid what they were doing, that what they were doing was abusing vulnerable children in children's homes - the only way to deliver justice, even in the years afterwards, is allow the police to get to the bottom of these things. 'That's why I would urge anybody who has any information, any evidence which they think might be relevant to this, to pass it to the police. 'The police already - as you probably know - are conducting inquiries into the children's homes in the north west, in south west London and elsewhere. 'I really want to see the police see that through. So that for me, I think, is the absolute priority for anybody who wants to see justice done.' The Tory peer told journalists last year he had no recollection of being given the dossier. But in a statement yesterday morning, he changed his mind. He confirmed he was handed a 'substantial bundle of papers' by MP Geoffrey Dickens (pictured) in November 1983 and passed them to his officials for further investigation . Mr Clegg said he could not provide 'too much additional insight into what happened in the Home Office in the mid-1980s'. But he added: 'My understanding is as Leon Brittan explained yesterday - and the Home Office explained - when he was Home Secretary, information was passed on and the relevant bits of information were passed onto the prosecuting authorities and the police, and that the Home Office is not in possession anymore - following an independent trawl through the records conducted last year - is not in possession anymore of the full documentation.' He added: 'Most importantly I want to see the police getting to the bottom of what was alleged to have happened - which is absolutely horrific in some of the children’s homes up and down the country. Mr Clegg said: 'I just want the truth to come out and justice to be done and I think when we are dealing with something of such a criminal nature - I don’t think there is any surrogate really for allowing police to get to the bottom of what happened.' But Labour's Mr Danczuk said Lord Brittan needed to explain what happened to the dossier. Mr Danczuk said: ‘The impression conveyed is that Sir Leon does not want to talk about this. It goes right to the heart of an attitude in politics that child abuse is a subject best avoided. 'He should reveal what he knew at the time about paedophile networks and what action he took.’ The Rochdale MP – who helped expose the full extent of Liberal MP Sir Cyril Smith’s paedophile attacks in a book earlier this year, serialised by the Daily Mail – is calling for a Hillsborough-style inquiry into child abuse allegations against politicians. Labour MP Simon Danczuk, who has challenged Lord Brittan to explain how he dealt with the allegations, demanded to know what police had done with the information provided by the late Mr Dickens . A lawyer representing alleged victims of abuse at the south-west London Elm Guesthouse reportedly named in the dossier, criticised the loss of the document. Alison Millar, head of the abuse team at Leigh Day, said: ‘My clients are incredulous at how this dossier can have simply disappeared. It seems inconceivable that a document of such importance can have simply disappeared. ‘I would strongly support the calls for a widespread inquiry into historic sexual abuse so that my clients could have their many questions answered about who knew what and that a very troubling veil is lifted from the corridors of power.’ The Prime Minister’s official spokesman declined to back Mr Danczuk’s demands for an over-arching inquiry – a call which has garnered the support of 120 MPs. He said independent inquiries were already under way into allegations relating to the BBC and the NHS. But when asked whether there should be an independent inquiry into allegations of Westminster paedophile rings, he referred to last year’s Home Office review. The Rochdale MP - who helped expose the full extent of Liberal MP Sir Cyril Smith's (pictured) paedophile attacks in a book earlier this year, serialised by the Daily Mail - is calling for a Hillsborough--style inquiry into child abuse allegations against politicians . Asked to comment on the Dickens dossier, Scotland Yard said last night: ‘The Metropolitan Police is currently assessing information and conducting a number of investigations under Operation Fairbank. Any material submitted to us, historic or current, is reviewed to establish if it is relevant to these.’ Tim Loughton, former children’s minister, told Channel 4 News: ‘In order to restore confidence in our child protection system, because things have got a lot better, we need an overarching inquiry that puts all this into context and makes recommendations so we can make sure we have a child protection service that is fit for purpose. ‘The victims must come first. And those many victims, many hundreds if not thousands who have been suffering often in silence going back to the 60s, 70s, 80s who have been emboldened to come forward. 'At last we are listening to them and their stories are being taken seriously but we need to find out why they weren’t taken seriously when these offences happened.’
Parliament and Whitehall . Lord Brittan, 74, is now facing questions over his handling of the what he did with it.The Tory peer told journalists last year he had no recollection of being given the dossier. But in a statement yesterday morning, he changed his mind. He confirmed he was handed a ‘substantial bundle of them to his officials for further investigation. papers' by MP Geoffrey Dickens (pictured) in November 1983 and passed them to his officials