Dear Claire,
First of all, may I wish you and your loved ones a very happy Easter.
Now, today's letter will be short because I'm sure we both have better things to do on Easter Sunday than talk politics!
I remember back in December 2012, your proposed bill to block internet pornography was defeated. Ministers rejected plans to automatically block internet access to pornography on all computers, saying the move was not widely supported.
OK, I understand the sentiment, I'm sure it was well meant. My own view is that parents can keep this sort of thing under control without needing external help. Smacks a bit of "big brother" to me.
Anyway, recently there has been the whiff of a scandal which has been kept under wraps for far too long. You can probably see where this is going can't you? Yup - I'm talking about the attempts of various bodies to have an enquiry into alleged child abuse by members of parliament (both current, retired and deceased) investigated properly, with unrestricted access to anyone deemed appropriate to question.
The thing is, there seems to be a marked reluctance by anyone in government to support this enquiry, which desperately needs to go ahead.
I would have thought you, of all people, would jump at any chance to make the whole thing happen, however, Labour MP John Mann tabled an amendment to the Official Secrets Act (OSA) which would have granted immunity from prosecution (under the OSA) to anyone acting as a whistle-blower over the sort of allegations being made. The proposed amendment went to a vote and was defeated, but to my astonishment, you voted against it! Why?
I know some people were claiming it would 'undermine the OSA', but I call bulls**t. John Mann quite specifically stated the OSA would not be undermined in any way, and while I don't know him, I cannot believe someone would table an amendment without doing SOME research.
There's just a whiff of double standards creeping in here Claire, and it doesn't smell good. I would be interested to hear what you think about all this, but in the light of Cameron's sudden interest in ensuring internet pornography carries age-restricted controls (or face shutdown), presumably to divert attention from the fiasco the coalition have made of the DWP, the NHS, the Economy etc., the fact that all but a handful of tories voted AGAINST John Mann's amendment just doesn't make sense.
I'm sure you're already aware of the furore about these allegations from the past, with Scotland Yard being told to hush certain things up, police investigating Cyril Smith's *ahem* 'hobbies' being told to stop the investigation completely, rumours of under-age sex parties at the apartments at Dolphin Square in London and, unbelievably, allegations that some of these abused children were actually murdered.
Food for thought definitely.
Best wishes, and again, Happy Easter.
Polly
P.S. I've found a great website which goes into quite a lot of detail, if you fancy having a look: http://www.exaronews.com/articles/5523/leon-brittan-ipcc-investigates-claim-of-cover-up-for-top-tory
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