Document sans nom

How much longer can paedophilia apologists stay silent?
Even Left demands answers from senior Labour trio
over links to child sex group

Pressure mounts on Harriet Harman, her MP husband and Patricia Hewitt
Trio held key roles in group that backed Paedophile Information Exchange
Columnists in Observer, Guardian and Mirror urge all three to speak out
They were leading officials in group that granted 'affiliate' status to PIE
Predatory paedophiles in PIE wanted the age of consent to be cut to four

Pressure is mounting on three Labour grandees to explain their links with a vile group that tried to legalise sex with children.

MPs, commentators and even Labour-supporting newspapers lined up yesterday to attack the silence of the party's deputy leader Harriet Harman, her MP husband and former minister Patricia Hewitt.

The chorus of condemnation follows the Mail's devastating series of reports into how the trio held key roles in a human rights organisation that supported the notorious Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE).

Labour's deputy leader: Harriet Harman was a newly qualified solicitor when she became
the National Council for Civil Liberties's legal officer in 1978 until 1982

Will he respond to the Mail's questions? Ed Miliband's home affairs spokesman, Jack Dromey,
sat on the NCCL executive committee for almost a decade, from 1970 to 1979

Although the BBC has ignored the story, those calling for the trio to explain themselves include Left-wing commentators who would normally be expected to back them.

Carole Malone in the Labour-supporting Sunday Mirror angrily demanded that Miss Harman, Miss Hewitt and Jack Dromey speak up about why they supported the paedophile agenda in the 1970s. She said: ‘How can they ever again be taken seriously on ANY issue if they stay silent?'

In the Observer newspaper, a columnist said the Labour trio ‘cannot stay silent on this child sex claim', adding it would be ‘a grave mistake for them to stay silent or curtly dismissive, perhaps hoping that the claims will magically disappear'.

The Guardian's Roy Greenslade wrote last week: ‘I'm with the Mail on this one?.?.?. I think Harman, Dromey and Hewitt do need to address this matter seriously.'

'People of different ages being nice to each other': The autumn 1982 edition of Rights,
the in-house magazine of the NCCL. Self-confessed paedophile Mike Morten's letter
was published on page 9 (pictured centre)

Document: This is the cover page of the NCCL's submission to Parliament on the
1976 Sexual Offences Act held at the LSE library, which suggests that the age of consent be lowered to 14

Damning: Frost was a member of the Paedophile Information Exchange,
who argued in official documents obtained by the Mail in 2014 that 'a person aged 14 or over should be legally capable
of giving consent' and the age of sexual consent cut to ten 'if the child understood the nature of the act'

Kevin Maguire, the Daily Mirror's associate editor and cheerleader for a Labour government, tweeted: ‘Agree with @GreensladeR on NCCL-PIE. If I were Harman, Dromey or Hewitt, I'd want to set the record straight.'

'They're among the first to jump down anyone else's throats if anyone challenges their politically-correct shibboleths'

The Mail has revealed how, before they became MPs, the three were leading officials in the National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL) which granted ‘affiliate' status to PIE and built close links with it.

The group of predatory paedophiles was calling for the age of consent to be cut to just four.

The NCCL itself lobbied Parliament for the age of sexual consent to be cut to ten – if the child ‘understood the nature of the act' – and called for incest to be legalised in what one MP dubbed a ‘Lolita's charter'.

Questions being asked: Former minister Patricia Hewitt was the NCCL general secretary from 1974 to 1983

Annual report for 1975: Patricia Hewitt published this document in April 1976,
which included a 'gay rights' section on page ten defending the Paedophile Information Exchange and its members

Defence: Ms Hewitt had described the Paedophile Action for Liberation group,
which changed its name to PIE that year, as 'a campaigning/counselling group for adults sexually attracted to children'

Last night Tory MP Rob Wilson said: ‘When left-wing commentators such as Roy Greenslade and Carole Malone demand answers from
these three senior Labour politicians, you know that this is not so much a political issue between Right and Left, but one about right and wrong.'

Fellow Tory MP Philip Davies added: ‘They should certainly provide an explanation and clarification as to whether they still hold these views or not.

‘They're among the first to jump down anyone else's throats if anyone challenges their politically-correct shibboleths.'

Police are investigating PIE as part of Operation Fernbridge, launched in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.

A source with knowledge of the inquiry says there is evidence PIE members were abusing children ‘on an industrial scale'.

AGM minutes: This page reveals how the PIE was represented at an NCCL AGM at the University of Lancaster.
Below the list of organisations present is Jack Dromey's name, after he was re-elected to the executive committee of the NCCL in 1977

Columnists: Carole Malone (left) in the Labour-supporting Sunday Mirror angrily demanded that Miss Harman,
Miss Hewitt and Jack Dromey speak up about why they supported the paedophile agenda in the 1970s.
And Rod Liddle (right), writing in the Sunday Times, criticised the BBC for its silence on the story

'How can they ever again be taken seriously on ANY issue if they stay silent?'

'Who would want their own good name indelibly attached to something like this?'

'Can you imagine how the media – and especially the BBC – would react if three current senior Conservative MPs were revealed to have had links to a paedophile group?'

The Mail has repeatedly asked the Labour trio to answer vital questions about their time at the NCCL.

The Mail has posed a series of vital questions to Harriet Harman, Patricia Hewitt and Jack Dromey. They include:

During your time with the National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL), it gave significant support to the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE). Do you regret this support or feel inclined to apologise to the many victims who suffered appalling abuse at the hands of this vile organisation you helped legitimise?

The NCCL granted formal ‘affiliate' status to PIE. Why did you allow your organisation to be associated with an outfit that advocated the legalisation of paedophilia?

PIE submitted a report to MPs claiming that ‘girls as young as four months can achieve orgasm', and that four-year-old children can ‘communicate verbally their consent to sex'. Given these utterly repellent views, why did you let the organisation remain affiliated to your NCCL?

The NCCL made a written submission to Parliament's Criminal Law Commission, arguing: ‘Childhood sexual experiences, willingly engaged in, with an adult result in no identifiable damage.' On what basis, scientific or otherwise, did you make this extraordinary claim?

The submission also called for the crime of incest be abolished, arguing that the suggestion that genetic damage may result from children born of incestuous unions ‘is in direct contradiction to the practices of successful animal breeders'. Do you still take this view?

The NCCL's affiliation with PIE, its support for lowering (or even abolishing) the age of consent, and its demand for the legalisation of incest were all widely reported throughout the 1970s. Why, given these morally offensive views, did you then take a job as legal adviser to the NCCL?

Miss Hewitt, the former Health Secretary, was its general secretary from 1974-83. She described PIE in glowing terms as ‘a campaigning/counselling group for adults attracted to children'.

Ed Miliband's home affairs spokesman, Mr Dromey, sat on the NCCL executive committee for almost a decade, from 1970-79.

His wife Miss Harman was a newly qualified solicitor when she became the NCCL's legal officer in 1978 until 1982.

None of the three has commented on the Mail's revelations, except for Miss Harman whose spokesman said: ‘This story is untrue and ridiculous.'

In the newspapers, commentators from Left and Right condemned the trio for failing to explain their actions.

Observer columnist Barbara Ellen wrote: ‘The fact remains that some very disturbing things went down, including the legitimising of a group that wasn't even bothering to hide the word “paedophile” in its name.

‘Who would want their own good name indelibly attached to something like this, especially without sufficient reply? A calm, thorough, intelligent response is required.'

Miss Malone wrote: ‘There's never been a time when it's been OK for adults to have sex with children… If any opposition politician was implicated in such a scandal, Harman and Hewitt would be on their moral high horses demanding explanations.

‘But they and Dromey have point-blank refused to explain their links with this wicked group. That silence has made them look weak and cowardly.'

And Rod Liddle, writing in the Sunday Times, criticised the BBC for its silence on the story.

He wrote: ‘So far, only a handful of newspapers have reported the fact that three very senior Labour party figures had rather close links with the group back in the good ol' Seventies.

‘Can you imagine how the media – and especially the BBC – would react if three current senior Conservative MPs were revealed to have had links to a paedophile group?'

Last night a BBC spokesman said: ‘BBC News is an impartial, independent news organisation and decides its editorial priorities based on merit alone and without external help.

‘The story in question is not new and instead we have followed several big breaking news stories this weekend.'