A major paedophile network may have had links to Downing Street and a former prime minister

I cannot give much more detail until the police have been given more time to investigate whether evidence still exists from the mid-nineties, but here is what I can say.

Last week I was contacted by a former child protection specialist who for some years, had been concerned that a wider investigation regarding the activities of convicted paedophile, Peter Righton was not fully investigated.

He contacted me because he knew I had spoken out in the Murdoch scandal. Over the years, he had lost faith in the ability of politicians to get to the truth. The last time he contacted an MP was in 1994. The MP promised to follow up the case but nothing came of it.

The central allegation was that a large body of material seized in the raid on Righton?s home had not been fully investigated. Though Righton was the subject of a BBC profile in 1994 [I think this is the date] ?The Secret Life of a Paedophile?, little had been done to follow up the leads from the case. A specialist unit in Scotland Yard had the material which supplemented a wider investigation into organised paedophile rings in children?s homes.

Over the last few days I have spoken to two other child protection specialists who share the concern of the gentleman who contacted me.

Within the material seized at Righton?s home were letters from known and convicted paedophiles. The contact, who has seen the letters, claimed that one paedophile in particular was of great concern. He said that the paedophile, who worked with children, boasted of a key aide to a former PM who could help get hold of indecent images of children. I am not naming the person for obvious reasons but for clarity it is not former MP, Peter Morrison. This afternoon my office has been bombarded with calls regarding Morrison, I think because he was named by Edwina Currie at the weekend as having inappropriate sexual relations with teenage boys.

I?ll say more when I can but this may not be for some time.

I should say that like with the hacking scandal, a number of people have contacted me this afternoon offering more information regarding the case. I am happy to talk to anyone who can help me ? particularly those who came into contact with Righton and his contacts when they were young. I can understand how powerless they must have felt at the time ? Righton?s net was cast wide.

One person also contacted me to suggest that the Met held a vast quantity of material suggesting Jimmy Savile was a predatory paedophile. I do not know whether this is true but I do know the source and she has been 100% accurate in the past.

One final thing I should say ? I made the decision to ask a question of the PM late this morning and had not had time to write to the Met before speaking out. I have no doubt the Met will take this seriously and am sorry I didn?t have time to forewarn the commissioner of my intention to raise the matter.

I have written to him this afternoon with more details regarding the case. This will obviously remain confidential.