File detailing ‘unnatural practices’ of UK politicians discovered

A file prepared in 1980 for then prime minister Margaret Thatcher, allegedly detailing "unnatural practices" among Westminster politicians, will be given to a child abuse inquiry in Britain, the cabinet office has said.

The existence of the file was discovered by a lecturer who spotted a reference to it in the National Archives, but the file itself has been closed to public inspection and thus not released under the 30-year rule.

The discovery was seized upon by critics of the troubled inquiry, which has lost two proposed heads and is now embroiled in an embarrassing row in which a senior barrister has been accused of trying to intimidate a member of the inquiry.

However, the cabinet office played down the significance of the discovery, pointing out accurately that the National Archives in Kew traditionally lists records that have been restricted from public inspection.

"In this case the file was kept closed and retained as it contained information from the security services and advice from the law officers. These classifications are reviewed periodically," The Irish Times was told.

“We are clear that any files that are pertinent to the historical child sex abuse inquiry will be made available to the panel,” said an official, though its existence was not referred to in an earlier inspection of records led by the home office.

Equally, it is possible a reference in a file to “unnatural practices” in 1980 about events that took place years before may be less dramatic than it sounds since homosexuality, on its own, would have been enough to destroy political careers.