Boris Johnson said money to fund child abuse inquiry was being 'spaffed up a wall' in resurfaced footage

Footage has resurfaced of Boris Johnson complaining about the amount of money being spent on investigating "historic" child abuse cases following a report on the Westminster abuse claims.

In March 2019, before he became prime minister, Boris Johnson appeared on LBC Radio and declared that the amount of money investigating these claims was being "spaffed up a wall" while also branding it "malarkey."

And one comment I would make is I think an awful lot of money and an awful lot of police time now goes into these historic offences and all this malarkey.

You know, £60m I saw was being spaffed up a wall on some investigation into historic child abuse and all this kind of thing. What on earth is that going to do to protect the public now?

People are re-sharing the footage because an official inquiry has now found that senior figures in the police force and the political establishment were aware of many child sexual abuse cases.

There may even have been a mass Westminister cover-up to stop the allegations from coming to light.

The investigation found that in the 1970s and 1980s several MPs, including Sir Peter Morrison MP and Sir Cyril Smith MP were being investigated by their efforts were thwarted by senior officers as the case was deemed to be "too political," especially with Smith whose own Liberal Party were said to know of the allegations against him.

Similarly, the Conservative Party, who Morrison represented, reportedly knew of the allegations against Margaret Thatcher's Parliamentary Private Secretary but did not pass this information on to the police.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse published a 173-page review on Tuesday of their findings from the past two years of investigations. The report said:

At that time, nobody seemed to care about the fate of the children involved, with status and political concerns overriding all else. Even though we did not find evidence of a Westminster network, the lasting effect on those who suffered as children from being sexually abused by individuals linked to Westminster has been just as profound. It has been compounded by institutional complacency and indifference to the plight of child victims.

Lord Steel should have provided leadership. Instead, he abdicated his responsibility. He looked at Cyril Smith not through the lens of child protection but through the lens of political expediency … When attending the inquiry, far from recognising the consequences of his inaction, Lord Steel was completely unrepentant.

Professor Alexis Jay, who chaired the inquiry added:

It is clear to see that Westminster institutions have repeatedly failed to deal with allegations of child sexual abuse, from turning a blind eye to actively shielding abusers.

A consistent pattern emerged of failures to put the welfare of children above political status although we found no evidence of an organised network of paedophiles within government.

We hope this report and its recommendations will lead political institutions to prioritise the needs and safety of vulnerable children.

In the wake of this evidence being submitted, Lord Steel, the former Liberal Party leader, has quit the Liberal Democrats after being named in the inquiry for nominating Smith for a Knighthood despite being aware of some of the allegations against him.

However, it should be stated, that there was no evidence of an organised "paedophile ring" within Westminster, which was claimed by Carl Beech, who was jailed in 2019 for making false allegations.

The inquiry as a whole was launched in 2014 by then home secretary Theresa May following the Jimmy Saville scandal with the aim of learning how various institutions across the country had handled their duty of care to protect children.

Will Johnson be apologising for his flippant language?

According to a report by the Guardian, Johnson had no intention to apologise for his remarks as he believed that funds spent on investigating a perpetrator who was already dead could be spent elsewhere.

indy100 has contacted the prime minister for comment. He hasn't responded yet, but if he does we'll let you know.

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