Former home secretary Lord Brittan has said he asked officials to "look carefully" at a dossier he was handed in the 1980s alleging paedophile activity in Westminster, but the issue was not raised with him again.
The Tory peer issued a statement after Labour MP Simon Danczuk insisted he should "share his knowledge" about the file prepared by then-MP Geoffrey Dickens.
It contained information about the "Paedophile Information Exchange (Pie), about paedophiles operating a network within and around Westminster", according to Mr Danczuk.
Lord Brittan said today: "As I recall, (Mr Dickens) came to my room at the Home Office with a substantial bundle of papers. As is normal practice, my private secretary would have been present at the meeting.
"I told Mr Dickens that I would ensure that the papers were looked at carefully by the Home Office and acted on as necessary. Following the meeting, I asked my officials to look carefully at the material contained in the papers provided and report back to me if they considered that any action needed to be taken by the Home Office.
"In addition, I asked my officials to consider a referral to another Government department, such as the attorney general's department, if that was appropriate.
"This was the normal procedure for handling material presented to the Home Secretary. I do not recall being contacted further about these matters by Home Office officials or by Mr Dickens or by anyone else."