Paperback: Secrets, it's been said, are like plants. They can stay buried deep in the earth for a long time but eventually, they'll send up shoots, pop up everywhere and give themselves away. Once one big secret is exposed to the light, others, it seems, will inexorably follow.
No politician pandered to the media's appetite for personality more than Liberal MP Cyril Smith. Instantly recognisable for his colossal build, Smith was a larger-than-life character in a world of dull grey men. Yet 'Big Cyril' was anything but the roly-poly gentle giant of popular imagination.
In November 2012, Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk outed Smith in Parliament as a serial child abuser. Now, in this devastating exposé, he describes how Smith used his profile to groom and sexually abuse young boys, frequently in institutions he had helped to establish.
His victims, often troubled boys from broken homes, had no voice against their attacker and, though rumours abounded, Smith's appalling crimes went unnoticed by the public and unpunished by the authorities.
When we started writing this book back in 2012, we could not have foreseen the consequences of its publication. This was, we believed, a parochial tale - an unflinching portrait of a charismatic, innovative, albeit minor politician of the twentieth century, a cautionary tale for our times, as we edge towards a new era of personality politics. But since Smile for the Camera was published in April 2014, this story has taken on a life of its own and has become something else - a vital part of the unfolding investigation into the abuse of power by our politicians. Parliament has always had its fair share of corrupt Members, but child abusers? Paedophiles? Was there a network of powerful paedophiles in and around Westminster? Were MPs guilty of collusion and cover-up to protect child abusers in Parliament?...Piece by piece, the continuing revelations around child abuse committed by senior political figures is starting to show a much bigger picture.
If there's one lesson from child abuse that we all should remember, it's this: that for every child abuser, there are usually many more accomplices covering up their crimes...This was certainly a difficult story to tell but there are some books that simply have to be written. Once we began to listen to the voices of those trampled underfoot by Cyril, we realised their story had to be told. Little did we know that these voices were signposts to a much bigger secret.
Police officers have visited us to talk about other high-profile investigations of politicians who were serial child abusers. Select Committee hearings have taken place, criminal investigations are now underway and the Independent Police Complaints Commission has announced it is investigating claims that Scotland Yard covered up child sex offences because of the alleged involvement of MPs. The Prime Minister has indicated that it may be time to make not reporting child abuse a crime. The Home Secretary has launched a major child sex abuse inquiry into establishment cover-ups.
That such momentum has been helped by the publication of this book is a timely reminder that stories can still give voice to an unspeakable truth. Stories have the power to unsettle and force action... This was the moment we realised that change was happening. As a country, we've reached tipping point and the public will no longer tolerate such abuses of power, nor the old ways of covering them up. The faintest whiff of cover-up nowadays creates an almighty stink...Of course vulnerable people will always be silenced and powerful people will continue to abuse their position but there's less certainty now that they'll always get away with it and that can only be a good thing.
Smile for the Camera (2014) is not just about a terrible abuse of power. It's about those who knew that abuse was taking place but looked the other way, making the corridors of Westminster a safe haven for paedophiles like Cyril Smith. This updated edition of the book that sparked a criminal investigation brings shocking new material to light, asking urgent questions of those who allowed Smith to prey on young children for decades without question.
"This important book should be read by all those charged with delivering criminal justice, by all those interested in politics, but most importantly, by those in every community motivated by a healthy and unstinting scepticism of authority." - Sir Keir Starmer, KCB, QC, British politician and barrister
About the authors: Simon Danczuk is the Labour MP for Rochdale. Beginning his working life in a factory, aged sixteen, he later studied at night school before going to Lancaster University as a mature student to study sociology and politics. He went on to co-found a social research company based in Manchester, before entering Parliament in 2010.
Matt Baker has worked in journalism, academia and politics. He has written and campaigned extensively on children's rights and, along with Simon, helped investigate Cyril Smith's past and record the victims accounts of abuse. This is his first book.
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