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Lord Steel is to retire from public life
Former Liberal Democrat leader David Steel has quit the party and the Lords after an inquiry said he “turned a blind eye” to claims of child abuse.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse criticised political groups for not acting on complaints.
It accused Lord Steel of an “abdication of responsibility” over accusations against the late MP Cyril Smith.
Lord Steel said he was quitting because he wanted to avoid “distress” for his family and “turmoil” for his party.
The former MP and MSP also said he was being made “a proxy for Cyril Smith”, the former Rochdale MP who was investigated over allegations about the abuse of teenage boys.
Lord Steel had told the inquiry that he was later made aware of the allegations against Smith and “assumed” they were true, but said they were “nothing to do with me” because they predated Smith’s time in parliament.
The inquiry’s report said that political institutions “regularly put their own reputations or political interests before child protection”.
It said Lord Steel was “an example of a highly placed politician turning a blind eye to something that was potentially troublesome to his party, with no apparent regard for criminal acts which might have occurred or for any victims, past or future”.
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Cyril Smith (left) and David Steel (right) discussed the allegations against Smith in 1979
The former Holyrood presiding officer was suspended and investigated by the Lib Dems after his appearance before the inquiry in 2019, but was ultimately reinstated.
The 81-year-old said he understood some in the party wanted him suspended again, while others had threatened to resign if he was investigated again.
He said: “I wish to avoid any such turmoil in my party and to prevent further distress to my family. I have therefore thanked my local party secretary for their stalwart support through the whole inquiry process, and have informed the local party that my resignation is with immediate effect.”
Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie said the “powerful report” had lessons for everyone, and that it was “right that David Steel has decided to resign from the Liberal Democrats and retire from public life”.
Who is Lord Steel?
David Steel was first elected as MP for Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles in 1965, and represented the area at Westminster for more than 30 years.
He became Liberal Party leader in 1976, aged 38, and was in post during the party’s 1988 merger with the Social Democratic Party to form the Liberal Democrats.
He retired from the Commons in 1997, and was made a life peer as Baron Steel of Aikwood.
Lord Steel campaigned for Scottish devolution, and entered the newly formed Scottish Parliament as a Lib Dem member for the Lothians region in 1999.
He subsequently became the first presiding officer of the parliament, before stepping down as an MSP in 2003.
