London, Feb 25 (AFP) Britain's government, parliament and political parties spent decades turning "a blind eye" to high-profile child sex abusers and sometimes actively protected them, an investigation reported Tuesday.

A former Liberal party leader announced his resignation from the House of Lords after the report condemned his failure to act against a paedophile MP from his party.

The government-commissioned report into how Westminster institutions dealt with abuse claims found a culture of deference by police, prosecutors and parties towards politicians. It also noted a widespread failure to put the needs of children first.

"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," said the inquiry's chairwoman, Alexis Jay in a statement.

"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." However, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse found no evidence to support reports in recent years of a coordinated "paedophile ring" involving senior political figures.

In the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, MPs including the Liberal Cyril Smith and Conservative Peter Morrison -- both later knighted -- "were known to be active in their sexual interest in children, but were protected from prosecution".

In 1969 Smith admitted allegations he sexually abused teenage boys, but was not prosecuted. Ten years later, the then Liberal party leader David Steel discussed the issue with him but took no action. (AFP)

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