Pat on the back for the BBC researcher who dug this out of the archives. Back in 1995 the late Tim Fortescue, who was a Tory whip in the Heath years, explained how party whips could help cover up a potential paedophile scandal:

“Anyone with any sense who was in trouble would come to the whips and tell them the truth, and say now, “I’m in a jam, can you help?” It might be debt, it might be a scandal involving small boys, or any kind of scandal which a member seemed likely to be mixed up in, they’d come and ask if we could help. And if we could, we did. We would do everything we can because we would store up brownie points. That sounds a pretty nasty reason but one of the reasons is, if we can get a chap out of trouble, he’ll do as we ask forever more.”

His little black book must have made for eye-watering reading…