The Tom Watson of the 1980's, Geoffrey Dickens MP, Conservarive, was equally as tenacious as Watson is now, in hunting out paedophiles.
Unfortunately, like Watson, he was sidelined and ignored and the monsters that prey on children continued. Dickens handed a dossier of the alledged abusers to the Home Secretary, Leon Brittan, who did nothing and apparently lost the evidence. That in its self is enough to arouse suspicion of the man. True there were a lot of incompetent men in the Cabinet at the time, but I don't think Brittans lack of urgency and action can be put down to incompetence.