A TOP spy is “key” to allegations about a VIP paedophile ring in Westminster, Labour MP John Mann claimed last night.

Ex-MI6 deputy director George Kennedy Young was a “manipulator” who controlled groups of people within which there were paedophile rings in the 1970s or ’80s, the Bassetlaw MP said.

The late Mr Young, who later became involved in hard-right politics, also tried to form a private army known as Unison.

A review of the Home Office’s handling of child abuse allegations from the 1970s onwards reported that there was no evidence of an official cover-up, but warned it was impossible to draw firm conclusions.

In a Westminster Hall debate, Mr Mann suggested that Mr Young’s role may “give some reason” to the disappearance of a file handed by former MP Geoffrey Dickens to home secretary Leon Brittan in the 1980s.

He also said Mr Young may have played a role in industrial disputes too, adding: “I’ve seen a range of background documents that would be of interest to anyone campaigning on the Shrewsbury pickets and on infiltration of the miners’ strike.”