Gordon Brown duped into backing paedophile campaigner

Gordon Brown was duped into backing an event organised by the leader of a paedophile group, it has been claimed.

The former Prime Minister has said he was not aware of the attendance at the conference of members of the Paedophile Information Exchange and has no record of going himself.

However, according to a report in the Mail on Sunday, Mr Brown was one of a number of people who sponsored the event in 1974 believing it was simply supporting a gay rights congress.

It was organised by Ian Dunn, founder of PIE a 1970s lobby group dedicated to legalising sex with children which planned to use the congress to push its agenda.

He sought support from Mr Brown, who was at the time rector of Edinburgh University.

Homosexuality was still illegal in1974 and the event was hailed as a step towards changing the law.