Home Secretary Theresa May is expected to announce a broad independent inquiry into how public institutions handled allegations of child abuse. Mrs May will give details of the probe as she makes a statement to MPs this afternoon.
A Labour MP has launched a petition calling on the Prime Minister to "make amends for historic failures" by establishing a national inquiry into allegations of organised child sex abuse.
Tom Watson, MP for West Bromwich East in the West Midlands, said "many survivors of child abuse believe they have been let down by the system of child protection in the UK".
The petition's launch follows the Home Office's disclosure that 100 official files relating to historic abuse allegations have gone missing.
Mark Sedwill, permanent secretary to the Home Office, said the files relating to a 20-year period between 1979 and 1999 were "presumed destroyed, missing or not found".
The MP who raised the claims that a paedophile ring operated in Westminster during the 1980s said new allegations have now come to light.
Lord Brittan has defended his handling of a dossier alleging paedophile activity in Westminster when he was home secretary in the 1980s.
A 1980s dossier claiming paedophile activity at Westminster may have mysteriously gone missing but the questions still remain.