9 November 2012 Last updated at 05:59 ET

Lord McAlpine says abuse claims false and defamatory

Lord McAlpine issued his response amid claims over abuse at a North Wales children's home

Conservative peer Lord McAlpine has said allegations linking him to alleged historical child abuse are "wholly false and seriously defamatory".

The ex-treasurer released a statement after a man claimed he had been abused at a care home in Wrexham.

Lord McAlpine said he had visited Wrexham "only once" and that he had been in the company of an agent from Conservative Central Office.

He said he had "never" been to the children's home linked to the claims.

Lord McAlpine's denial comes after Steve Messham claimed on the BBC's Newsnight that he had been abused by a senior politician of the Thatcher era, who was not named.

In his statement, Lord McAlpine said: "I have never been to the children's home in Wrexham, nor have I ever visited any children's home, reform school or any other institution of a similar nature.

"I have never stayed in a hotel in or near Wrexham, I did not own a Rolls-Royce, have never had a 'Gold card' or 'Harrods card' and never wear aftershave, all of which have been alleged.

"I did not sexually abuse Mr Messham or any other residents of the children's home in Wrexham."

He said he had decided to "publicly tackle these slurs and set the record straight".

'Witch-hunt'

His statement comes after David Cameron said he feared a "witch-hunt" by those commenting online about child abuse allegations.

The prime minister was commenting on the This Morning programme after being unexpectedly handed a list of names of people who the ITV1 show's presenter said were being mentioned online as paedophiles.

Presenter Phillip Schofield, who said he had based the list on internet speculation, has been criticised for his actions during the live interview which had been addressing historical claims of a paedophile ring linked to No 10.

Mr Cameron, who did not look at the list, said he was "worried" that speculation about unproven allegations could lead to a "witch-hunt particularly against people who are gay" and advised anyone with evidence of abuse to go to the police.

London Mayor Boris Johnson branded it a "rum piece of journalism" and Labour's Chuka Umunna said it had been "foolish and irresponsible".

Meanwhile, TV regulator Ofcom said it had received complaints about the programme.

Source : bbc[dot]co[dot]uk