varian this from the Executive Summary in the report - DS accepts CS did it but it was beforehand so didn’t matter
The Private Eye article was read by David Steel (now Lord Steel), the then leader of the Liberal Party, who decided to speak to Cyril Smith about the content.
During that discussion Cyril Smith told him that the ‘story’ was correct but that no further action had been taken. Lord Steel told the Inquiry that the allegations had arisen before Cyril Smith had become a member of the Liberal Party and he saw “no reason, or no locus to go back to something that had happened during his time as councillor … ”.[11] In effect, that it was nothing to do with him. This failure to recognise the risk that Cyril Smith potentially posed to children was an abdication of responsibility by a political leader and an example of a highly placed politician turning a blind eye to something that was potentially troublesome to his party, with no apparent regard for criminal acts which might have occurred or for any victims, past or future.