THE former Cabinet minister accused of failing to act on evidence of child abuse by senior Westminster figures has died of cancer.

Leon Brittan’s death was announced as current Home Secretary Theresa May was quizzed over her dodgy handling of the inquiry into the 1980s abuse.

She faced questions after it emerged that a file detailing allegations of “unnatural sexual” behaviour at Westminster had been unearthed at the National Archives.

The document — marked as having been through ex-PM Margaret Thatcher’s office — was discovered late last year but only came to light this week.

Ms May told Parliament that she understood that the file may be a duplicate of one that had already been looked at by the Wanless review into the Home Office’s handling of the abuse allegations, but that this was being checked.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper called for the inquiry to be scrapped and relaunched with a new chair and statutory powers.

She said: “The police are now investigating allegations of child murder involving senior figures linked to Dolphin Square.

“A government file has emerged containing further potential allegations of abuse, clearly not seen by the Wanless review.

“These need to be investigated by the police, not just an inquiry, but it makes it even more vital that a serious and credible inquiry is under way with the confidence of the public and survivors.”

Mr Brittan was expected to face lengthy questioning over the allegations at the long-delayed historical child abuse inquiry.