A FORMER Basildon MP has denied being part of Westminster "rent-boy ring" after police investigating child sex abuse – and murder – raided his home.

Harvey Proctor, who represented Basildon from 1979 to 1983 and Billericay from 1983 to 1987, said knew nothing about a VIP paedophile ring alleged to have existed at Westminster during the 1970s and 1980s, or allegations that three boys linked to the abuse were murdered.

Police have confirmed officers investigating the sex parties have raided the Conservative’s home, on the grounds of Belvoir Castle, in Leicestershire.

In a radio interview, the 68-year-old, who quit Parliament after admitting sex with a then under-age man, said: "I find myself in a very Kafka-esque fantasy situation.

"The police have said basically that they are investigating historical sex abuse allegations going back to the 1970s and 1980s.

"I have never attended sex parties at Dolphin Square or anywhere else. I have not been part of any rent-boy ring with cabinet ministers, other Members of Parliament or generals or the military.

"I conducted my private life in a discreet manner. It wasn't I who outed myself, it was the press who did an assortment of things to out me.

"I was a discreet person and regarded in the House of Commons as a very independent MP and a loner.

“The last thing I would have dreamed of doing was talking to other MPs or ministers or anyone else about my private life. It wasn't that I was ashamed of being a homosexual, it was that I didn't think it mattered a damn to the work I did on behalf of my constituents."

Mr Proctor said he was keen to be interviewed by police as soon as possible to clear his name.

"The police wish to interview me," he said. "They talked in terms of that interview taking place in a matter of weeks. I asked for that interview to take place at the earliest opportunity."

Operation Midland was launched by the Met last November following allegations that boys were sexually abused by a VIP paedophile ring centred around Westminster more than 30 years ago, amid claims that sex parties involving boys below the age of consent were held at the exclusive Dolphin Square apartment block near the Houses of Parliament.

The operation includes detectives from the child abuse investigation command and the homicide and major crime command.

Officers are investigating allegations that three boys linked to the alleged ring were murdered.

Asked if he had been aware during his time in Parliament of the existence of a VIP paedophile ring, Mr Proctor told Today: "Absolutely not, no. If I had known about it at the time, I would have contacted the police.

"I believe the number of victims grows by the day, and the number of alleged perpetrators - through death - diminishes. That is a problem. It's certainly a problem for me. My problem is that I am still very much alive.

"I'm sure that some of the allegations are true, but I am also sure that a lot of the allegations are pure and utter fantasy.

"This investigation is supposedly investigating the alleged murders of three young gentlemen. I know nothing about that either."

Mr Proctor, who sat on the executive of the right-wing pressure group the Monday Club, left Parliament in 1987 after pleading guilty to acts of gross indecency.

He stressed that his guilty pleas related to homosexual activity with men who he believed to be above the age of consent of 21 that existed at the time, and who were older than the current age of consent of 16.

"I pleaded guilty to four charges of gross indecency in 1987," he said. "Those offences related entirely to the age of consent for homosexuality. That age has since been reduced, first to 18 and now to 16.

"The offences I committed in 1987 are no longer offences and there is legislation on the statute book which would allow me to wipe them clean if I wish to do so."

Mr Proctor works for the Duke and Duchess of Rutland and lives in a house within their 16,000-acre grounds.