Nadine Dorries speaks about horrific abuse at hands of 'hideous creature' vicar as a child

Times Radio approached the CofE about Dorries' comments - a spokesperson responded:

"We can confirm that the National Safeguarding Team has been in ongoing contact with Nadine Dorries following her brave disclosure of childhood abuse by an Anglican vicar, now deceased. We have offered support and have left open the offer to speak further so the Church can learn lessons from this case."

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has condemned the Church of England's handling of abuse cases and safeguarding processes, as she claimed bishops in the House of Lords did "nothing" when she met them to discuss her own childhood abuse.

Dorries hit out at the "appalling" and "inadequate" response she received after making contact with the Church of England about the abuse she faced by a vicar and close family friend in Liverpool as a child.

Speaking to Cathy Newman on The Ladder on Times Radio, Dorries said she had made contact with the Church of England as an adult and "got an appalling response."

When elected, the Mid Bedfordshire MP, recalled: "I spoke to two bishops in the House of Lords who called me for a meeting, told me they'd go away and look into his background. And obviously, there would probably be other cases. Didn't hear a word back. Nothing."

Dorries, who grew up in Liverpool, says she faced physical, sexual abuse by Reverend William Cameron when she was around nine years old, and named the Anglican vicar and family friend while writing about abuse in her third novel The Ballymara Road.

"I realised I was doing that because I wanted to punish him," she told Times Radio, "I wanted him to know that it was him. And I wanted people to know his name."

Speaking of her disappointment for never getting justice, Dorries added: "I never got the chance to expose him, for the hideous creature that he was...there is no forgiveness for someone who does that."

The controversial Culture Secretary said the abuse she'd faced had made her "more defensive than I would have been," admitting that her own daughters sometimes referred to her as sounding like "a ballbreaker."

"It definitely is something that's hardwired into you through your childhood, when you go through something like that."

She continued: "I need to deal with that, and I find myself particularly like that towards men."

Dorries now wants the Church of England to apologise, adding that she needed to "get them to openly agree with what happened, get them to say 'I'm sorry', get them to tell me what they're doing to make sure it doesn't happen again, because I know the complaints process I went through was wholly inadequate."

The Culture Secretary said the organisation had, more recently, reached out to offer counseling, which she had not taken up, but realised during the interview that she now needed to "sort" the issue.

She said she wanted to go back to the church about their handling of abuse, and "take this to a different level".

"In terms of safeguarding, I don't think they've got it. So I want to know what they're doing," she continued.

Dorries said she would "absolutely" want church leaders to research "what else he did" adding that she wanted some form of posthumous justice.

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