Allegations of [a] disturbing pedophile ring with connections to the highest ranks of government have come to light. Campaigning Labor MP Tom Watson [has] rocked the House of Commons by airing allegations from child-protection professionals of a powerful pedophile network linked to Parliament and No 10." Watson's co-author of Dial M for Murdoch: News Corporation and the Corruption of Britain, Martin Hickman, [said] on the eve of [Watson's] parliamentary statement "this is much darker and more disturbing than phone hacking We have no idea where it will go." Within days, Steven Messham, one of the alleged victims, went on camera on a BBC Newsnight documentary to say that he and other children were sexually abused on a regular basis at a care home by a circle of men that included a leading Thatcher-era politician during the 1970s and 1980s. Messham claimed to have been raped by the senior political figure at least a dozen times, and his accusations were echoed by [an] anonymous victim, who told Newsnight that in 2000 he was abused by the same man. Watson, who for years led a lonely campaign to expose phone hacking at Murdoch tabloid News of the World, described this new scandal as "potentially worse." In a blog post titled "10 Days That Shook My World," Watson wrote ... that "these allegations go way beyond the claims made on BBC Newsnight yesterday ... It sounds like I've taken leave of my senses," Watson admitted, "Just like they said I had during the early days of the hacking scandal."