Evening Standard/London

A minister has talked about behaviour which “with hindsight” could be regarded as “massively inappropriate” at the top private school he attended — which has since become the centre of a child abuse investigation.
Ed Vaizey said teachers may have been involved in what might be called “flirtation” with pupils at the historic St Paul’s boys school in London, which was also attended by chancellor George Osborne.
The culture minister said that at the time relations between teachers and boys seemed innocent and that he never experienced any abuse or knew of any.
In an exclusive interview with Evening Standard editor Sarah Sands on LondonLive, to be broadcast on Monday, Vaizey also says he thinks Boris Johnson could make a “good” Tory Leader.
His comments on St Paul’s, in Barnes, follow the arrest of a 57-year-old man who was later charged in connection with the investigation. Six other people have been arrested and bailed until a later date.
Vaizey said: “I don’t know how to put this delicately without making a massive faux pas, but I think kids at school, they know what their teachers ... which of their teachers might take more of an interest in them.
“But certainly from our perspective it was innocent, it felt innocent.”
Asked if there were teachers that were “suspect”, he answered: “Yes, but it didn’t feel more than just ... you didn’t feel threatened in any shape or form.”
He said that he thinks he knew “one or two of the teachers” involved in allegations of abuse at the school. But he added: “Nothing happened with me and I don’t think anything happened with anyone that I knew at St Paul’s of any significance whatsoever.
“So what could you at the most argue? That there was any kind of flirtation? Possibly, which looking back with hindsight is obviously massively inappropriate.”
Operation Winthorpe is a Met investigation into allegations of non-recent sexual abuse alleged to have taken place in Barnes. Officers have so far arrested seven people. Five men and one woman have been arrested and bailed until a later date. The further man, 57, has been arrested and charged in connection with the investigation.
In Monday’s interview, Vaizey also speaks frankly about the fortunes of members of the “Notting Hill Set”, including himself, Osborne and Prime Minister David Cameron.
He went on to say: “I don’t think David Cameron is going any time soon by any stretch of the imagination.
“But in principle [Boris] could be a good leader.”