The police watchdog is investigating alleged corruption in the Metropolitan Police, including claims it covered up child sex offences because MPs and police officers were involved.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating 14 referrals spanning four decades.
It said the claims were of “high-level corruption of the most serious nature”.
The Met said it had voluntarily referred the allegations, which arose from an investigation launched in 2012.
The investigation, known as Operation Fairbank, is looking into historical child sex abuse claims involving politicians and other public figures.
Peter Saunders, chief executive of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac), said the corruption allegations could lead to “absolutely massive” revelations.
He said people calling their helpline had made allegations about “high-profile” people, including politicians, for years and that he had wondered “if the truth was ever going to come out”.
Allegations, dating from between 1970 and 2005, being considered by the IPCC include:
A potential cover-up linked to “failures to properly investigate child sex abuse offences in south London and further information about criminal allegations against a politician being dropped”
A claim that an investigation into young men being targeted at the Dolphin Square flats in Pimlico, south-west London, was halted because “officers were too near prominent people”
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