British Child-Abuse Survivors Are Threatening Direct Action if They Don’t Get Justice from the Government, Scotland’s child abuse survivors call for compensation
April 10, 2015 Comments Off on British Child-Abuse Survivors Are Threatening Direct Action if They Don’t Get Justice from the Government, Scotland’s child abuse survivors call for compensation
British Child-Abuse Survivors Are Threatening Direct Action if They Don’t Get Justice from the Government
April 9, 2015 By Ben Gelblum…
This weekend, demonstrators will take to the streets outside Parliament and around the UK to ask why, three months after John Mann MP handed police and parliament a dossier of 22 politicians named by victims and informants as child abusers, nothing appears to have moved on. Mann’s Labour colleague Simon Danczuk MP, who is compiling complaints of alleged pedophile rings, recently warned that if survivors who have come forward are denied justice, they would resort to direct action….
On Tuesday, Phil, Nigel, and other survivors, traveled to London to present a letter to Home Secretary Theresa May, calling on her to reverse the decision to exclude survivors from the national inquiry into child sex abuse.
The survivors’ letter, also signed by prominent human rights lawyers such as Michael Mansfield QC, and child protection experts, warns that the inquiry into historical child abuse in England and Wales lacks credibility amongst those it is supposed to be representing….
Phil Frampton spent his childhood in care homes, and at age 14, blew the whistle on the sexual and physical abuse he and others were subjected to in a Barnardo’s children’s home. “I wrote a letter on behalf of the children to Barnardo’s,” recalled Phil. “The abuse continued until the children staged a revolt like civil rights activist Rosa Parks, refusing to get off a bus until police were summoned. We told them what was going on. Barnardo’s had to sack the abusers. The kids had won!”
Forty-six years later, Phil’s fight for justice continues, and he thinks it should be a bigger part of the election debate. “Whoever gets elected in May they will have to deal with the fact that there has been an attempt to cover up the role of establishment figures that is still going on,” said Phil. “We should ask election candidates what they and their parties’ leaders have done to root out child abusers and those who cover for them.”….
The government recently voted against a Labour-supported amendment to protect child abuse whistleblowers from prosecution under the Official Secrets Act, legislation many say has been used to silence allegations against high-powered pedophiles. “There are many examples of police saying they were not able to speak out about abuse because they were threatened by the Official Secrets Act,” said Phil. “It raises serious questions about whether the Conservative and Lib-Dems are serious.”
The PM’s office told me, “Anyone worried about whether people will be prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act for coming forward should be reassured by the assurances given by the Attorney-General and the Home Secretary. It is in everybody’s interest that we get to the bottom of what happened.”….
Phil argues that these assurances do not cover whistleblowers and officials talking to investigative journalists. “People are beginning to realize that this is not about ‘conspiracy theorists’ as David Cameron called us. This is about real cover-up and real politicians involved in the worst sort of crimes,” added Phil. “It’s now become quite clear the Cabinet Office—David Cameron and Nick Clegg attempted to suppress evidence about Margaret Thatcher’s role in covering up what Cyril Smith got up to. The Cabinet Office tried to block Freedom of Information requests on the subject on four occasions.”
A Cabinet Office Spokesperson told me that, “There is no cover up, nor was the Cabinet Office forced to release information by the Information Commissioner. This is a sensitive and complex case. It is right that we considered advice from a range of officials. After considering the advice, the Cabinet Office decided to disclose information.”
An Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) investigation has now been launched into why police child sex abuse operations into figures of power including Brittan were stalled….
http://www.vice.com/read/child-abuse-survivors-inquiry-whitewash-923
Child abuse survivors call for compensation
April 10th, 2015 Janice Burns
SURVIVORS of historical child abuse in care homes, educational institutions, by religious orders and high-profile members of the Scottish establishment are calling for compensation to be granted as part of a forthcoming public inquiry.
At the end of this month, Education Secretary Angela Constance will announce the remit and timing of the inquiry after holding months of discussions with victims and those who ran the institutions where they were abused.
Survivors want interim payments, similar to those given to victims in Ireland, so they can seek the help they so desperately need while Scotland’s biggest child abuse inquiry is being held.
In Care Abuse Survivors (INCAS), which represents nearly 400 victims of institutional abuse, said that, over the past 17 years of campaigning for an inquiry, scores of victims have died of old age, ill-health and suicide while waiting for justice for the shocking abuse they suffered as children while in care….
Helen (Holland) said that, although many of the big institutions like Nazareth House, Quarriers and Smyllum Park have closed down, child abuse in care is still going on.
She added: “While they are still dealing with cases dating back 60 to 70 years, abuse in care is still happening now. We need to make sure this doesn’t happen again and the sooner this inquiry gets up and running the better.
“Young people in care need to know that they will be taken seriously when they complain about what happened to them….
http://www.thenational.scot/news/child-abuse-survivors-call-for-compensation.1914
Margaret Thatcher knew about paedophile MP Cyril Smith, awarded a knighthood to him
March 11, 2015 Comments Off on Margaret Thatcher knew about paedophile MP Cyril Smith, awarded a knighthood to him
– Cabinet office in child abuse cover-up: MoS beats attempt by No10 to gag VIP file that shows Thatcher knew about paedophile MP Cyril Smith
– British MP slams ex PM Thatcher for pedophile cover-up
– Cyril Smith: Cabinet Office denies cover-up over files showing Margaret Thatcher knew of sex abuse claims against late MP
Cabinet office in child abuse cover-up: MoS beats attempt by No10 to gag VIP file that shows Thatcher knew about paedophile MP Cyril Smith
Downing Street tried to block release of files exposing scale of cover-up
Cabinet Office only caved in after being threatened with High Court Action
Papers expose how much Establishment knew about Cyril Smith’s abuse
Margaret Thatcher was told police had probed claims he abused teenagers
She was warned that handing him knighthood risked damaging ‘integrity of the honours system’ – but went ahead anyway
By Chris Hastings and Martin Beckford for The Mail on Sunday
8 March 2015
Downing Street cynically tried to prevent the release of damaging files exposing the scale of the cover-up over paedophile MP Cyril Smith.
The Cabinet Office repeatedly blocked The Mail on Sunday’s attempts to see the bombshell documents – and caved in only after being threatened with High Court action.
After the shocking year-long fight, we can reveal the content of the papers, which expose just how much the Establishment knew about the late politician’s sexual and physical abuse of young boys.
Nick Clegg and David Cameron, both Ministers in the Cabinet Office, have been accused of ‘colluding’ in the latest cover-up of evidence that could expose VIP paedophile rings.
The secrecy row will also focus attention on Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood, who has become known as ‘Sir Cover-Up’ after blocking the release of dozens of messages exchanged by Tony Blair and George W Bush ahead of the Iraq war.
Following The Mail on Sunday’s victory, it can be revealed for the first time that:
– Margaret Thatcher was personally told that police had investigated claims that Smith indecently assaulted teenage boys in the 1960s.
– Thatcher was explicitly warned that awarding a knighthood to the 29-stone Liberal MP risked damaging the ‘integrity of the honours system’, but went ahead anyway.
– A senior Whitehall mandarin took the ‘exceptional’ step of contacting the country’s top prosecutor and police to find out why Smith was never charged with abusing boys at a hostel he helped run….
Smith was knighted in 1988 as recognition of his service as a councillor, mayor and MP in Rochdale, Lancashire.
After his death at the age of 82 in 2010, Clegg said he was ‘deeply saddened’ by the loss and said everyone in Rochdale knew him ‘as a friend’.
But two years later claims emerged that he repeatedly spanked and sexually abused boys in care homes and hostels, but the authorities saw to it that he was never brought to justice….
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2984529/Cabinet-office-child-abuse-cover-MoS-beats-attempt-No10-gag-VIP-file-shows-Thatcher-knew-paedophile-MP-Cyril-Smith.html
British MP slams ex PM Thatcher for pedophile cover-up
March 08, 2015
Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was aware a Liberal MP was suspected of sexually abusing boys but “turned a blind eye” to it. She awarded a knighthood to Cyril Smith, secret documents, released after a yearlong fight for disclosure, reveal.
“There is no doubt about it now, from what we know, that she [Thatcher] turned a blind eye to people who were quite clearly pedophiles. That is absolutely clear,” said Labour MP Simon Danczuk, who exposed Cyril Smith’s abuse in Parliament.
Smith was investigated in 1970, 1988 and in 1999 on suspicion of “indecent assault against teenage boys” in the 1960s.
At the time, the authorities decided there was no reasonable prospect of conviction.
Later, Greater Manchester Police also admitted there had been “overwhelming evidence” Smith abused boys both physically and sexually.
This didn’t change Thatcher’s decision to knight Smith for his services as a counselor, mayor and MP in Rochdale, Lancashire….
http://rt.com/uk/238825-thatcher-ignored-mp-pedophile/
Cyril Smith: Cabinet Office denies cover-up over files showing Margaret Thatcher knew of sex abuse claims against late MP
Dossier on Smith’s knighthood shows the then-PM was aware of paedophile allegations against him – but he went before the Queen regardless
Adam Withnall Sunday 08 March 2015
The Government has been accused of trying to suppress a dossier of secret files which reveal that Margaret Thatcher knew about child sex abuse allegations against the MP Cyril Smith – before he was knighted.
The documents, only made public this week after an intervention from the Information Commissioner, include an undated letter marked “secret” warning Ms Thatcher that there was “the risk that such an award could give rise to adverse criticism”.
Smith, who died in 2010, served as the Liberal and later Liberal Democrat MP for Rochdale between 1972 and 1992. He was accused of abusing eight boys in the late 1960s and, though he was not prosecuted at the time, police say procedural changes mean he would be today.
The Cabinet Office last night denied a “cover-up” after releasing the 19-page file following repeated demands from the Mail on Sunday, and said the case was “sensitive and complex”.
Among the letters relating to the decision to knight Smith in 1988, the warning letter from Political Honours Scrutiny Committee member Lord Shackleton spelled out to Ms Thatcher that police had investigated Smith in 1970 for “indecent assault against teenage boys”.
It said that that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had decided “there was no reasonable prospect of conviction”….
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/cyril-smith-cabinet-office-denies-coverup-over-files-showing-margaret-thatcher-knew-about-sex-abuse-claims-against-late-mp-10093829.html
Jimmy Savile: Hospital staff knew of abuse, report finds, Savile received a knighthood, Posed for the cameras with Prince Charles and Princess Diana
February 27, 2015 Comments Off on Jimmy Savile: Hospital staff knew of abuse, report finds, Savile received a knighthood, Posed for the cameras with Prince Charles and Princess Diana
– Jeremy Hunt to apologise to Savile victims as ‘horrific’ scale of abuse emerges
An official report will reveal that Jimmy Savile allegedly assaulted and raped at least 44 victims at a single hospital
– In 1978, five years before he (Savile) had posed for the cameras with Prince Charles and Princess Diana at the opening of the new National Spinal Injury Centre
– Savile was so famous in Britain that he had met British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and received a knighthood.
Jimmy Savile: Hospital staff knew of abuse, report finds
Report finds that NHS hospital staff knew about Jimmy Savile abuse, hospital staff apologise for failings
By Charlotte Krol, and AP, video source Sky
26 Feb 2015
Two new reports into widespread sex abuse by the late BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) entertainer Jimmy Savile have found that victims’ complaints about his activities were ignored.
The reports released on Thursday showed an extensive pattern of abuse by Savile at numerous National Health Service (NHS) hospitals where the celebrity broadcaster was given wide access to patients, even though he was known by some staff to be a sexual predator.
Savile was so famous in Britain that he had met British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and received a knighthood.
The reports detailed numerous cases of abuse of patients who were helpless to protect themselves.
One report concluded he had abused roughly 60 patients at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital where he was an active fundraiser.
The victims included an eight-year-old boy who had tonsil surgery, an 11-year-old girl being treated for cancer, a pregnant mother and a 19-year-old paralyzed woman.
The report suggests his crimes were known to some hospital staff as early as 1973, but no action was taken, allowing his attacks to continue for 20 years….
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/jimmy-savile/11438623/Jimmy-Savile-Hospital-staff-knew-of-abuse-report-finds.html
Jeremy Hunt to apologise to Savile victims as ‘horrific’ scale of abuse emerges
An official report will reveal that Jimmy Savile allegedly assaulted and raped at least 44 victims at a single hospital
By Steven Swinford, Deputy Political Editor 25 Feb 2015
Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, will apologise to dozens of hospital patients who were abused by Jimmy Savile amid new allegations about the “horrific” scale of abuse.
An official report, published by barrister Kate Lampard on Thursday, will disclose allegations that Savile assaulted and raped at least 44 victims at Stoke Mandeville hospital.
The victims, some of whom were as young as eight, say that their complaints about Savile’s behaviour were ignored by the authorities.
A former children’s doctor has also been convicted of sexually assaulting young girls at the hospital in the 1970s and 1980s, raising fears that there may have been a paedophile ring operating at the hospital.
The victims are calling on the government to make it a criminal offence not to report child abuse, an approach known as “mandatory reporting”. David Cameron has previously suggested that he is supportive of new legislation.
The report will also examine allegations about Savile’s activity at a further 43 hospitals across the country.
One woman told the inquiry that she was abused when she was eight-years-old and recovering from cancer surgery. At the time she had 144 stitches across the lower part of her body as a result of an operation.
She says that when she raised her complaint with a ward sister, she was met with the response: “Be quiet, you silly girl. Do you realise how much he has done for the hospital.”….
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/jimmy-savile/11434635/Jeremy-Hunt-to-apologise-to-Savile-victims-as-horrific-scale-of-abuse-emerges.html
The great dictator: Inside the mind of Jimmy Savile
“I’ve got a great aptitude for dead people”: the grotesque details in the latest Savile report confirm the star’s pyschopathy, says the man who spent a decade getting to know him
By Dan Davies 26 Feb 2015
There was a framed picture in the bathroom of Jimmy Savile’s flat overlooking Roundhay Park in Leeds. It contained pictures of the most fearsome dictators of the 20th century and there, among the images of Hitler and Stalin and Mao Tse-tung, was Savile’s business card from Stoke Mandeville. I know because I spent many days at the flat. In fact, in all I spent six years interviewing him before his death – part of a decade long quest to find the real Jimmy Savile….
In 1978, five years before he had posed for the cameras with Prince Charles and Princess Diana at the opening of the new National Spinal Injury Centre, the moment when his fame and status within Britain were at their peak, Jimmy Savile described what he got out of the association with the Buckinghamshire hospital. “There are forty wards at Stoke Mandeville… and they are all filled with people; I will be able to do exactly what I feel like doing. If I feel like going on the ladies’ ward and pulling their legs, I can do that. If I want to go the kids’ ward and have a bit of a knock about, I can do that.”
Some might say that this would have seemed innocent at the time. Not true. In the same period a detective constable with the Thames Valley Police was contacted by a nurse at the hospital because staff were said to be worried that Savile was touching girls inappropriately during hospital visits. When the police officer reported the matter to a senior colleague, he was told: “Jimmy Savile is a high-profile man. He must be OK. He could not be doing anything irregular. Don’t worry about it.” It was, tragically, just one of many missed opportunities….
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/jimmy-savile/11437966/The-great-dictator-Inside-the-mind-of-Jimmy-Savile.html
Jimmy Savile scandal: DJ’s brother abused patients, visitors and staff at psychiatric hospital
Report uncovers complaints, from at least five patients, one visitor and one member of staff against Jimmy Savile’s brother Johnny
By Martin Evans, Crime Correspondent 26 Feb 2015
Jimmy Savile’s older brother, Johnny, abused at least seven patients, visitors and staff at a psychiatric hospital in south London, a report has found.
Johnny, who died in 1998 worked as a recreation officer at the Springfield Hospital in Tooting between 1978 and 1980.
But an investigation into his activities at the unit revealed how he traded on his association with his famous older brother to sexually abuse people at the hospital.
Allegations relating to five patients, one visitor and one member of staff have now been uncovered.
The report stated that “on the balance of probabilities” Johnny Savile raped at least one of the victims.
He was eventually dismissed for gross misconduct, relating to a sexual matter, in 1980….
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/jimmy-savile/11436419/Jimmy-Savile-scandal-DJs-brother-abused-patients-visitors-and-staff-at-psychiatric-hospital.html
Westminster child abuse inquiry to hear Margaret Thatcher was presented ‘allegations of unnatural sexual proclivities’, Prince Andrew denies sex abuse claims, NSW may extend time limit on child sex abuse claims
January 23, 2015 Comments Off on Westminster child abuse inquiry to hear Margaret Thatcher was presented ‘allegations of unnatural sexual proclivities’, Prince Andrew denies sex abuse claims, NSW may extend time limit on child sex abuse claims
Westminster child abuse inquiry to hear Margaret Thatcher was presented ‘allegations of unnatural sexual proclivities’
Secret document suggests claims against ‘public figures’ were taken to the PM at height of alleged paedophile scandal Adam Withnal Wednesday 21 January 2015
A UK academic has uncovered a file which he claims could contain allegations of “unnatural” sexual activities against public figures at the height of the Westminster child abuse scandal.
Dr Chris Murphy, a security and intelligence lecturer at the University of Salford, found the classified document while searching the National Archives in Kew.
While its contents have not been made public, Dr Murphy said he was immediately alerted by the title showing it had been taken to the then-Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.
The title read: “PREM19/588 – SECURITY. Allegations against former public [word missing] of unnatural sexual proclivities; security aspects 1980 Oct 27 – 1981 Mar 20.”
According to Sky News, the Cabinet Office has been made aware of the file and it will be made available to the ongoing panel inquiry into the alleged existence of a paedophile ring involving senior Westminster figures….
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/westminster-child-abuse-inquiry-to-receive-evidence-of-unnatural-sexual-proclivities-9991716.html
‘Unnatural Sex’ File Given To Abuse Inquiry The secret document was not handed over to a review into child abuse, the chief executive of the NSPCC tells Sky News. UK, Wednesday 21 January 2015
By Tom Parmenter, Sky News Correspondent
A secret file on “unnatural” sexual behaviour was not handed over to a Government backed review that looked for official documents linked to child abuse.
The file prepared for then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s was found recently at the National Archives in Kew and is entitled: “PREM19/588 – SECURITY. Allegations against former public [word missing] of unnatural sexual proclivities; security aspects 1980 Oct 27 – 1981 Mar 20”.
The Cabinet Office still holds the file. Thirty-five years after it was prepared it remains closed on grounds of national security….
It is highly likely Margaret Thatcher saw the documents, and was briefed on the security implications, but the identities of those within them remain secret.
Dr Murphy added: “The fact that this file is concerning the Prime Minister and these allegations are being taken to the Prime Minister I think would strike anybody of being potentially of some interest.”….
Mrs Thatcher’s former press secretary, Sir Bernard Ingham, told Sky News he could not recall the file.
He did, though, confirm that both he and Mrs Thatcher were aware of allegations against a Government minister in the early 1980s.
Sir Bernard would not name the individual, but said: “I asked him about it and he denied it, so no, I didn’t do anything else. What was the alternative?”….
Officials at the Cabinet Office have previously attempted to block requests for information relating to Cyril Smith, the late Liberal politician who is now known to have abused youngsters….
http://news.sky.com/story/1411734/unnatural-sex-file-given-to-abuse-inquiry
NSW may extend time limit on child sex abuse claims
Royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse has shown survivors do not disclose or act on their experience until decades after abuse
Brad Hazzard
Attorney general Brad Hazzard: under the NSW Statute of Limitations people abused as children generally have three to 12 years from the time of the offence to launch a civil claim.
Australian Associated Press Thursday 22 January 2015
The NSW government is considering lifting the time limit in which survivors of child sexual abuse can sue for damages.
The NSW attorney general Brad Hazzard said the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse had uncovered widespread claims about abuse and the legal barriers survivors face in pursuing justice many years after the crime.
“It is well documented that many survivors of child sexual abuse do not disclose their experiences or act on them until decades after the abuse, well after the time period has ended,” Hazzard said on Friday.
The government has released a discussion paper on whether to amend the Limitation Act 1969 and wants to hear from the public.
Under the NSW Statute of Limitations people abused as children generally have between three and 12 years from the time of the offence to launch a civil claim.
“People who have suffered at the hands of others sometimes take 20, 30 years just to build up the courage to be able to say anything … it’s a bit strange that there’s a limitation in the law that says you can’t bring proceedings,” Hazzard told ABC radio on Friday….
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/jan/23/nsw-may-extend-time-limit-on-child-sex-abuse-claims
Prince Andrew denies sex abuse claims
By Laura Smith-Spark and Lindsay Isaac, CNN January 22, 2015
(CNN)In his first public remarks since being accused of having sex with an underage American woman, Britain Prince Andrews briefly addressed the allegation before a crowd in Davos, Switzerland.
“Firstly, I think I must, want, for the record to refer to the events that have taken place in the last three weeks. And I just wish to reiterate and to reaffirm the statements which have already been made on my behalf by Buckingham Palace,” he said Thursday at the World Economic Forum.
Earlier this month, Buckingham Palace issued a statement which said, “It is emphatically denied that the Duke of York [Andrew] had any form of sexual contact or relationship” with the woman. “Any claim to the contrary is false and without foundation.”
Andrew is a son of Queen Elizabeth II and a brother of Prince Charles, the next in line for the British throne….
The woman, identified by Buckingham Palace as Virginia Roberts, first named the prince in a civil motion filed December 30 in the U.S. District Court in southern Florida in which she claims she was forced to have sex with several men. She is referred to as Jane Doe No. 3 in the legal filings.
In the letter the woman’s lawyers sent to Buckingham Palace, attorneys Paul Cassell and Bradley Edwards asked to interview Prince Andrew “under oath regarding interactions that you had with Jane Doe No. 3 beginning in approximately early 2001. Jane Doe No. 3 was then 17 years old.”
The letter includes a picture of the woman and Andrew which was taken around that time, they say. The lawyers also want to discuss subsequent interactions with their client in New York City later that year, the letter says….
http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/22/europe/prince-andrew-sex-abuse-allegations/
