BY BRAD JAMES
Margaret Thatcher was always a polarising figure. Right from the origins of her life in the political limelight from 1975, when she assumed the position of Leader of the Opposition. Gaining office in 1979, she became the UK’s first and currently only female Prime Minister (as well as holding the longest tenure in Number 10 in the 20th century) a progressive move that logically would have been more associated with the left, yet ironically came from the right wing Tories. “Marmite Maggie!” You either love her or hate her, as strident as she was intransigent, who could forget her: “you turn if you want to, the lady’s not for turning,” quip at a Conservative Party conference, even my late grandfather (not particularly a fan of hers) dubbed her “the only man in the Cabinet.” Her forthright intolerance of Argentinian insubordination won her endless praises as she proved the waning UK after it’s foray into empire still had teeth. Yet her neo-liberal policies and ardent avowals of the value of laissez faire, free market economics and alliance with US President Ronald Reagan favoured the fast, hedonistic “Greed Is Good” ethic espoused in such Hollywood blockbusters as Wall Street, where even morals had a price. Where even the lives of ordinary blue collar industry workers were rendered meaningless. Though ravaging industries the length and breadth of the nation – subjecting them to forest fire of privatisation – still managed to attain the Iron Lady three landslide wins in 1979, 1983 and 1987.
Yet economic woe engulfing mostly the north of England as a result of the Miner’s Strike has been the front for an even darker shade of blue that this Tory mistress concealed from the public eye, the depth of which is only now beginning to surface. Cabinet Office papers released to The Mail On Sunday reveal that Mrs. Thatcher was made aware of abuse allegations surrounding Lib Dem MP Sir Cyril Smith, even before he was knighted in 1988.
AD: Capeesh Restaurant
Obtained after five Freedom of Information requests (a delay which is something The Mail On Sunday has raised issue with) the request was made in April and was only granted last Friday. The Cabinet Office deny that there has been any cover up, however. Cyril Smith, Lib Dem MP for Rochdale for 20 years, is mentioned in an undated letter The Mail On Sunday received as part of a 19 page dossier, written by Lord Shackleton, a member of the Political Honours Scrutiny Committee. The letter mentions how Smith was investigated in 1970 by police for indecent assault against teenage boys between 1961 and 1966, with the director of public prosecutions deciding there was “no reasonable prospect of conviction.” Lord Shackleton further mentions that it was right to warn the honours system and a second letter voices hesitation the committee had in offering the Knighthood to Cyril Smith, yet added it would give the MP the benefit of the doubt, as there had been no prosecution.
The Cabinet Office said in a statement:
“There is no cover up nor was the Cabinet Office forced to release this information by the Information Commissioner. This is a sensitive and complex case and it is right that we considered advice from a range of officials. After considering the advice, the Cabinet Office decided to disclose information.”
AD: Oysterian Sea Food Restaurant And Bar
The issue here is that it raises difficult questions regarding what our leaders knew and whether it is possible that some of them participated in heinous acts of child abuse. Further rumours abound that Mrs. Thatcher knew of Jimmy Saville’s actions yet still went ahead and knighted him. There are also vile issues surrounding the Elm Guest House in Barnes and Dolphin House in Westminster, where MPs abused children and may have even committed murder. It ponders the question “why are the lives of children so undervalued by the legal and political systems?” A possible leak over from the Victorian “children should be seen and not heard” ethos, this has been allowed to permeate and obfuscate – often deliberately – what should be the clear and transparent notion of providing protection and care to our most vulnerable, of which children are included. Furthermore, what with recent Freedom of Information requests from 39 police forces across the nation revealing that 396 sex offenders have gone missing and cannot be traced by police, it is a worrying indictment of the establishment’s apathy towards protecting children. Neo-liberalism has replaced religion in a secular world, placing money as the Almighty, nothing supersedes that in the eyes of our leaders, dignity is a tawdry bargain for them. Why else do crimes like fraud carry far longer sentencing than child abuse on average? Because money rules the elite, children are expendable to them. We need to remind the leaders that it is they, as public servants that are expendable
AD: Heritage And Restaurant Lounge Bar
