The Jubilee Lie !

Where were you in 1977 ?  Personally, I don't remember exactly where I was on every one of those 365 days, but, I'm sure that, had I been a hospital inpatient, it would be there on my records somewhere !

Yes, I'm afraid it's back to that story again Guys and Gals, you know the one where a 12 year old is raped in a hospital by a porter and it's not reported ever to anyone until earlier this year, and, even then, it's not to the Police but to a television company !

You see, this story has got me so incensed that I decided to don my best burrowing apparel and go check out a few FACTS !  The first one that took my fancy was that chart that the Savile Police released in January 2013, you know the one where they let us know where and when Jimmy's 'crimes' took place !

Well here it is again for your delight ! Now have a look at 1977 

So that's a yellow line there - oh and it just happens to be 'London - BBC Centre' - allow yourselves a wry smile for that one friends ! 

So, could it really be that 'Celia' would hide away her story for another year or so, rather than contact the rather busy helpline !

Jimmy Savile was a very busy man in 1977.  He was  .... hosting Top of the Pops in April, May, June, November and December !

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyHFeU-nk8Q


He was meeting the Queen in May in Edinburgh 

 
More than 10,000 people flocked to the city’s Camperdown Park. And in Aberdeen, they were 20 deep on pavements to get a glimpse of the Monarch in the sunshine.
In Edinburgh, she attended a youth pageant at Meadowbank Stadium with Jimmy Savile, who reportedly “made her laugh”.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/gallery-scots-were-just-as-keen-878545

He was running up and down mountains in August

 

And earlier in the year !

 

He was presenting his third series of Fix it's !

As well as extra special episodes !

Febuary 1977 was a sad time in Jimmy's home town 

On 5 February Sutcliffe attacked Irene Richardson, a Chapeltown sex worker, in Roundhay Park. Richardson was bludgeoned to death with a hammer. Once she was dead, he mutilated her corpse with a knife. Tyre tracks left near the murder scene resulted in a long list of possible suspect vehicles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Sutcliffe#1977

But I imagine that the street parties in Leeds in June will have been as happy as they were in other parts of the country !
 
 

1977: Queen celebrates Silver Jubilee

More than one million people have lined the streets of London to watch the Royal Family on their way to St Paul's at the start of the Queen's Silver Jubilee celebrations

ALTERNATIVELY !

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/7/newsid_2562000/2562633.stm

The BBC has this event occuring on the 7th June 1977.  That would be a Tuesday by the way.  See how accurate you can be if you just put your mind to it ! 
 
HAPPY DAYS INDEED !

Arise Sir James !

Have a good look at that cheque that Jimmy Savile is signing above there guys and gals.  He is not 'Sir' James Savile yet, it is only March and the Queen's birthday honors list is not announced until, well, not until her birthday in June ! In 1990 this list was announced on the 15th June.

 James Wilson Vincent Saville, OBE, Chairman, Broadmoor Hospital Advisory Committee ans Stoke Mandeville Hospital Spinal Injuries Centre, for charitable services.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_Birthday_Honours
Jimmy was very very proud of his knighthood, bestowed in recognition of the millions he had raised for charity.  In an interview with Hello Magazine the following exchange took place :

 "Was it a complete surprise ?"

"When the envelope dropped through the door I genuinely thought when I took it out and read it that I had opened somebody else's letter from Downing Street.  Feeling like a shoplifter I very quickly stuffed it back in the envelope before thinking - 'Oh, hang about !' and opening it all over again !"

"How do you think it will change you ?"

"It wont, but it'll change the people around me.  My Leeds friends including my marathon team and everyone at Jimmy's - St James University Hospital where I'm a voluntary worker - will give me a doubly hard time !"

Most people will be aware of the stories about how Margaret Thatcher had to fight to get Jimmy knighted in 1990 - I won't bore you with the details because it's been well covered elsewhere.  My angle is solely on the FACT THAT JIMMY WAS KNIGHTED IN 1990 FOR THE REASONS CITED ABOVE !

Let's go back to that cheque that Jimmy is signing there in March 1990.  If you look closely you will see a mention for the 'National Confederation For Parent Teacher Associations' and I think that I'm right in saying that THEY are the donors of the £10,000 to Jimmy's charity !

I had not really come across much in the way of links between schools and Jimmy aside from the obvious one in Staines ! I wanted to know more and came across this story in the Metro on 8th July this year !

'New national curriculum: Children need anti-Jimmy Savile lessons, Labour MP argues'

A shadow minister has argued that children should be taught how to protect themselves from ‘predators’ such as Jimmy Savile and Stuart Hall.
Diana Johnson, Labour MP for Hull North and shadow Home Office minister, said she was disappointed the new national curriculum did not focus on helping boost pupils’ self-esteem.
She asked education secretary Michael Gove in the Commons: ‘While the vast majority of parents and the vast majority of young people want a curriculum that’s fit for life, including building life skills around self-esteem and confidence which will protect them from predators like Jimmy Savile and Stuart Hall, I’d be interested to know why you turn your face against introducing that into the national curriculum?’

http://metro.co.uk/2013/07/08/new-national-curriculum-children-need-anti-jimmy-savile-lessons-labour-mp-argues-3874123/

Gosh, a new curriculum in 'anti Jimmy Savile lessons' some things need to be seen to be believed do they not ? It is interesting that the same article contains the following pic of our James in 1990 !

Twenty three years after Her majesty bestowed her honor on Sir Jimmy Savile we are supposed to accept that a man who raised £40,000,000 for charity is a monster hiding in 'plain sight' of everyone including those who were already investigating a Consultant at Stoke Mandeville Hospital for sexually abusing patients in 1990 !

The Sydney Morning  Herald, of all things !, on the same date,  provides the following :

 

 Stoke Mandeville was at the centre of a child sex abuse scandal in the late 1980s when a consultant paediatrician was investigated after a whistleblower came forward to the health authority. Dr Michael Salmon, a consultant paediatrician at the Aylesbury hospital, was suspended in 1989 after an investigation by government auditors prompted by concerns about possible financial improprieties. During the inquiry investigators found evidence relating to teenage patients of Salmon and a criminal investigation was launched.
Salmon was jailed for three years in 1990 after admitting indecent assaults on two 13-year-old girls and a 16-year-old girl. Three years earlier he had been praised by Diana, Princess of Wales, for helping to organise a trip to Walt Disney World in Florida for 300 disabled children. He was struck off the medical register in 1991.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/savile-scandal-spreads-to-doctors-20121025-2870q.html

Goodness, a Doctor at Stoke Mandeville jailed after a Police investigation in 1990 whilst, just down the corridor or in another building, another alleged abuser, indeed, one who is accused of raping a 12 year old girl in a televison room in 1977 goes unnoticed ?  Well, after all, there were NO COMPLAINTS MADE AGAINST HIM AT THE TIME - Were there !

 

 

Let's go back to 1975 here for a few moments shall we, it seems so inviting now !  Here's a nurse and a patient who appear to enjoy Jimmy's special bedside manner.  Enjoy a happy moment or two - there are more to come !

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

No win, no Fee ... For Them !

On the 16th June 2013, the same day that West London Mental Health Trust (Boroadmoor Hospital) issued a further appeal for information, Slater and Gordon Solicitors issued a statement that included this information 

 Their '67 victims' have now become 72 according to an article in the Independent on17th November 2013, concerning a suggestion by the President in the Faculty of Public Health for a debate into lowering the age of consent.


A lawyer representing 72 of the victims of Jimmy Savile warned against any move to lower the age of consent.
Liz Dux, who heads a specialist child abuse team at Slater & Gordon, said: “I have real concerns about the prospect of the age of consent being lowered.

Ms Dux's goes on :

“Predatory adults would be given legitimacy to focus their attentions on even younger teenagers and there is a real risk that society would be sending out the message that sex between 14-15-year-olds is also acceptable.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/health-expert-calls-for-age-of-consent-to-be-lowered-to-15-8945235.html


So that's two blogs in a row in which I report an element of discomfort for the No Win No Fee lawyers handling the claims against the late Jimmy Savile. Here are some of the Q and A's from their 'update' on the investigation !

 

'Time limits' first I've heard of this - Perhaps someone would like to explain that one to me !

..the majority of the Jimmy Savile related allegations the time limit has RUN OUT' ???

Fisher Meredith Solicitors handled these difficulties thus

 

 And their 'Final Word' !

http://www.fishermeredith.co.uk/legal-advice/11011

 The main Solicitor associated with the Savile investigation is Slater Gordon's Liz Dux - here's more information about her !

Ms Dux comments about the hospital allegations in the Daily Mail on the 23rd June 2013

Liz Dux, one of the lawyers representing his victims, said Savile's offences on NHS property were just as bad as those committed on the BBC premises and in some cases much worse.
Dux, of Slater & Gordon, added that more people in the NHS than previously thought knew about what was happening and took no action.

Here's an example she quotes

 'There are stories of Savile being on top of people in the wards and nurses just saying "Oh, get out Jimmy, you shouldn't be in here".'


There are some interesting comments from those who say they, or someone they knew, were there !

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2346830/Lawyer-representing-victims-Jimmy-Savile-says-new-evidence-NHS-staff-previously-thought-turned-blind-eye-sex-attacks.html

Moor Larkin mentioned in my comments section in my previous post about a letter, originally published  in the Nursing Standard on January 30th 2013 entitled 'Savile was uninversally loathed by Stoke Mandeville Staff'.  Again, no mention of patients or children - NONE ! 

http://rcnpublishing.com/doi/pdfplus/10.7748/ns2013.01.27.22.30.p10399

The third Q in Slater Gordoan's Q and A's on their Jimmy Savile investigation update page is the following :

Hopefully, you are having the same pleasant thought that I am reading those last few lines !  See ya next time Guys and gals !

'I was a patient at Stoke Mandeville Hospital' in 1977 !

No, not me but this person was :

 http://ableize.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/jimmy-savile-from-stoke-mandeville.html

The above blog was written on 13th October 2012.  On 10th October, the following statements appeared in the press as attentions became focused on the hospitals most closely associated with Sir Jimmy.

 In a statement, Buckinghamshire Healthcare said it was "unaware of any record or reports of inappropriate behaviour of this nature during Sir Jimmy Savile's work with the Trust."


A spokesman for Leeds Teaching Hospitals said it did not have any record of complaints about his behaviour while he supported the hospital.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/savile-inquiry-leads-to-stoke-mandeville-hospital-8204536.html 

On the 11th October, Broadmoor Hospital offered it's statement.


A West London Mental Health NHS Trust spokeswoman said: "We have not been approached by police or by any former patients or their representatives with any allegations of abuse by the late Jimmy Savile.

http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/local-news/broadmoor-hospital-will-cooperate-jimmy-4195335

In December 2012, three Hospital Trusts announced their  individual investigations into allegations of abuse at their establishments. Stoke Mandeville and Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust called their inquiries 'Speaking out' whilst Broadmoor under the West London Mental Health Trust (WLMHT) just called it's the 'Broadmoor Hospital investigation' !

 I wanted to know more about the development and progress of the hospital investigations. After all, it is this aspect of the scandal that has caused the most heartbreak and disgust amongst the general public has it not ?

I have not been able to find out much about the progress of the Leeds and Stoke Mandeville inquiries but I have found some interesting pieces of information courtesy of the Board of West London Mental Heath Trust who now run the Hospital

For a start, they have monthly 'Board Meetings' of which minutes are printed ! I decided to see what they might (or might not) have been saying in their meetings since the end of last year, especially when I saw this !

 Naturally, I clicked on that link, and skim read each entry.  The first reference to JS came in the Mins for 31st October 2012 

The next mention came in 30th January 2013

 Then this on 27th March 2013

Then 29th May 2013

Then nothing until June :

 

 http://www.wlmht.nhs.uk/news-events/further-call-for-witnesses-for-joint-broadmoor-hospital-department-of-health-investigation-into-jimmy-savile/

Wasn't the first 'call' enough ?

In the last few weeks we have seen that the NHS investigation as a whole has been extended to more hospitals.  The lawyers representing the claimants are not happy ! This from Slater and Gordon 

'We agree with Mr Hunt’s comments that it is important that the NHS investigation is as thorough and detailed as possible. However we are keen to ensure that the reports are not prolonged. '

Ms Stanley's blog goes on 

 Our clients have taken part in these inquiries and are keen to obtain closure without enduring yet another arduous and drawn-out investigation. It is therefore important that any further investigation is treated as a priority and dealt with expeditiously.

 http://www.slatergordon.co.uk/media-centre/blog/2013/10/savile-nhs-abuse-probe-extended-personal-injury-solicitor-reports/

Well, Ms Stanley, I guess you'll just have to wait because it looks as though the Hospital Investigations could go on for some time yet !

Here are the appeals made to the public by Broadmoor and Stoke Mandeville Hospital at the start of their investigations

 

NOTE THAT BOTH OF THESE APPEALS ASK FOR INFORMATION NOT STRICTLY LINKED TO THE ALLEGATIONS !

I'm sure that there are a lot of good folk out there who would be happy to give their views about these investigations and their feelings about Jimmy Savile's 'ROLE' in their lives ! PERHAPS OUR BLOGGER FROM ABLEIZE WOULD CONSIDER GETTING IN TOUCH, WITH US IF NO ONE ELSE !

There's still time to SPEAK UP .... not out !

P.S I never did find the info about the 'costs' of the investigation at Broadmoor, but, I guess we'll all hear about it soon enough !

Mandatory Reporting - The First 21 mins of 'After Savile'

Anyone recognise the above pullover - no it's not one of Jimmy's !  But I will come back to it later !!

I must be a real glutton for punishment because I have watched the darned thing again from the start and here is how it went !

'Tonight, Panorama uncovers shocking evidence that schools and hospitals failed to protect children from serial sex abusers'. 
'Secret government files show how paedophiles were able to move freely from institution to institution, putting children in danger.  As more stories emerge of Jimmy Savile's abuse there are calls for a change in the law'

By way of an introduction to a few of the folk who make an important contribution to the show we hear from 'Celia' (C) and Keir Starmer the FORMER HEAD OF THE DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) in the UK !
Here's what 'C' has to say  
"The Government need to step up.  They need to open the doors properly that people are able to speak out and they don't lose their jobs, and they don't feel scared of helping another human being".

And then the 'former Director of Public Proscutions (Keir Starmer) delivers his short, sharp plea that "people who don't report abuse should face jail"

So that's the introductions out of the way. We will of course, see and hear more from both KS and 'C' later in the show (I have already covered her contribution to the issue in my last blog post) but first we are told about the case of a real incident/s of abuse, for which the perpetrator was found guilty in a court of law !

I won't cover the whole story, but it involves a place called Downside School - a RC boarding school sometime in the 1980's.  At the trial in 2012, Rob Hastings (who learned about the Police investigation in 2011 following a trawl by the Devon and Somerset Police), was shocked to learn that, his abuser had abused another boy a year before he abused him sometime in the 1980's, but, despite an admission of guilt had been allowed to continue in his role.  In short, the school had chosen to keep the matter a secret. Rather than protect it's children they had protected themselves by seeking legal advice.  Their solicitor confirmed that there was no legal requirement to inform the police about such allegations. Rob was removed BY HIS PARENTS who had made the complaint to the school in the first place, whilst the monk was moved, quietly to an abbey in Scotland away from children.

 Sanchia Berg (SB) then makes the following staement :

"Ever since the revelations about Jimmy Savile, I've been investigating the secret historical record, looking at what government officials KNEW about abuse in childrens homes and boarding schools.  I've unearther declassified government files going back to the 1950's.
What they show is that, more than 60 years ago, Senior Civil Servants recognised school authorities, routinely HID child abuse, preferring instead to protect the reputations of their own institutions"

Hang onto the phrase readers 'what govt officials KNEW about abuse in childrens homes ..' I will return to it later !

The NEXT part of the show certainly ignited my interest once I engaged my brain and thought CAREFULLY about WHAT IT TELLS US about how suspicions/complaints of child abuse USED TO BE HANDLED  !

We are introduced to a woman who, in 1950, helped bring an abuser to Justice, in spite of the school Governors best efforts to bury the story !

This is the story about what happened at the Royal Alexandra and Albert School in 1950 :


"It all began when the assistant M overheard some boys talking about their old housemaster saying that he had sexually assaulted them"

We are told that the following came from the file under 'STATEMENT OF ASSISTANT MATRON'

Bascically, the AS took statements from the boys about the master who was by now working at another school (a Barnado's school) and took these to a Senior Governor of the school.  He did nothing and after a few months, the lady showed THE COPIES OF THE STATEMENTS to another staff member, the Police were called and the man confessed to criminal activity at both establishments.

What's interesting here is that the file also contains a 62 YEAR OLD LETTER from a Senior Civil Servant in the Home Office to the DPP containing these words :

'It looks as though the Governors, having knowledge there was Primae Facae evidence of criminal offences decided to keep quiet. not to inform the Police'

BUT, it was not JUST the school Governors who failed to report, the DPP itself, REFUSED TO CONFRONT THE GOVERNORS afterwards on the basis that there was 'no criminal offence with which they could be charged' !

Cue question about the situation now to Starmer who confirmed that the position in Law has not changed
YET !

 'Keir Starmer said under a British "mandatory reporting" law, those who failed to act could be sent to jail.'

The BBC article on the programme goes on :

'While statutory guidance has been issued previously urging professionals such as teachers, doctors and social workers to report child abuse, failure to do so is not a crime in England, Scotland and Wales.'

Mr Starmer, who was succeeded as director of public prosecutions by Alison Saunders on Friday, said it was time to "plug a gap in the law" that had been there for a "very, very long time".

But not everyone is convinced that this is the way to go, further down the page :


And Dame Clare Tickell, chief executive of the Action for Children, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We are not convinced that making it mandatory will do what we need it to do."

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24772777

The Dept of Education had this to say :
'Other countries have tried MR and there is no evidence that it is a better stratergy for protecting children.  In fact, there is evidence to show it can make children LESS SAFE'

THE NSPCC are not in favour of a change in the law either !

Here's more from their twitter feed on the question - look out for the last response from 'Andi Lavery'  ....Well, it made me smile anyway !

https://twitter.com/NSPCC/status/390394482166079488


The programme makers took great pains to research the case of the diligent Assistant Matron, ferreting out the now, declassified File from the National Archives.  BUT WHAT DOES THE CASE ACTUALLY TELL US ?

IT TELLS US that, there is, after all NO NEED for Mandatory Reporting ! The Ass Matron was no heroine, she was just doing the job she was being paid to do.  Whilst she was not listened to by her immediate superiors, her colleague did assist her to take the complaint to the Police.

From the unclassified File :

  'Statement of the Assistant Matron' 

'From the verbal remarks it appeared that these things had gone on for a long time and had involved a considerable number of boys'

It is strange that Meirion Jones should produce a film that appears to favour Mandatory Reporting.  After all, none of the staff  at his aunts school was aware of any claims of inappropriate behaviour on the part of Jimmy Savile.  There again, how would he know ....

HE NEVER ASKED ANY OF THEM  DID HE ?

Let's reunite that jumper with it's famous occupant shall we ?

The Killing (Danish: Forbrydelsen [fʌˈb̥ʁyðˀəlsən],^[1] "The crime") is a Danish police procedural three-season long television drama series created by Søren Sveistrup and produced by DR. It was first broadcast on the Danish national television channel DR1 on 7 January 2007, and has since been transmitted in a number of other countries worldwide.


 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Killing_%28Danish_TV_series%29

SARAH LUND A REAL FICTIONAL DETECTIVE WHO INVESTIGATES REAL FICTIONAL CRIMES !




 














 

'After Savile..' - No more tears ( Enough is Enough) !

It's raining, it's pouring 
My Love life is boring me .....


Meirion Jones has done it, well, not, again, being as though he did not get away with his little venture to ruin Jimmy Savile's name in December 2011. But, he has done it, he has produced a documentary called 'After Savile, No more secrets' and I have just finished watching this on the BBCi player.

Phew, I thought that Jimmy had gotten off kind of lightly and that the only reason that his name had been featured was to boost viewing figures, and then I got to 21.19 of the 28.57 minutes.  

Meirion's crew have tightened up their act since anyone with a stem and a brain attached to it noticed how rubbish his first film that never was, was ! However, this time, they produced an alleged 'victim' who actually remembered; where, when and how old she was when she was, she says, raped by a 'porter' in Stoke Mandeville Hospital in 1977 ! But, not any old porter you understand, this was the most famous man in the UK at the time !
So, why refer to a 'porter' then ? Why not just come out with it, surely she must have recognised Sir Jimmy after all, this was 1977 when 'Jim'll Fix it' was the most popular televison programme on the telly on a Saturday Night !  
Celia explains that she was recovering from an operation to have her tonsils removed and was on an old people's ward and 'bored'.  She asked the nurse if she could go and watch telly.

"I was bored because I was in an old peoples ward so I asked the nurse if I could go and watch telly and she said I could go to the television room, and, I came out of the ward, and there was a porter, seemed very nice (SB Nodding her head throughout) and he asked me where I was going and I couldn't speak properly, but I said to him, I was going to the tv room and he said he'd show me where it was"

SB "C says the porter took her into the empty TV room and raped her"
 
 Berg then questions Celia but it's obvious that their interview has been scripted/rehearsed, Berg is almost coaching her responses as she nods her head during the following exchange.

SB "You told the Nurse absolutely what had happened ?"
'C' "That he'd hurt me down there, the porter had hurt me down there" 
SB "And she said ?"
'C' "Don't say a thing, you'll get me in trouble"
SB "Do you think she knew (what) the kind of thing he was doing there ?"
'C' "She knew"
 For some reason, 'Celia' was talking in an almost child like manner during the above exchange !

SB 'The reason the nurse had told C to keep quiet about the attack was because the porter wasn't a porter at all.  He was Jimmy Savile now accused of assaults in 30 hospitals.'

Liz Dux a solicitor acting FOR the people who have made claims against Jimmy was asked about what she thought 'people' might or might not know about him !


SB "People may think they know about Jimmy Savile in the NHS, but do they ?"

LD " No, I don't think they do. I don't think they know the half of it"

 But, my question would be : how can folk KNOW anything apart from what they have been told by the MSM - the NHS investigation is still proceeding ?

SB goes on to explain that Stoke Mandeville Hospital cannot comment on the story because of the ongoing NHS investigation but I guess the programme makers and participants just wanted to make doubly sure that they were aware of this story !


I've had a real battle with my conscience here, deciding how best to approach this most sensitive of issues.  No one but no one wants to cause any genuine victim of a heinous crime any pain and suffering, but, I just cannot, with the best will in the world, accept the way this story has been presented.  For a start, where is the Nurse ? is she being questioned or is she conveniently dead ?  Then there is the story itself ! Really now, ask yourself this question, how likely is it that a man as smart as Jimmy Savile would have chosen a television room in a hospital to assault anyone ?  Remember hospitals in the 70's, the TV room was the place to be, the place to have a nice smoke etc !

SB reports that 'Celia's lawyer believes that if there had been a mandatory law then, details of Savile could have been reported to the police as early as 1964' 
1964 where does she get that year from ?  She's clearly referring to an institution here, Duncroft perhaps ?? I'll let someone else work that one out !

I did not enjoy watching this film but I forced myself to do it more than once.  I needed to make sure I reported this correctly.  If I have made any mistakes in the transcript please let me know by all means. Peter Rippon does not work at the BBC anymore unfortunately !  What sort of people present an uncorroborated story as fact in the middle of an ongoing countrywide investigation ? I am appalled !
 
Next time - Mandatory Reporting - the first 21 minutes of 'Savile - No more secrets ' !


PLEASE NOTE

I have amended my blog piece to day.  I listened to the exchange again between LD and SB.  SB asked LD what she thought the 'people' might know about JS not what the NHS might or might not have known. Rather than merely adding an addendum I have changed the few but relevant words.  

November 10th

I have amended again because I'd missed out a few words in 'C's description of her meeting with the 'porter' - apologies but I did this blog in a bit of a rush the other night.  From now on I'll make sure I include all the words spoken, I wouldn't want to be accused of censoring or redacting other people's words !
  

 

We've only just begun !

I for one, had a great day last Tuesday 29th October 2013.  I met some lovely people, had a very pleasant walk around a very lovely park and had a nice cup of Yorkshire tea - several in fact !

So what if our little party was just that ! So what if hundreds of others did not join us for a walk for Justice For Jimmy Savile ?  It is, after all, early days yet ! The British public have been brainwashed - it will NOT be easy to turn the tide on the perpetrators, but turn it we must.  

I was sad when I read Moor Larkins final blog piece on his 'Death of the Life of Jimmy Savile' , then I was angry and then I was sad again.  Not for Jimmy Savile, as I've said many times before, he had a great life and, by all accounts died a happy man.  No, I am sorry for those of us who live in fear of the mob, those who feel that they have no choice but to just go along with the tide !

This is how I started my little blog in September :


In seven weeks time a group of people who have never met will walk around the lake in Roundhay Park Leeds with one hope in their heart.  That hope is to see the name and memory of the late Sir Jimmy Savile restored to where it was before a BBC journalist decided to attack this kind, gentle man just two days after his death.

I misplonked with the timeline there - that should have read 'five weeks time' not seven by the way. Whatever, NOTHING HAS CHANGED for me at least ! I'm sure that it took considerably longer than a year for Jimmy to fashion the life he wanted for himself and a great deal longer for him to endear himself to the populace.  

The silent majority remain, for the time being at least, silent. Who knows, maybe things will never change and folk will go on happy to ignore the suffering of others. The death of the life of any man 'diminishes' us all as another great soul once said so much better than me !

No Man Is An Island

No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were:
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee. 
 

John Donne
 http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/no-man-is-an-island