I was looking forward to finding out the name of the “high profile British politician” that Newsnight claimed was involved in a long-running paedophile ring that was mentioned by Labour MP, Tom Watson, a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday afternoon, I heard that the peer (for it is a member of the House of Lords) had threatened libel action against Newsnight if they went ahead with the story.
Surely if Newsnight had the goods on this peer and others, then a libel suit is the least of their worries – especially if the persons concerned are guilty as they no doubt are. I suspect that the peer in question believes himself, like many of his fellow Tories, to be above the law.
This shows us the contempt that Britain’s political class, the Tories in particular, have for democracy. But, more importantly, there has been a long-running paedophile ring that has operated with impunity within the British political establishment for the last 50, perhaps more, years, with the judiciary, police and local authorities complicit in its cover-up.
In the 1990s, Scallywag conducted a wide-ranging investigation into paedophilia at the heart of British power. Some names were named and I am certain that as time goes on, these names will also come to the surface but, for now, I am not at liberty to name them save to say, Ted Heath was mentioned as well as a young party worker who is now a backbench MP.
I used to read Scallywag and let us say that in the 1990s, Dolphin Square in Pimlico was the scene of romantic trysts by two prominent cabinet ministers, one of whom was nicknamed “Polly”. Let’s also say that former Big Brother contestant, Derek Laud (pictured) was among the names mentioned.
Among his chums, Laud is known by the nickname “Golly”, which is short for “golliwog”. However I must stress that, in my sole copy of Scallywag at least, whatever happened at Dolphin Square had more to do with the sexual hypocrisy of these ministers and their enthusiasm for Section 28 of the Local Government Act (1988) than the ongoing scandal per se. But Dolphin Square keeps getting mentioned. It won’t go away.
This blog carries an article written by Scallywag’s editor, Simon Regan. I found this passage particularly interesting,
We took them separately to Pimlico and asked them to point out the building where this had taken place. They were both positive in their identification. It turned out to be the private flat of a well known, and since highly discredited lobbyist who later went into obscurity in some disgrace because of his involvement with Mohammed al-Fayed and the ‘cash for questions’ scandal. At the time we ran a story entitled ‘Boys for Questions’ and named several prominent members of the then Thatcher government. These allegations went to the very top of the Tory party, yet there was a curious and almost ominous lack of writs.
The lobbyist was a notorious ‘queen’ who specialised in gay parties with a ‘political mix’ in the Pimlico area – most convenient to the Commons – and which included selected flats in Dolphin Square. The two young men were able to give us very graphic descriptions of just what went on, including acts of buggery, and alleged that they were only two of many from children’s homes other than North Wales.
There was, to my certain knowledge, at least one resignation from the Conservative office in Smith Square once we had published our evidence and named names.
Even more interesting is this,
Subsequently, over a rent dispute which is still a matter of litigation, Dr. Julian Lewis, now Conservative MP for New Forest (East) but then deputy head of research at Conservative Central Office in Smith Square, managed to purchase the contents of our offices, which included all our files. It had been alleged that we owed rent, which we disputed, but under a court order the landlords were able to change the locks and seize our assets which included all our files, including those we had made on paedophiles. It was apparently quite legal, but it was most certainly a dirty trick.
All of a sudden very private information, some of it even privileged between ourselves and our lawyer during the John Major libel action, was being published in selected, pro-Conservative sections of the media.
Dr Julian Lewis (pictured), as I mentioned in a previous blog, sought selection as a candidate in the Newham East constituency in aftermath of the infamous Reg Prentice deselection case in 1977. He was secretly funded and supported by The Freedom Association, a right-wing pressure group that supports a range of reactionary causes at home and abroad. Lewis, a particularly nasty piece of work, voted against lowering the age of consent for gay men. He is also a serial litigant of some standing having used the courts in an attempt to destroy Labour’s left-wing.
But it’s Lewis’s work as fixer and dirty tricks specialist that has come to The Cat’s attention. Below is an excerpt from The Times (10/2/92). This was a time when Conservative Party Central Office was looking for ways to damage Lib Dem leader, Paddy Ashdown, who had proposed forming a coalition with Labour in 1992 should the General Election result in a hung parliament. This rankled with the Tories.
The man behind the operation is Dr Julian Lewis, Mr Lansley’s deputy. His brief is to find anything politically damaging, such as connections with CND or former Soviet-front organisations, but excluding gossip about candidates’ personal lives, Central Office said.
Dr Lewis, appointed by Kenneth Baker, was founder of the Coalition for Peace through Security, bane of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and was consistently accused by Bruce Kent, former CND leader, of running a dirty tricks campaign against anti-nuclear campaigners.
After the uproar at Central Office over the Ashdown dossier an unwritten decree has been made that all future media requests for background information on political rivals, and the Lewis dossiers, should be referred all the way up to the chairman’s office.
This is an excerpt from an article that was also published in The Guardian in 1992.
Lewis’s association with some of the most virulent cold-war warriors of the eighties has placed him as a central figure in that network of Anglo-American pressure groups and think tanks – formerly seen as the lunatic fringe of the right and with strong intelligence connections – which informed much of the Reagan-Thatcher political agenda. Linking the network were a handful of right wing politicians, academics and businessmen. A lot of the finance came covertly from America. Many of the footsoldiers came from the Federation of Conservative Students, whose libertarian rantings forced an embarrassed Tory Party to disband it in 1986.
When the Tories find themselves in an uncomfortable situation, they turn to Lewis and his box of dirty tricks. The Cat wonders what else he’s helped to cover up over the years. Who else has been threatened with smears and false allegations to shield those who have done wrong?
We are often told that we live in a democracy where, if we don’t like the way the government is running things, we can vote them out. What I’ve seen so far has gone further to convince me that Britain’s political processes are deeply corrupt and anti-democratic. The Conservative Party can’t fight a clean fight at the ballot box and has to resort to dirty tricks to destroy its enemies. The Tories believe themselves to be the natural party of government; divinely sanctioned to rule. They despise opposition and work tirelessly to silence or marginalize it.
Britain’s political system and its ‘democracy’ is resting precariously on the precipice. One sudden gust of wind and it will all come crashing down. The Savile Scandal is the beginning of the end for Britain’s corrupt political system.
UPDATE
9/11/12 @ 1239
Alistair McAlpine has strenuously denied allegations that he had any connection with Bryn Estyn or any other children’s home in North Wales.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20267832
References
Norton-Taylor, R. & Pallister, D. (1992) “A NASTY LITTLE OPERATION;
Richard Norton-Taylor and David Pallister on the doctor who digs the dirt for the Conservatives” in The Guardian, 20 February, 1992
Pierce, A. (1992) “Ashdown dossier makes Tory sparks fly” in The Times, 10 February, 1992
REVIEW OF REQUEST UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000
Cabinet Office Internal Review Reference: IR 321173
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