For the tidal wave of new legislation passed by the government of Tony Blair, one Act in particular merits a special mention today. In 2000, the then Labour administration passed the Freedom of Information Act. Under the auspices of this Act, the BBC applied to have a report published which had been written a staggering 17 years ago. In a recent post, I suggested that we all need to start looking a little closer to home before we can start casting judgement on the legitimacy of democracy in countries like Egypt. The publication of this report today is nothing less than an indictment on the Public bodies who were charged with a duty of care at children's homes in North Wales during the 1970s, 80s and 90s.
That the authorities concerned attempted to suppress the publication of the Jillings Report is contemptible. Their reasons for doing so leave you feeling sick to your stomach. The report was shelved principally due to fears of compensation claims. To hell with the children who had been abused! For the record, I sincerely hope that the compensation amounts which will now be awarded will be all the more large both for those affected and to other Public bodies out there who fail to put the interests of the people first.
I have to stress that the report published today is but an edited version of the original but even that is better than nothing. At least elements of the truth are now in the public domain where they have always belonged. The abuse which took place was such that some of the children actually took their own lives. Given such damning revelations, I wonder what sort of people could feasibly continue to protect their own interests? Even when it was reported that children had been abused, the ensuing response was too little too late. Most disturbing of all, the interests of children were sacrificed to safeguard professional position. Five men who worked at Bryn Estyn were convicted of serious offences against children aged 10-16. The arrogance reached new limits because several staff refused to meet the investigating panel! Amazingly, it wasn't known how many statements were handed in to the Crown Prosecution Service. It was also not known how many of the alleged abusers (including police officers!) were named in the statements. An earlier report at another children's home was shelved over fears regarding the prejudice of a prosecution and, if you can believe it, insurance worries. A public judicial inquiry never happened despite the original report calling for one. Last but by no means least, North Wales Police chose not to conduct independent investigations into allegations against both former and serving police officers. When I read these conclusions it chilled me to the bone. North Wales Police did not accept that it was inappropriate for it to investigate itself. If there was a scale to measure arrogance, this would score a perfect 10!
It has to be pointed out that this hasn't been a small scale investigation. Evidence was gathered from 650 people mainly focused on 7 homes. The then Clwyd County Council commissioned the report. The six North Wales councils of today with their new names today recognised that the release of the report might bring distress to the families of those involved. If I were one of the families involved, I am sure I would be far more distressed by the fact that the report had been conveniently suppressed for so long. Councillor Malcolm King has revealed that the council's insurers were "leaning on" the county council to say as little as possible and that those who wished to speak out should be relieved of their office.
Needless to say, several prominent players have come out to express their regret now that the report has been forced out in to the open but I wonder where they were these last 17 years? It is an absolute scandal that those in positions of such power and responsibility should be allowed to operate in this manner.
To illustrate how far we have come as a society since those dark days, I draw your attention to the "Plebgate" affair which resulted in the resignation from the cabinet of Andrew Mitchell MP. I bet you can't guess who has been charged with the responsibility of impartially investigating the police officers involved? Correct - it is the police!
So the next time you see the terrible events in Egypt with the army effectively running their "democracy", just remind yourself that things aren't too rosy in our own back yard either! On a final note, I question the extent to which this report would have been pushed had it not been for the case of Jimmy Saville which ironically served as a catalyst for this and many other cases of a similar nature. I also can't help but wonder if there are any people still employed in their jobs who were either directly or indirectly involved in the abuse. If there are, I can only wonder what goes on in their heads. Attempts to sweep events such as these under the carpet reflect well on nobody involved and I hope that in the fullness of time justice is done if only for the sake of those who suffered. They were just kids and couldn't protect themselves. The scandal is that nobody else did!
I don't ask for people to share my posts but on this occasion I will make an exception because people need to know about this. Share this as much as you like because the more who get to know the facts the better. That at least is a step in the direction of democracy.
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