Just a Thought

by Les May

UNLIKE many Labour supporters in Rochdale, I found it difficult to get too excited about whether Richard Farnell did or did not know of the unsavoury goings on at Knowl View School in the early 1990s.

Having spent a good deal of time in unpicking the facts from the fantasy in Simon Danczuk’s book ‘Smile for the Camera’, I concluded that whether he knew or not would have made not the slightest difference to the outcome.   I saw no evidence of a ‘cover up’ by officers of Rochdale Council and felt that they had acted appropriately in a very difficult situation.  This is what I told the Police when I was interviewed as part of Operation Clifton.

I had a second reason for my lack of excitement.  Much of the public discourse failed to distinguish carefully between what the solicitors had to say both in, and especially outside the Inquiry and its official findings.   Just because a solicitor says something does not make it true however often it is repeated.

Had Farnell not stepped down as Leader of the Council in December 2017 the way that Councillor ‘Two Votes’ Rana was dealt with might have been different.   Although this councillor admitted committing two electoral offences the present Leader did not seem to think it was necessary to ask for his resignation from the council, though it should be said that an honourable man would have realised that this was the correct course of action without being asked.

After all Farnell ‘has form’ on dealing with councillors who do not come up to scratch.  Although Danczuk praised his help in the book and he loyally stuck with Danczuk long after the latter had passed his ‘sell by’ date.  it is reported that he had a quiet word with Danczuk’s wife when she proved to be less assiduous in her role as a Councillor than she should have been.

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