by
Les May
THE
decision to posthumously strip Cyril Smith of his ‘Freedom
of the Borough’ is unlikely to change the impression that
Rochdale is a town where some strange things are allowed to go
unchecked.
What
it demonstrates is that Rochdale councillors are far happier with a
symbolic gesture against a dead man who, more than 50 years ago at
Cambridge House hostel, took an unsavoury interest in the genitals of
a number of young men, than censuring a fellow councillor who has
admitted to a ‘corrupt practice’ at the local
election six months ago.
I
don’t make reference to Smith in regard to Knowl View because the
Danczuk book so muddied the waters that I doubt we shall ever have a
true picture of Smith’s involvement, if any, in the unsavoury
goings on at the school. What we do know is that both the reports
submitted to RMBC in the early 1990s dealt with sexual activity
between the boys, some of it coercive in nature.
What
will be of interest is whether the people behind the recent move
against the memory of Smith will feel that they have to call upon
Richard Farnell to be thrown out of the Labour party when the bill
for ‘compensation’ falls on the desk of the Chief
Executive, as it surely will. Because of course that’s what the
character assassination after Child Sex Abuse inquiry of Richard Farnell, was all
about, upping the compo!
I
remain unconvinced about Richard Farnell’s culpability as I don’t
think whether he knew or did not know about the goings on at Knowl
View would have made the slightest difference to the action taken to
try to sort it out. The same goes for Paul Rowen. Hindsight is such
a wonderful thing!
********
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment