Wilfrid Brambell, the actor, became the latest BBC celebrity accused of child sex abuse last night after it emerged that two people had come forward in Jersey claiming to be his victims.
Brambell, who played the “dirty old man” Albert Steptoe in the comedy Steptoe and Son, allegedly abused two boys in a theatre in Jersey at the height of his fame in the 1970s.
One of the alleged victims was a resident at the notorious Haut de la Garenne children’s home which was at the centre of a high-profile police investigation into historical child abuse on the island in 2008.
He claimed to have been taken to the island’s main theatre, the Opera House, as a “treat” before being taken backstage to meet Brambell, who he accuses of molesting him in a back room.
The second victim, who had not been a Haut de la Garenne resident, also claimed to have been abused by Brambell at the theatre. The alleged victims were aged 12-13 at the time.
Brambell, who died in 1985, was homosexual and had a criminal record for “persistently importuning for an immoral purpose” in a public lavatory dating from 1962.
The allegations were made to former Jersey health minister Stuart Syvret, the most outspoken critic of the island’s failure to deal with child abuse when the Haut de la Garenne scandal erupted four years ago.
He was contacted by dozens of people who had been abused on the island, some of whom named Jimmy Savile as one of their abusers.
Mr Syvret told The Daily Telegraph: “Two of the people who contacted me said that they were abused by Wilfrid Brambell.
“I was told that he visited the back rooms of the Jersey Opera House and abuse would happen there.
Read More: The Telegraph
Thursday 18 October 2012
BBC executives covered up a second paedophile who abused children in the toilets at the Corporation's studios, a leading journalist claimed.
BBC executives covered up a second paedophile who abused children in the toilets at the Corporation's studios, a leading journalist claimed.
John Simpson said a radio presenter, at the time one of the biggest names at the BBC, preyed upon youngsters after they won competitions to tour the studios and meet him.
But when Simpson, who has worked at the BBC for more than 40 years, tried to expose the predatory paedophile after his death, bosses called him an ‘idiot’ and instead told to praise the star in his obituary.
Veteran war correspondent Simpson made the claims in his 1999 autobiography Strange Places, Questionable People, first published in 1998, where he refers to the abuser as simply 'Uncle Dick'.
But in the light of the Jimmy Savile scandal they will make uncomfortable re-reading for the Corporation.
Days ago a Jim'll Fix It director claimed he made several attempts to expose disgraced Jimmy Savile to the BBC but had been ignored by bosses.
David Nicolson, 67, said he reported Savile decades ago when he caught the star having sex with a 15 or 16-year-old girl in his dressing room. Yet he was told by bosses: ‘That’s Jimmy’ and ‘that’s the way it goes’.
Claims that bosses covered up child abuse spanning 40 years by a second paedophile, said to be 'a children's favourite', will cast further doubt on the practices at the Corporation.
He claims the BBC's attempt to silence the claims went as high up as the then Director General, as reported by The Sun.
The radio presenter he claims abused children was one of the BBC's biggest names from the 1920s until his death in 1967.
Read More: DAILY MAIL
John Simpson said a radio presenter, at the time one of the biggest names at the BBC, preyed upon youngsters after they won competitions to tour the studios and meet him.
But when Simpson, who has worked at the BBC for more than 40 years, tried to expose the predatory paedophile after his death, bosses called him an ‘idiot’ and instead told to praise the star in his obituary.
Veteran war correspondent Simpson made the claims in his 1999 autobiography Strange Places, Questionable People, first published in 1998, where he refers to the abuser as simply 'Uncle Dick'.
But in the light of the Jimmy Savile scandal they will make uncomfortable re-reading for the Corporation.
Days ago a Jim'll Fix It director claimed he made several attempts to expose disgraced Jimmy Savile to the BBC but had been ignored by bosses.
David Nicolson, 67, said he reported Savile decades ago when he caught the star having sex with a 15 or 16-year-old girl in his dressing room. Yet he was told by bosses: ‘That’s Jimmy’ and ‘that’s the way it goes’.
Claims that bosses covered up child abuse spanning 40 years by a second paedophile, said to be 'a children's favourite', will cast further doubt on the practices at the Corporation.
He claims the BBC's attempt to silence the claims went as high up as the then Director General, as reported by The Sun.
The radio presenter he claims abused children was one of the BBC's biggest names from the 1920s until his death in 1967.
Read More: DAILY MAIL
Jimmy Savile: Labour faces embarrassment over former child sex claims
Labour faces embarrassment over its calls for a wide-ranging inquiry into Jimmy Savile as senior party figures have previously called for the relaxation of child sex laws.
Harriet Harman, the Opposition deputy leader, said the allegations that the late TV and radio presenter abused dozens of young boys and girls had “cast a stain” on the BBC and other trusted institutions.
But at the time Savile was at the height of his fame, Miss Harman was calling for the relaxation of the law on child pornography.
She was a leading light in the pressure group now known as Liberty, which advocated the lowering of the age of consent to 14.
The organisation, then run by the Health Secretary under Tony Blair, Patricia Hewitt, even counted among its affiliates a number of extreme pro-paedophilia groups whose leaders were later jailed.
It means that any independent public inquiry into the culture that allowed Savile to abuse children for so long with impunity, could end up looking into the radical left-wing demands for the liberalisation of child sex laws that were made in the 1970s.
Read more: The Telegraph
Harriet Harman, the Opposition deputy leader, said the allegations that the late TV and radio presenter abused dozens of young boys and girls had “cast a stain” on the BBC and other trusted institutions.
But at the time Savile was at the height of his fame, Miss Harman was calling for the relaxation of the law on child pornography.
She was a leading light in the pressure group now known as Liberty, which advocated the lowering of the age of consent to 14.
The organisation, then run by the Health Secretary under Tony Blair, Patricia Hewitt, even counted among its affiliates a number of extreme pro-paedophilia groups whose leaders were later jailed.
It means that any independent public inquiry into the culture that allowed Savile to abuse children for so long with impunity, could end up looking into the radical left-wing demands for the liberalisation of child sex laws that were made in the 1970s.
Read more: The Telegraph
Sunday 14 October 2012
Benefits
There is a great deal of talk these days about cutting benefits and the main targets seem to be the neediest, but are we approaching this from the wrong end?
The main concern at the moment is to push people back into work, (which I agree with in principle). My concern is that when they are back in work they will still have to be in receipt of benefits because they will probably be on the minimum wage, which leads me to the conclusion that benefits are being paid not to assist the worker but they are a form of subsidy to the employer so that he can pay low wages.
What I propose is a minimum wage of nine pounds per hour for a 40 hour week making (£360pw), a man with a wife and two children will not pay tax or insurance on that amount, anything over that amount will be taxed and insurance paid, the family will not be entitled to benefits, if the other partner works the full amount of that partners earnings will be subject to tax.
A flat rate of 20% tax on all earnings under thirty thousand pa.
A flat rate of 30% tax on all earnings under forty thousand pa.
A flat rate of 40% tax on all earnings over fifty thousand pa.
The new French government has introduced a so-called 'rich tax' and the rich have sold up and left. It has not worked, there the French government is now collecting less in taxes.
The idea here is to take the employed off benefits by ensuring that they can earn a living wage. We achieve this by requiring employers to pay an honest wage for honest work.
By Erik UKR
The main concern at the moment is to push people back into work, (which I agree with in principle). My concern is that when they are back in work they will still have to be in receipt of benefits because they will probably be on the minimum wage, which leads me to the conclusion that benefits are being paid not to assist the worker but they are a form of subsidy to the employer so that he can pay low wages.
What I propose is a minimum wage of nine pounds per hour for a 40 hour week making (£360pw), a man with a wife and two children will not pay tax or insurance on that amount, anything over that amount will be taxed and insurance paid, the family will not be entitled to benefits, if the other partner works the full amount of that partners earnings will be subject to tax.
A flat rate of 20% tax on all earnings under thirty thousand pa.
A flat rate of 30% tax on all earnings under forty thousand pa.
A flat rate of 40% tax on all earnings over fifty thousand pa.
The new French government has introduced a so-called 'rich tax' and the rich have sold up and left. It has not worked, there the French government is now collecting less in taxes.
The idea here is to take the employed off benefits by ensuring that they can earn a living wage. We achieve this by requiring employers to pay an honest wage for honest work.
By Erik UKR
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