Lib Dem peer quits the House of Lords for covering up for a paedophile

[Languishingfemale]

Finally a Lib Dem politician has accepted some responsibility for their shameful covering up the activities of a paedophile.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8042803/Ex-Liberal-leader-David-Steel-QUITS-Lords-child-abuse-inquiry-criticism.html

To be fair, all political parties have been criticised: A consistent pattern that has emerged from the evidence we have heard is a failure by almost every institution to put the needs and safety of children who have survived sexual abuse first

Shame on the lot of them.

[Binterested]

Would have no way of knowing what was motivating Aimee....

[theflushedzebra]

Shocking in so many ways. I'm dizzy with all this stuff tbh.

Why has this taken so long to come to light? Cyril Smith has ben common knowledge for donkeys years.

I'm shocked at Steel - I never had him down as a paedophile apologist. He was a decent politician I thought. He was instrumental in gaining women their right to abortion, was he not? It fair hurts my soul to see this.

I would never be able to trust or support the Libdems again. So much wrong with them. They're not liberal democrats they're the Libertarian Queer Theory Party.

[DidoLamenting]

He was instrumental in gaining women their right to abortion, was he not?

He played a major part. The 1967 Act was a private member's bill submitted by him.

It's odd to see him described in the thread title as just "Lib Dem peer"

[Neolara]

Things were very different in the 70s and 80s. Mandy Smith anyone? Dated middle-aged Bill Wyman as a 13 yo and labelled a wild child in all the papers. No-one accused him of grooming her. She was just considered fair game. Totally grim viewing from standards of today. I'm not sure people really talked about sexual abuse much them and I don't think it was taken particularly seriously. My dad sat on a jury in the 1970s for an incest case. He said one of the jury refused to find the father guilty as they simply did not believe a father would have sex with their child. It was simply unbelievable to them. I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who thought that now.

[nibdedibble]

The atmosphere was different (Mandy/Bill was iirc standard fare in the News of the World) but also, not everyone turned a blind eye. My dad grew up in a small town, and the father of a classmate was run out of town when it was discovered he’d been abusing his daughter. That was in the 60s. It wasn’t the case that abuse was just tolerated. I can’t explain why Steel couldn’t speak up. You just never know what motivates people.

[R0wantrees]

Dated middle-aged Bill Wyman as a 13 yo and labelled a wild child in all the papers. No-one accused him of grooming her.

Some did.
The narrative by some newspapers wasn't accepted by many.

[Lordfrontpaw]

And still - everyone seemed to know (my mum certainly did in the 70s) but people with friends in high places were Teflon and anyone raising concerns were slapped down.

Then we had the westminster paedophile ring and - a while back - the satanic child abuse cases. The police seems to be not fit for purpose when it comes to investigating these types of cases. Why is this?

[Mockersisrightasusual]

There was a lax attitude to those underage girls deemed to be 'wild,' but there was also a massive amount of homophobia, such as the Sun having to pay out to Elton John on more than one occasion.

And yet the likes of Smith and the football coaches who abused boys were somehow exempt and never tainted with the homophobic brush. brush.

And Wyman made the top ten at least with 'Je Suis un Rock Star,' which was his take on the whole scandal. Bit of a laugh.

[ListeningQuietly]

and - a while back - the satanic child abuse cases.
That one was never real ....

[Lordfrontpaw]

Exactly but ‘experts’ were believed without evidence and the stories were so wild, you’d have to be a fool to take them on face value. Children were taken from families, parents smeared...

[Mockersisrightasusual]

"Satantic" child abuse was the product of imported US lobby groups passing on their cockamamey conspiracy theories. It led in time to what Viz portrayed as "The Bottom Inspectors," with their reflex anal dilation test that created the very evidence it was seeking to find.

The Cleveland Scandal was not Bea Campbell's finest hour.

[R0wantrees]

26th February 2020Times,
'Abuse inquiry: Labour ministers led group that backed Paedophile Information Exchange'

(extracts)
The former Labour cabinet minister Patricia Hewitt must accept responsibility for the “foolish and misguided support” given to a paedophile campaign by a leading human rights group, the inquiry report said.

The report said that the NCCL’s leaders “should have known better” and: “There was a fundamental failure to see the problem and a lack of moral courage to confront it.”

The inquiry said that the NCCL, now known as Liberty, was guilty of a “deference to ideas”. Its desire to be open-minded and “push at the boundaries of what was considered appropriate” had “blinded them to the danger and led to some seriously flawed thinking”.

The report said: “It is difficult to come to any other conclusion than Hayman was treated differently from his co-defendants on the basis of who he was. In other words, his prominent position gave rise to . . . special treatment.”

The inquiry added: “There is no question but that Hayman was the beneficiary of preferential, differential and unduly deferential treatment as a person of public prominence.”

The case showed the “culture of deference” that allowed a number of paedophile politicians and officials to escape investigation and prosecution."

www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/abuse-inquiry-labour-ministers-led-group-that-backed-paedophile-information-exchange-d0vv229rr

[ErrolTheDragon]

The LDs are very hot on raising the issue of female pedophiles though. (Swinson, Brinton's awful red herring in the lords debate this week)

[R0wantrees]

These are cross-party & systemic failures in many organisations:

Daily Mail article from OP
(extract)
"The report identified how former prime minister Margaret Thatcher and ex-Conservative party chairman Norman (now Lord) Tebbit were aware of rumours about MP Peter Morrison having 'a penchant for small boys' but did nothing about it.

The report said the allegations 'should have rung alarm bells in government'.

But, instead, 'considerations of political embarrassment and the risk to security were paramount, while the activities of an alleged child sexual abuser who held senior positions in government and the Conservative Party were deliberately overlooked, as was the course of public justice'.

Indeed, the inquiry found there was a 'consistent culture for years' in the whips' offices to 'protect the image' of their party by 'playing down rumours and protecting politicians from gossip or scandal at all costs'.

It meant victims' interests were often overlooked, with many organisations failing to pass on allegations to police.

The report also found senior diplomat Sir Peter Hayman was the beneficiary of 'preferential, differential and unduly deferential treatment' over claims he sent obscene material in the post, following a meeting between his solicitor and the then-director of public prosecutions.

There was also 'striking evidence' of how 'wealth and social status insulated perpetrators of child sexual abuse' from being brought to justice, as in the case of Tory MP Victor Montagu.

The report stated: 'A consistent pattern that has emerged from the evidence we have heard is a failure by almost every institution to put the needs and safety of children who have survived sexual abuse first. (continues)
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8042803/Ex-Liberal-leader-David-Steel-QUITS-Lords-child-abuse-inquiry-criticism.html

[Lordfrontpaw]

Maybe its because 'small boys and girls' don't vote.

[R0wantrees]

More that abusive sexual behaviours by (predominantly males) are minimised & normalised by many people & large parts of society.

[ErrolTheDragon]

These are cross-party & systemic failures in many organisations

Let's not forget the 'lords spiritual'.
Carey hasn't resigned from the HoL despite his significant role in covering up the sex abuse committed by Bishop Peter Ball.

[R0wantrees]

Let's not forget the 'lords spiritual'.
Carey hasn't resigned from the HoL despite his significant role in covering up the sex abuse committed by Bishop Peter Ball.

Yes
In the sense that some media are focussing on David Steel he is being 'scape-goated'. There are many members of the House of Lords who should no longer be there.

[RuffleCrow]

It's hugely disappointing, especially given that David Steele championed The Abortion Act 1967. Can't we have one man, ever, who does something good without also doing something despicable?

[ErrolTheDragon]

Maybe it's in part because our expectations of Steele - who in other areas has been a 'good man' - are higher than for clerics? We expected Steele to conform to modern ethical standards.

[R0wantrees]

People will also be focussed on the headline & first half of the DailyMail article in OP & largely ignoring the latter half.

[ErrolTheDragon]

Here is the Times version of the story

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tom-watsons-westminster-sex-ring-claims-dismissed-by-child-abuse-inquiry-3nlwcdntz?shareToken=e7ebbdc04e5182abb2dfa860b0d1faa9

And leading article

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-times-view-on-the-damning-report-into-claims-of-a-vip-paedophile-ring-at-westminster-abuse-of-power-65glrtr5l?shareToken=5aaf4749ff3f1e40f12253548d103cab

And the piece on Watson to which the above also relates.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tom-watson-peerage-must-be-blocked-as-paedophile-ring-debunked-9flfgfpp2?shareToken=470fd6597378bdbfe922cc3f967c4cab

[R0wantrees]

Interesting to note that the focus is on condemning Tom Watson.

[Tanith]

Yes, I thought the same.
David Steele resigns from the Lords because he did nothing to stop the abuse of children and Tom Watson is threatened with no peerage because he did try to do something.

Not a good look, is it?

[nibdedibble]

Can't we have one man, ever, who does something good without also doing something despicable? RuffleCrow this is the zeitgeist. So tired. All my female friends are tired. Think in a couple of generations’ time we’re going to see a real dip in population thanks to the ever-fucking-present inability of men to grasp that they need to just be better.