Cambridge House, Knowl View and Rochdale Investigation Report April 2018

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Cambridge House, Knowl View and Rochdale Investigation Report April 2018 Cambridge House, Knowl View and Rochdale Investigation Report April 2018 Presented to Parliament pursuant to Section 26 of the Inquiries Act 2005 Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed on 25 April 2018 A report of the Inquiry Panel HC 954-III © Crown copyright 2018 The text of this document (this excludes, where present, the Royal Arms and all departmental or agency logos) may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium provided that it is reproduced accurately and not in a misleading context. The material must be acknowledged as Crown copyright and the document title specified. Where third party material has been identified, permission from the respective copyright holder must be sought. Any enquiries related to this publication should be sent to us at [email protected] or Freepost IICSA INDEPENDENT INQUIRY. This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications ISBN 978-1-5286-0290-7 CCS0318279676 04/18 Printed on paper containing 75% recycled fibre content minimum. Printed in the UK by the APS Group on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. Contents Executive Summary iii Images, maps and plans vii Part A: Introduction 1 The background to the investigation 2 Cyril Smith 3 Knowl View School 5 Reasons for investigating Rochdale and issues considered 8 Standards and terminology 10 References 10 Part B: Cambridge House 11 Background and Cyril Smith’s involvement 12 Allegations made to Lyndon Price in 1965 16 The Lancashire Constabulary investigation 1969–70 17 The Director of Public Prosecutions 20 The office and powers of the Director of Public Prosecutions in 1970 20 The decision of the Director of Public Prosecutions 21 The 1979 Rochdale Alternative Paper articles 25 The Director of Public Prosecutions and the press in 1979 28 Cyril Smith’s knighthood 30 The decisions by the Crown Prosecution Service in 1998 and 1999, and the review in 2012 32 The Greater Manchester Police investigation 1998–99 35 Local rumours about Cyril Smith 36 Allegations of a pact between Labour and the Liberal Democrats 36 Part C: Knowl View School 39 Section 1: Introduction to Knowl View School 40 Knowl View School: the early years 43 Roderick Hilton 47 Smith Street toilets 50 Peer-on-peer abuse at Knowl View School 56 Section 2: The Hilton incident 59 The involvement of Dr Alison Fraser 64 i The meeting of 4 March 1991 66 The Shepherd report 68 The appointment of Stephen Bradshaw 72 Section 3: The Middleton case 78 The Mellor report 79 Her Majesty’s Inspectorate report 84 Further investigations 84 The Cavanagh Report June 1992 89 Second Mellor review 91 Ongoing issues with Roderick Hilton 92 Harry Wild and Cyril Smith 94 Concluding remarks 97 Part D: Police Investigations 99 Police Involvement in Knowl View School 100 Investigations after the Mellor Report 105 Roderick Hilton 107 Operation Cleopatra 108 Operation Jaguar 110 Operation Clifton 112 Part E: Political Accountability 113 Richard Farnell 114 Paul Rowen 124 Culture 128 Elizabeth Lynne, Lorna Fitzsimons, Colin Lambert and Detective Superintendent Huntbach 129 Part F: Other Institutions 133 Foxholes Children’s Home 134 Dennis Leckey 134 Anthony Andrews 136 Raymond Cullens 137 Part G: Conclusions 139 Cambridge House and the involvement of Cyril Smith 140 Knowl View School 142 Police investigations 144 Political accountability 144 Other institutions 145 Annex 147 ii Executive Summary This investigation report concerns child sexual abuse in Rochdale, relating to Cambridge House, Knowl View School and the late Cyril Smith. We are primarily concerned with the institutional responses of Rochdale Borough Council, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service. Smith first came to prominence as a local councillor, then Mayor and later as Member of Parliament from 1972 until his retirement in 1992. He died in 2010. Cambridge House was a hostel for working boys run by a voluntary organisation of which Smith was Honorary Secretary, and was open from 1962 to 1965. He had ready access to the boys living in the hostel, allegedly facilitating his sexual abuse of them under the guise of ‘medical examinations’ including, in most cases, of a boy’s private parts. He also administered punishment for truancy, illness or absconding, which included spanking a bare bottom. He told police in a written statement in 1970 that at all times he was acting ‘in loco parentis’ to the boys, but we found it inexplicable that he thought his role permitted ‘medical examinations’ when he had no medical qualifications. He had considerable control over which boys were admitted to the hostel and, in general, showed a strong, perhaps unduly detailed, interest in children in care as his political career developed. This interest appeared to go unchallenged by the Council. Cyril Smith’s prominence and standing in Rochdale allowed him to exert influence on others locally – in particular, to put pressure on them to keep quiet about any allegations of abuse. Although the Lancashire Constabulary investigation into Smith pursued the allegations robustly and diligently, the Director of Public Prosecutions advised that there should be no prosecution. It has been suggested that Smith or his supporters may have exerted improper influence on the Director of Public Prosecutions, but there is no evidence to support such an allegation. Valuable opportunities were, however, lost in 1998 and 1999 to charge and prosecute Smith during his lifetime, and for the complainants of his alleged abuse to seek justice. Smith’s standing in public life increased, and in 1988 he was awarded a knighthood for his political services. It is clear that there were some frank discussions at the highest political level about the rumours in circulation about him, with no obvious concern for alleged victims. Rather, the concern was about what would be fair to Smith and whether the honours system might subsequently be brought into disrepute. We concluded that this demonstrated a considerable deference to power and an unwillingness to confront the possibility that a person of public prominence might be capable of perpetrating sexual abuse. Cyril Smith’s links to Knowl View School in Rochdale led the Inquiry to a wider investigation of that school and allegations of sexual abuse by other individuals of children who lived there. It was the sexual abuse of children by others that became iii the focus of the Inquiry’s investigation. We heard from complainants of sexual abuse who had been at Knowl View School in a period extending over 25 years, beginning in 1969. The evidence demonstrated that the children who attended the school had a range of complex needs, including learning disabilities, autism and mental health. Many had also suffered from adverse experiences in their family life and had already been abused. We concluded that, far from taking additional steps to protect these children, the school and other institutions had come to regard their sexual abuse while at Knowl View as almost expected, or as something that could not be prevented. The children’s experience of the school was extremely poor at the most basic level of the fabric of the building, which bore no resemblance to a homely environment. Nor was the school safe, secure, caring or therapeutic. It was supposed to offer education and care, but in reality it offered neither in any way that could be seen as adequate, let alone nurturing. The institution failed in its basic function to keep children in its care safe from harm and, in particular, safe from sexual harm, both within and outwith the school. Child sexual abuse involving children from Knowl View occurred from its early years onwards. Within the school there was sexual abuse of boys by staff, and of younger boys by older ones. Sexual exploitation of some boys was also taking place in Rochdale town centre, in the public toilets and bus station, by men paying for sex. Some boys were also trafficked to other towns for that purpose. In a particularly shocking incident in 1990, Roderick Hilton, a known sex offender who had previously been convicted of sexually abusing a boy at Knowl View in 1984, gained access to the school and the boys over two nights, when he indecently assaulted at least one of them. Hilton was well known to the staff of the school, who did nothing over many years to deter him targeting the school. He was imprisoned in 1991 for a series of child sexual offences. Despite this, on his release from prison on licence, he continued to be a malign presence at the school, ‘little’ was done to stop Hilton’s continued access to the grounds and buildings. For most of the school’s existence, staff were at best complacent but arguably complicit in the abuse they knew to be taking place, and they must take their share of the blame for what was allowed to occur. It was our strong conclusion that Knowl View staff simply treated the sexual abuse between boys as ‘normal’, without differentiating between what was experimentation and what was coercive and intimidating. There was little evidence that the school appreciated the profound harm that peer-on-peer sexual abuse could cause. Sexual exploitation of children from the school at Smith Street public toilets was known about by the authorities from at least 1989. Indeed, some Social Services’ staff could see the toilets from their offices, recognised some of the boys as children in care and were deeply suspicious of what was going on, although there was no apparent follow-up. The records of individual children convey a total lack of urgency on the part of the authorities to address the problem and treat the matters involved for what they were – serious sexual assaults.
Recommended publications
  • Mr Simon Danczuk 1
    Mr Simon Danczuk 1 Contents 1. Letter from Mr Paul Turner-Mitchell, 23 October 2014 2 2. Letter from the Commissioner to Mr Paul Turner-Mitchell, 30 October 2014 4 3. Letter from the Commissioner to Mr Simon Danczuk MP, 30 October 2014 4 4. Letter from Mr Simon Danczuk MP to the Commissioner, 18 November 2014 7 5. Letter from the Commissioner to the Registrar, 24 November 2014 8 6. Letter from the Commissioner to Mr Simon Danczuk MP, 24 November 2014 9 7. Letter from the Registrar to the Commissioner, 26 November 2014 9 8. Enclosures to letter of 26 Nov ember 2014 10 9. Letter from the Commissioner to Mr Simon Danczuk MP, 16 December 2014 13 10. Letter from the Commissioner to Mr Simon Danczuk MP, 12 January 2015 14 11. Email from Mr Danczuk MP to the Commissioner, 14 January 2015 16 12. Email from the Commissioner’s office to Mr Danczuk MP, 14 January 2015 17 13. Email from Mr Danczuk MP’s office to the Commissioner’s office, 26 January 201517 14. Email from the Commissioner’s office to Mr Danczuk’s office, 26 January 2015 17 15. Telephone call from the Commissioner’s office to Mr Danczuk’s office, 29 January 2015 18 16. Email from Mr Danczuk MP to the Commissioner, 29 January 2015 18 17. Letter from the Commissioner to Mr Danczuk MP, 2 February 2015 20 18. Extract from the Register of Members’ Financial Interests as of 6 January 2015 20 19. Email from the Commissioner’s office to Mr Danczuk MP, 16 February 2015 22 20.
    [Show full text]
  • Operation Hydrant SIO Advice
    Operation Hydrant SIO advice November 2016 ™ BetterProfessionals forBetterPolicing college.police.uk College of Policing OFFICIAL In the absence of specifi authorised professional practice (APP) in this area, this publication provides a mechanism to share the operational experience of SIOs who have been running such cases. The purpose is to support SIOs to deliver a consistent and effective investigation. Many of the points included provide a framework for dealing with other types of investigation involving domestic abuse, honour-based violence, stalking and harassment, female genital mutilation and human traffic This advice draws on the experience of SIOs who have led investigations of this type and experts who specialise in this area of investigation. Further advice can be obtained from the National Coordinator’s Office. Telephone: S31(1)(a)(b) Email: S31(1)(a)(b) © College of Policing Limited (2016) This publication (excluding all images and logos) is licensed under the terms of the Non-Commercial College Licence v1.1 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence visit http://www.college.police.uk/Legal/Documents/Non_ Commercial_College_Licence.pdf Where we have identified any third-party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at [email protected] ii Operation Hydrant OFFICIAL OFFICIAL College of Policing Contents Foreword by Chief Constable Simon Bailey 03 Preface 04 1 Receiving a report 05 1.1
    [Show full text]
  • The Persistence of Patriarchy Operation Yewtree and the Return to 1970S Feminism
    The persistence of patriarchy Operation Yewtree and the return to 1970s feminism Victoria Browne On 30 May 2014 a conference was held in London the workings of male power, privilege, domination to discuss the work and legacy of Kate Millett, an and violence, but which has become something of American feminist who rose to prominence follow- an embarrassment or anachronism within contem- ing the publication of Sexual Politics in 1970, and her porary feminism. In light of the current sex abuse appearance on the cover of Time magazine later that scandals (and the continuing prevalence of sexual year.1 Elsewhere in London, on the same day of the violence against women and children), I propose conference, popular entertainer Rolf Harris was in that feminists engage in a strategic reappraisal of Southwark Crown Court being tried on twelve counts ‘patriarchy’, to recover a political interpretation of of indecent assault between 1968 and 1986. The trial sexual violence/abuse in terms of structural male was an outcome of ‘Operation Yewtree’, the police power, rather than individual aberration or an ‘abuse investigation tasked in 2012 with gathering evidence of power’ in more general terms. of ‘historic sex abuse’, in the wake of numerous alle- gations that various media personalities and stars of Returning to ‘1970s feminism’ the ‘light entertainment’ world engaged in regular Over the past decade or so, there has been an increas- sexual harassment and abuse of women and children ing level of interest among Anglo-American academic throughout their careers in the 1970s and 1980s. feminists in how ‘1970s’ or ‘second-wave’ feminism It is an interesting piece of timing: whilst a group is remembered (or forgotten) in mainstream public of feminist theorists and activists were gathered discourse, and within feminist discourse itself.
    [Show full text]
  • Practice Case Review 12: Jimmy Savile
    All Wales Basic Safeguarding Practice Reviews Awareness Training Version 2 Practice case review 12: Jimmy Savile Sir Jimmy Savile who died in 2011 at 84 years-old was a well-known radio and television personality who came to public attention as an eccentric radio DJ in the 1960’s. At the time of his death he was respected for his charitable work having been knighted in 1990. He was closely associated with Stoke Mandeville and St James Hospitals. In the year following his death allegations were These reports looked at the various factors that being made about his sexual conduct, as these contributed to the decisions to take no action. gained publicity more individuals came forward to One report concluded that there had been an add their own experiences to a growing list. A ‘over-reliance on personal friendships between pattern of behaviour began to emerge and the Savile and some officers’. Police launched formal criminal investigation into The Health Minister Jeremy Hunt launched an allegations of historical sexual abuse. investigation into Savile’s activities within the NHS, Operation Yewtree commenced in October 2012 barrister Kate Lampard was appointed as the head and the Metropolitan Police Service concluded of this investigation which by November 2013 had that up to 450 people had alleged abuse by Savile. included thirty two NHS hospitals. A report into the findings of this criminal The findings of this investigation, published in investigation published jointly by the Police and June 2014 focussed on the following areas: The NSPCC called ‘Giving Victims a Voice’ found that abuse by Savile spanned a 50 year period and • security and access arrangements, including involved children as young as eight years-old.
    [Show full text]
  • Z675928x Margaret Hodge Mp 06/10/2011 Z9080283 Lorely
    Z675928X MARGARET HODGE MP 06/10/2011 Z9080283 LORELY BURT MP 08/10/2011 Z5702798 PAUL FARRELLY MP 09/10/2011 Z5651644 NORMAN LAMB 09/10/2011 Z236177X ROBERT HALFON MP 11/10/2011 Z2326282 MARCUS JONES MP 11/10/2011 Z2409343 CHARLOTTE LESLIE 12/10/2011 Z2415104 CATHERINE MCKINNELL 14/10/2011 Z2416602 STEPHEN MOSLEY 18/10/2011 Z5957328 JOAN RUDDOCK MP 18/10/2011 Z2375838 ROBIN WALKER MP 19/10/2011 Z1907445 ANNE MCINTOSH MP 20/10/2011 Z2408027 IAN LAVERY MP 21/10/2011 Z1951398 ROGER WILLIAMS 21/10/2011 Z7209413 ALISTAIR CARMICHAEL 24/10/2011 Z2423448 NIGEL MILLS MP 24/10/2011 Z2423360 BEN GUMMER MP 25/10/2011 Z2423633 MIKE WEATHERLEY MP 25/10/2011 Z5092044 GERAINT DAVIES MP 26/10/2011 Z2425526 KARL TURNER MP 27/10/2011 Z242877X DAVID MORRIS MP 28/10/2011 Z2414680 JAMES MORRIS MP 28/10/2011 Z2428399 PHILLIP LEE MP 31/10/2011 Z2429528 IAN MEARNS MP 31/10/2011 Z2329673 DR EILIDH WHITEFORD MP 31/10/2011 Z9252691 MADELEINE MOON MP 01/11/2011 Z2431014 GAVIN WILLIAMSON MP 01/11/2011 Z2414601 DAVID MOWAT MP 02/11/2011 Z2384782 CHRISTOPHER LESLIE MP 04/11/2011 Z7322798 ANDREW SLAUGHTER 05/11/2011 Z9265248 IAN AUSTIN MP 08/11/2011 Z2424608 AMBER RUDD MP 09/11/2011 Z241465X SIMON KIRBY MP 10/11/2011 Z2422243 PAUL MAYNARD MP 10/11/2011 Z2261940 TESSA MUNT MP 10/11/2011 Z5928278 VERNON RODNEY COAKER MP 11/11/2011 Z5402015 STEPHEN TIMMS MP 11/11/2011 Z1889879 BRIAN BINLEY MP 12/11/2011 Z5564713 ANDY BURNHAM MP 12/11/2011 Z4665783 EDWARD GARNIER QC MP 12/11/2011 Z907501X DANIEL KAWCZYNSKI MP 12/11/2011 Z728149X JOHN ROBERTSON MP 12/11/2011 Z5611939 CHRIS
    [Show full text]
  • Justice for Historic Sexual Abuse
    Justice for historic sexual abuse Felicity Gerry: high-profile cases are the tip of an enormous problem 1 of 1 Felicity Gerry: high-profile cases are the tip of an enormous problem Felicity Gerry Published 1 minute ago Victims of abuse may seek criminal justice, but the truth is that many will have to look to the civil courts instead Men like Jimmy Savile offended with impunity as law-makers took a long time to react to sexual offending. It is common for complaints to be delayed through fear, trauma and an old- fashioned belief that victims will be ignored. The high-profile cases are the tip of an enormous problem. However, while victims of historic sexual abuse want criminal justice, the truth is that many will be disappointed and may have to look to the civil courts instead. In any criminal trial for past offending, the law at the time applies. Victims are encouraged to complain but sometimes the CPS has to tell them it is too late. After a delay of 30 years, it is very hard to get a criminal case off the ground. In England and Wales, for many years, the maximum sentence for indecently assaulting a female was two years, unlawful sexual intercourse was time barred after a year and violence was condoned by giving abusers the excuse of “lawful chastisement”. Weak laws effectively allowed sexual offences to be committed behind closed doors with no proper police intervention. Now, perpetrators are dead or too old and infirm to be tried or relevant records have been destroyed so cases cannot go ahead.
    [Show full text]
  • Chilling Day Special Branch Swooped to Seize ANOTHER Dossier on VIP Abusers: 16 Mps' Names Mentioned in 1984 Report on Paedophile Lobby's Influence in Westminster
    Chilling day Special Branch swooped to seize ANOTHER dossier on VIP abusers: 16 MPs' names mentioned in 1984 report on paedophile lobby's influence in Westminster • Police raided newspaper offices of Don Hale, editor of Bury Messenger • He'd recently been given sensitive files by Labour politician Barbara Castle • Documents included typewritten minutes of meetings that had been held at Westminster in support of paedophile agenda • Included details of a host of Establishment figures who had apparently pledged support to their cause • Also mentioned multiple times was Tory minister Sir Rhodes Boyson, a well-known enthusiast for corporal punishment, and Education Secretary Sir Keith Joseph By Guy Adams for the Daily Mail Published: 00:59 GMT, 19 July 2014 | Updated: 20:03 GMT, 19 July 2014 X Barbara Castle: Worried about rising influence of paedophile lobby The knock on the door came early one day in the famously dry summer of 1984. It was just after 8 am, and Don Hale, the young editor of the Bury Messenger, was reading the daily papers at his desk as his reporters were beginning to arrive at the office. As Hale, then 31, answered the door, a trio of plain-clothes detectives barged in, followed by a dozen police officers in uniform. What happened next was, in Hale’s words, ‘like something out of totalitarian East Germany rather than Margaret Thatcher’s supposedly free Britain’. The detectives identified themselves as Special Branch, the division of the police responsible for matters of national security. ‘They began to flash warrant cards and bark questions,’ says Hale.
    [Show full text]
  • Freedom of the Borough Review – the Late Cyril Smith
    Report to Council Date of Meeting 17 October 2018 Portfolio Leader & Finance Report Author Monitoring Officer Public/Private Document Public Freedom of the Borough Review – the late Cyril Smith Executive Summary 1. Following a request from a member of the public, who was one of Cyril Smith’s victims in the 1960s. Council is asked to consider rescinding the decision to confer the Freedom of the Borough on the late Cyril Smith, in light of the widespread public concern about his abuse of children and young people and the findings of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) in their interim report published in April 2018. Recommendation 2. (a) That Minute 33 of the Policy & Resources Committee held on 19 August 1992 be rescinded forthwith. (b) That the Monitoring Officer be delegated to update all documents of record and public information within the control of the Council accordingly. Reason for Recommendation 3. Council is the decision-making body with the authority to act. It is an opportunity to reconsider whether the grounds for conferring the Council’s highest civic honour on one of its citizens – given what is now known and understood about his conduct - are still valid. Key Points for Consideration 4. (a) Under Section 249 of the Local Government Act 1972, Freedom of the Borough may be conferred on ‘a person of distinction, and [who has] rendered eminent services to [Rochdale].’ On 19 August 1992, the Council’s then Policy & Resources Committee resolved to confer the Freedom of the Borough on the then Sir Cyril Smith. (b) Subsequently, according to local press reports, the award was conferred at a Town Hall ceremony on Monday 23 November 1992.
    [Show full text]
  • Cambridge House, Knowl View and Rochdale Cambridge House, Knowl View and Rochdale Investigation Report Investigationreport April 2018
    Cambridge House, Knowl View and Rochdale and Rochdale View Knowl House, Cambridge Cambridge House, Knowl View and Rochdale Investigation Report Investigation ReportInvestigation April 2018 HC 954-III 2018 Cambridge House, Knowl View and Rochdale Investigation Report April 2018 Presented to Parliament pursuant to Section 26 of the Inquiries Act 2005 Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed on 25 April 2018 A report of the Inquiry Panel HC 954-III © Crown copyright 2018 The text of this document (this excludes, where present, the Royal Arms and all departmental or agency logos) may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium provided that it is reproduced accurately and not in a misleading context. The material must be acknowledged as Crown copyright and the document title specified. Where third party material has been identified, permission from the respective copyright holder must be sought. Any enquiries related to this publication should be sent to us at [email protected] or Freepost IICSA INDEPENDENT INQUIRY. This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications ISBN 978-1-5286-0290-7 CCS0318279676 04/18 Printed on paper containing 75% recycled fibre content minimum. Printed in the UK by the APS Group on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. Contents Executive Summary iii Images, maps and plans vii Part A: Introduction 1 The background to the investigation 2 Cyril Smith 3 Knowl View School 5 Reasons for investigating Rochdale and issues considered 8 Standards and terminology
    [Show full text]
  • Red-Rose-2004.Pdf
    04 The Magazine of the Old Georgians' Association Contents President's Letter 1 Chairman's Leffer 4 Editorial 6 Officers and Addresses 7 Former Chairmen of the Association 8 New Georgians 9 News of Old Georgians 10 Obituaries 16 ,,., Where Are They Now? Dinner Guests 23 News Desk 24 College Life 30 Becoming a Beacon College 34 The Hilary Royden Bequest 36 Adult Education 3E Book Shelf 39 Letters to the Editor 47 The AGM and Maundy Thursday 55 Old Georgians'Website 57 Extracts from the Website Guest Book 59 The OG ac'counts 63 Twenty five years ago 65 Annual Dinner 2004 67 Memorabilia 69 Calendar of Events 2004 70 NEW! e-mailaddress:[email protected] NEW! website:- www.kgv.ac.uk I feel proud and privilegcd to be Principal ol this wondcrful President's Letter College. I also feel honoured to carry on the traditions so vcry ttlrtly cstablished by my predecessors in Krng Gcorge V School' Dear Old Georgians, The last sentence of my letter last year asked you to wish us I rvish you all thc very best lor 2004. well for an Ofsted inspection due in February 2003. I am delighted to tell you that the College received a glowing Sincerely, report. Governance, Leadership and Management, Student Support, Hilary Anslow OBE English, Visual and Performing Arts and Media, Business Studies and Economics, Geography, History, Religious Studies, Classical Civilisation and Archaeology achieved gradel,'Outstanding'. All other subject areas achieved the next highest grade, a2. As a result of the Report, the College was given Learning and Skills Council Beacon Status, one of the first 15 colleges in the country to be given this award.
    [Show full text]
  • Police Witch-Hunt of the High and Mighty Continues
    7/18/2017 Police Witch-Hunt Of The High And Mighty Continues The Latest News NEWS ENTERTAINMENT HEALTH SCIENCE POLITICS FOOD TECH Search Home / Featured / Police Witch-Hunt Of The High And Mighty Continues Police Witch-Hunt Of The High And Mighty Continues RECENT POSTS CRIME FEATURED NEWS By Alexander Baron 7 Steps to Writing an Awesome Business School Essay Bacteria Powered Solar Cell Makes Clean Energy Zika Virus Associated With New Type Of Brain Disease Pertussis (Whooping Cough) Immunisation Prole Raised Using Mice To Predict Zika Infection In People 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 11 5 0 SHARES a d y n f h k m The Sunday tabloids contained reports that the homes of Leon Brittan and Lord Bramall have been searched in connection with allegations of historical sexual abuse. If the name of the latter is not familiar to you, he is Britain’s most decorated soldier. He is also 91 years old and a veteran of the Second World War. Leon Brittan was of course best known as Home Secretary under Margaret Thatcher; he died in January this year, and like Jimmy Savile that made him fair game for any lowlife who crawled out of the woodwork, the gutter or the sewer to besmirch his good name, although in Brittan’s case the accusers appear to have crawled out of the local booby hatch. The rumours about Leon Brittan actually began way back in the 1980s. If you were around then, you may have heard that he had been arrested in Brighton for sexually abusing a child but had been released after a phone call to one of his protectors in high places.
    [Show full text]
  • Transport Operators • Marketing Strategies for Ridership and Maximising Revenue • LRT Solutions for Mid-Size Towns
    THE INTERNATIONAL LIGHT RAIL MAGAZINE www.lrta.org www.tautonline.com FEBRUARY 2015 NO. 926 NEW TRAMWAYS: CHINA EMBRACES LIGHT RAIL Houston: Two new lines for 2015 and more to come Atlanta Streetcar launches service Paris opens T6 and T8 tramlines Honolulu metro begins tracklaying ISSN 1460-8324 UK devolution San Diego 02 £4.25 Will regional powers Siemens and partners benefit light rail? set new World Record 9 771460 832043 2015 INTEGRATION AND GLOBALISATION Topics and panel debates include: Funding models and financial considerations for LRT projects • Improving light rail's appeal and visibility • Low Impact Light Rail • Harnessing local suppliers • Making light rail procurement more economical • Utilities replacement and renewal • EMC approvals and standards • Off-wire and energy recovery systems • How can regional devolution benefit UK LRT? • Light rail safety and security • Optimising light rail and traffic interfaces • Track replacement & renewal – Issues and lessons learned • Removing obsolescence: Modernising the UK's second-generation systems • Revenue protection strategies • Big data: Opportunities for transport operators • Marketing strategies for ridership and maximising revenue • LRT solutions for mid-size towns Do you have a topic you’d like to share with a forum of 300 senior decision-makers? We are still welcoming abstracts for consideration until 12 January 2015. June 17-18, 2015: Nottingham, UK Book now via www.tautonline.com SUPPORTED BY 72 CONTENTS The official journal of the Light Rail Transit Association FEBRUARY 2015 Vol. 78 No. 926 www.tramnews.net EDITORIAL 52 EDITOR Simon Johnston Tel: +44 (0)1733 367601 E-mail: [email protected] 13 Orton Enterprise Centre, Bakewell Road, Peterborough PE2 6XU, UK ASSOCIATE EDITOR Tony Streeter E-mail: [email protected] WORLDWIDE EDITOR Michael Taplin Flat 1, 10 Hope Road, Shanklin, Isle of Wight PO37 6EA, UK.
    [Show full text]