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Lord McAlpine: Newsnight consigned me to lowest circle of hell Lord McAlpine: Newsnight consigned me to lowest circle of hell
(35 minutes later)
The former Conservative party treasurer, Lord McAlpine, has spoken for the first time about how he was "consigned to the lowest circle of hell" by the BBC Newsnight report that inaccurately linked him to child abuse claims at a north Wales care home.The former Conservative party treasurer, Lord McAlpine, has spoken for the first time about how he was "consigned to the lowest circle of hell" by the BBC Newsnight report that inaccurately linked him to child abuse claims at a north Wales care home.
In his first interview since the Newsnight story was broadcast on 2 November, an infirm-sounding McAlpine described how he was "shattered" by being mistakenly identified as the Tory peer linked to child abuse allegations.In his first interview since the Newsnight story was broadcast on 2 November, an infirm-sounding McAlpine described how he was "shattered" by being mistakenly identified as the Tory peer linked to child abuse allegations.
McAlpine, 70, told BBC Radio 4's The World at One on Thursday that he believes he will never fully clear his name, adding: "This is the legacy that sadly the BBC have left me with."McAlpine, 70, told BBC Radio 4's The World at One on Thursday that he believes he will never fully clear his name, adding: "This is the legacy that sadly the BBC have left me with."
"It gets in to your bones. It gets into [you], it makes you angry. And that's extremely bad for you to be angry. And it gets into your soul. You just think there's something wrong with the world.""It gets in to your bones. It gets into [you], it makes you angry. And that's extremely bad for you to be angry. And it gets into your soul. You just think there's something wrong with the world."
Although Newsnight did not name McAlpine in its report, the Tory peer was wrongly linked by internet rumour to the Bryn Estate child abuse allegations. The BBC and Steve Messham, the victim who initially accused McAlpine, later apologised for the mistaken identity.Although Newsnight did not name McAlpine in its report, the Tory peer was wrongly linked by internet rumour to the Bryn Estate child abuse allegations. The BBC and Steve Messham, the victim who initially accused McAlpine, later apologised for the mistaken identity.
Asked by the BBC reporter Becky Milligan whether he considered ringing the corporation when he first heard the allegations, McAlpine said: "I was in a state of total shock, really. I couldn't understand ... you see I was in southern Italy, I don't have television, I don't get newspapers, we don't have the internet. To suddenly find I was mixed up in all this and I didn't know what Newsnight were going to say. It really was a horrendous shock."Asked by the BBC reporter Becky Milligan whether he considered ringing the corporation when he first heard the allegations, McAlpine said: "I was in a state of total shock, really. I couldn't understand ... you see I was in southern Italy, I don't have television, I don't get newspapers, we don't have the internet. To suddenly find I was mixed up in all this and I didn't know what Newsnight were going to say. It really was a horrendous shock."
More details soon ... McAlpine said he feared he would never fully restore his reputation and that the public would rather believe the "insidious and awful" proverb, "there's no smoke without fire".
He added: "I'm 70 years old, I've got a very dicky heart. And so I don't want to die. Not for another 20 years at least, but I don't see it going away completely. I think in the light of the arrangements that I can make, my lawyer will make, anyone who does bring it up is going to be very, very foolish."
McAlpine fled his home in southern Italy following the media frenzy around the Newsnight film. He described how he was struck by disbelief when he first heard the false allegations about himself.
"That's one of the impressions I had at that time. This is happening to somebody else. This ... I'm just hearing this stuff. It's not really me. I didn't recognise myself at any of this," he told The World at One.
McAlpine said he had been comforted by "a good spectrum of support" following the programme – including the Guardian, which first revealed that the allegation was a case of mistaken identity, and Boris Johnson, who backed the Tory peer in his Daily Telegraph column – but that he was still coming to terms with being turned overnight into "a figure of public hatred".
He added: "It's beginning to sink in. But even now, when we go away and I go to bed for the night and I go to sleep. I wake up in the morning and I'll still wonder about this thing. It'll still be on my mind. It becomes part of your conversation, it becomes part of your life."
McAlpine said he did not want to meet Messham because he would rather get the saga behind him. He reiterated that he will assist the government's inquiry into the Bryn Estyn child abuse but that no official had yet been in touch.
McAlpine's lawyer hope to reach a libel settlement with the BBC over the false allegations on Thursday. McAlpine's solicitor, Andrew Reid, told The World at One that ITV's This Morning programme was at the "top of a very long list" of those he planned to sue.
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