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Scottish inquiry into Lord Janner is test of our new political landscape Scottish inquiry into Lord Janner is test of our new political landscape
(about 3 hours later)
What’s this? Police in Scotland have confirmed that they are now investigating historical allegations by a man that he was abused by the Labour peer and former MP Lord Janner, during an “official” trip to Scotland in the 1970s when the alleged victim was in his teens. What’s this? Police in Scotland have confirmed that they are now investigating allegations by a man that he was abused by the Labour peer and former MP Lord Janner, during an “official” trip to Scotland in the 1970s when the alleged victim was in his teens.
Apart from comments already made about the suspicion that should have been aroused by any English MP visiting Scotland in the 70s, some might assume this must be mischief-making by Scottish authorities keen to score points off their English counterparts. They would be wrong, and at a sensitive time politically we should resist suspicion.Apart from comments already made about the suspicion that should have been aroused by any English MP visiting Scotland in the 70s, some might assume this must be mischief-making by Scottish authorities keen to score points off their English counterparts. They would be wrong, and at a sensitive time politically we should resist suspicion.
What Police Scotland seem to be doing is inherently do different from the US Justice department and FBI’s arrests of senior Fifa officials at that Swiss hotel. It was President Putin of Russia, not a rules-bound leader, who got it wrong when he protested that the US was guilty of aggrandisement outside its jurisdiction. What Police Scotland seem to be doing is inherently different from the US Justice Department and FBI’s arrests of senior Fifa officials at that Swiss hotel. It was President Putin of Russia, not a rules-bound leader, who got it wrong when he protested that the US was guilty of aggrandisement outside its jurisdiction.
Related: Lord Janner: Scottish police investigating new child sex abuse claimsRelated: Lord Janner: Scottish police investigating new child sex abuse claims
Not guilty on this occasion (though it sometimes is), because some of the alleged bungs to fiddle World Cup verdicts, sponsorship contracts and other lucrative deals, will have taken place on US soil and there is likely to be copious evidence from plea-bargaining American Fifa rascals to sustain a case.Not guilty on this occasion (though it sometimes is), because some of the alleged bungs to fiddle World Cup verdicts, sponsorship contracts and other lucrative deals, will have taken place on US soil and there is likely to be copious evidence from plea-bargaining American Fifa rascals to sustain a case.
Fifa is based in Switzerland where, until very recently, the authorities have been complacent – as about much else in life and banking – for decades, probably centuries and done well out of it. They’ve turned a blind eye.Fifa is based in Switzerland where, until very recently, the authorities have been complacent – as about much else in life and banking – for decades, probably centuries and done well out of it. They’ve turned a blind eye.
That’s essentially the charge which critics of the way the Janner affair has been handled make about the English police and justice system since the 1991 trial of the Leicestershire care home leader Frank Beck, first put the local MP under the spotlight. Police and prosecutors now admit that they got it wrong more than once amid claims that pressure from the top saved Janner from facing a court. That’s essentially the charge that critics of the handling of the Janner affair make about the English police and justice system since the 1991 trial of the Leicestershire care home leader Frank Beck first put the local MP under the spotlight. Police and prosecutors now admit that they got it wrong more than once amid claims that pressure from the top saved Janner from facing a court.
As the Guardian explains, Alison Saunders, the director of public prosecutions, faced a tempest of criticism for ruling that Janner should have faced trial but is no longer fit to plead because – four experts told her – he was suffering from increasingly severe dementia. The decision is under review.As the Guardian explains, Alison Saunders, the director of public prosecutions, faced a tempest of criticism for ruling that Janner should have faced trial but is no longer fit to plead because – four experts told her – he was suffering from increasingly severe dementia. The decision is under review.
That’s not the issue here. Just because Janner still turned up at the Lords occasionally doesn’t mean the medical experts are wrong. As Dominic Lawson pointed out in the Sunday Times, plenty of past-it peers do that. Lawson also protested (paywall) that the DPP deserved support if Britain was to resist pressure from vocal sections of the public – mob rule, he called it – for their version of justice: people claiming that political pressure saved Janner (I doubt it) exerting political pressure of their own. Oh dear! That’s not the issue here. Just because Janner still turned up at the Lords occasionally doesn’t mean the medical experts are wrong. As Dominic Lawson pointed out in the Sunday Times, plenty of past-it peers do that. Lawson also protested [paywall] that the DPP deserved support if Britain was to resist pressure from vocal sections of the public – mob rule, he called it – for their version of justice: people claiming that political pressure saved Janner (I doubt it) exerting political pressure of their own. Oh dear!
It’s a sensitive subject, and many victims of historical abuse feel that their suffering was compounded by having their complaints rejected and even derided by those in authority. The Methodist church is the latest such authority – after the police, BBC, DPP, NHS and many others, including politicians (Sinn Fein too) put their hands up to admit past failure. It’s a sensitive subject, and many victims of historical abuse feel that their suffering was compounded by having their complaints rejected and even derided by those in authority. The Methodist church is the latest such authority – after the police, BBC, DPP, NHS and many others, including politicians (Sinn Féin too) put their hands up to admit past failure.
But due process is also important. I wouldn’t be surprised if Saunders isn’t vindicated by a review which can’t be written off as another cover-up, though this saga is full of surprises. When I interviewed a lot of ex-MPs about what they knew of sexual abuse in the 70s and 80s, most said they had been naive, but also assumed that if Private Eye gossip was true then surely the police would have acted. Janner has always denied the allegations against him But due process is also important. I wouldn’t be surprised if Saunders isn’t vindicated by a review that can’t be written off as another cover-up, though this saga is full of surprises. When I interviewed a lot of ex-MPs about what they knew of sexual abuse in the 70s and 80s, most said they had been naive, but also assumed that if Private Eye gossip was true then surely the police would have acted. Janner has always denied the allegations against him.
Related: The Westminster child abuse ‘coverup’: how much did MPs know?Related: The Westminster child abuse ‘coverup’: how much did MPs know?
We now know better, but we don’t yet know why. The New Zealand judge Lowell Goddard is tasked with looking at the big picture, at least in Britain, though the problem was worldwide and the failure to act pretty comprehensive. I talked to a senior NHS doctor the other day who recalled how she’d been interfered with as a child. When she told her parents they said “but he’s such a nice man”. Plenty of stories like that; plenty much worse. We now know better, but we don’t yet know why. The New Zealand judge Lowell Goddard is tasked with looking at the big picture, at least in Britain, though the problem was worldwide and the failure to act pretty comprehensive. I talked to a senior NHS doctor the other day who recalled how she had been interfered with as a child. When she told her parents they said: “But he’s such a nice man”. Plenty of stories like that; plenty much worse.
So if Police Scotland investigate and take a different view from the prosecuting authorities in England, as they did not when they were allegedly first told by the complainant in 1991, that will be as it should be. (Scotland’s Crown Office, its CPS, says it never heard about the case, by the way.) After all, that’s part of the point of having rival legal systems of the kind Scotland retained after the Union of 1707. It was part of the compromise which preserved its education system, better than England’s in 1707, and its Presbyterian state church. Wasn’t it competing marriage laws that made Gretna Green the destination of choice for English elopements? So if Police Scotland investigate and take a different view from the prosecuting authorities in England, as they did not when they were allegedly first told by the complainant in 1991, that will be as it should be. (Scotland’s Crown Office, its CPS, says it never heard about the case, by the way.) After all, that’s part of the point of having rival legal systems of the kind Scotland retained after the union of 1707. It was part of the compromise that preserved its education system, better than England’s in 1707, and its Presbyterian state church. Wasn’t it competing marriage laws that made Gretna Green the destination of choice for English elopements?
Americans call the rival rules and policies of their 50 states, many of them protected from federal interference by the constitution, their “laboratories of democracy” – the opportunity to watch how the neighbours do something and see if it works (or doesn’t).Americans call the rival rules and policies of their 50 states, many of them protected from federal interference by the constitution, their “laboratories of democracy” – the opportunity to watch how the neighbours do something and see if it works (or doesn’t).
Because we’ve all got hot under the collar about the independence campaign in Scotland (US states aren’t allowed to secede), we’ve tended to neglect this side of devolution, the lessons we can learn from different policy roads taken in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland – some good, others less so.Because we’ve all got hot under the collar about the independence campaign in Scotland (US states aren’t allowed to secede), we’ve tended to neglect this side of devolution, the lessons we can learn from different policy roads taken in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland – some good, others less so.
The smoking ban pioneered at Holyrood and adopted elsewhere is a good example. But Tuesday’s papers report that Labour Wales is banning e-cigarettes (good or bad, I’m not sure) while SNP Holyrood is finally thinking about raising income tax, as it has the power to do, but hasn’t actually done up to now.The smoking ban pioneered at Holyrood and adopted elsewhere is a good example. But Tuesday’s papers report that Labour Wales is banning e-cigarettes (good or bad, I’m not sure) while SNP Holyrood is finally thinking about raising income tax, as it has the power to do, but hasn’t actually done up to now.
Excellent. That’s how it should be. We all have lots to learn. Let’s see how it works out. Likewise the evidence raised against Janner north of Gretna Green.Excellent. That’s how it should be. We all have lots to learn. Let’s see how it works out. Likewise the evidence raised against Janner north of Gretna Green.