There are many disturbing examples of abuses of power we are contending with this week. It’s not just powerful individuals preying on the weak, but the power structures and influential figures around these individuals that deserve our attention. They enabled the continuation of that abuse. Either they did so for financial benefit, reputational benefit, or perhaps most insidious of all, because of a deeply misplaced sense of loyalty. We see this time and time again. And rarely is wider accountability brought to book.
R Kelly has finally been sentenced for horrific crimes despite accusations from many victims for decades. Where is the condemnation of those who turned a blind eye to the endless stream of evidence? When will the law turn to his enablers — what did they know, how did they help cover up, benefit from, and aid his malign manipulation of underage girls and boys?
Ghislaine Maxwell: she too is getting her just desserts for her role in the abuse of Epstein’s victims. As one victim said at Maxwell’s sentencing: “Ghislaine forced me into a room to be raped then smiled at me when it was over.” But again, apart from the global condemnation of Prince Andrew, why are there not more men (and women) being held to account for their part in Epstein’s web of lies?
Then we have the Metropolitan Police, which is at last being put on special measures. The details of repeated offences by numerous officers, and the subsequent protection of those officers, have amounted to something so serious, so shocking, so unpalatable, that it has become a tidal wave of sewage that has obliterated the credibility of the force. I give you one example: officers at Charing Cross police station messaging each other, “joking” about hitting and raping women, including their girlfriends, and killing black children.
You need to read these exchanges in full to appreciate the depth of their misogyny and racism. Of the 14 officers in that WhatsApp group, in February of this year, nine were still serving in the Met, some had only been handed “training” for their “banter”. Protecting your own is an abuse of power. This was an institution protecting colleagues, their own reputations and their place within the structure. Except soon such actions rot the whole edifice. And once the rot has set in, it is so hard to repair it.
This week, the Daily Telegraph published its investigation into the cover-up of child sex abuse among the UK Jehovah’s Witness organisation. The Elders amassed a secret database of child sex abuse allegations against its members. One of the victims developed a horror of buttons. Eventually, in trauma therapy, she recalled her six-year-old hair getting caught in trouser buttons … I will leave you to figure out why. Why did the Elders not report every concern to the police? We know the answer — the same reason the Catholic church shunted abusers from one post to another. And kept quiet.
Influence and power: the most intoxicating cocktail of all to the fragile human ego, more of an incentive than mere money. Many individuals start with good intentions — becoming a priest, an Elder, a police officer, and a politician … when position and reputation are threatened, that is when you see cowardly behaviour.
For society, our choice is to face our inner demons, the voice that says, “this behaviour I am seeing is someone else’s problem or responsibility”; passing it away as “banter”, a “few bad apples”, only another parliamentary “guideline” stretched. Because when we collectively look away, power continues to be misused, toxicity spreads and then, make no mistake, in the end we all pay.
Too often it is the tenacity of journalists, whistle-blowers, documentary-makers and brave individuals who shine a bright light on corruption and abuse. Look at the Jimmy Savile whistle-blower, Mark Killick. Those in power at the BBC did nothing. Only this week has Killick been paid damages.
We cannot always rely on those in charge, or the laws or moral codes we have put in place over generations, to protect us. I feel depressed every time I read that an MP is only worrying about saving his seat at the next election when another scandal breaks, not government integrity. It is up to each one of us to hold truth to power, with every lever we can get our hands on. That is, our vote, our collective voice, our reporting and listening to what we hear and see, seeking the truth and combating our fears, mine included, shouting condemnation at our MPs.
That’s where societal strength comes from. That’s when we stop the rot.
Pincher the Whip raises doubts about PM’s judgement
Pestminster strikes again. Chris Pincher, the deputy chief whip, handed in his letter of resignation last night after The Sun broke news of him groping two men at the Carlton Club.
What becomes tricky for Boris Johnson is that Pincher had form. But he made him deputy Chief Whip anyway, after Pincher proved himself very helpful in shoring up support during the first Partygate scandal last December.
As one insider said last night, “Like Gavin Williamson, he knows a lot, he has the little black book of secrets on people.” It brings fresh doubt into MPs’ minds on whether Johnson has sound judgment when picking his teams. And whether he cares about sexual harassment — the whip, after all, is meant to look after MPs’ well-being, not be groping them.
This in the week when the PM is fighting rumours about his own propriety — that he tried to hire Carrie Johnson during their initial affair (which No 10 denies) to the Foreign Office. Not a good ending to what could have been a week of recovery, flying from the G7 to Nato, boosting his standing as a leader.
We need cheer and here it is
Everyone is telling me to see the new Elvis film. But first to the cinema for my favourite trio of heroic villains, The Minions. Returning for this second prequel to the equally brilliant Despicable Me films are Kevin, Stuart and Bob, the smallest of the little yellow, bean-shaped adventurers.
With their metal goggles, dungarees and weird gibberish, these mini-chaps are my cultural icons. In a world where every day brings news of fresh hell in Ukraine and bad news on the home front, escaping into their world as they battle evil, accidentally winning against the odds, while trying hard to be baddies themselves (but failing), is the best form of escape any of us can wish for.
