The Elephant in The Room

Amidst all the hypocrisy of the print media trying to get 'holier than thou' with the BBC over the Jimmy Savile affair, one question is still left unaddressed - just who was protecting Savile to the degree that he was able to get away with sexual offences on the scale alleged for so long?  I know the preferred narrative of the right wing press is that he used his wealth and celebrity to intimidate victims and institutions into keeping quiet, but that sort of thing can only go so far in suppressing such a story.  Regardless of his wealth and fame, ultimately Savile was just a DJ, and DJs generally don't have the power to silence institutions, (as he was alleged to have done when questions about his conduct toward patients were raised at hospitals he worked in).  Moreover, how could a DJ, no matter how famous, get themselves appointed to chair a Department of Health 'task force' investigating the treatment of patients at the Broadmoor high security hospital?  That's right, in 1988, a DJ with no experience of mental health issues, no medical qualifications and no official standing, was handed such a role.

The answer to all these questions, of course, was that he clearly had friends in high places.  There's no doubt that Savile was 'connected' at the highest levels.  All those years toadying up to the Tories paid off when his idol Mrs Thatcher finally became Prime Minister.  And that's the key question nobody is addressing: what was Thatcher's role in this whole sordid affair?  Did she, wittingly or unwittingly, protect Savile from awkward questions and possible investigations?  I'm sure that just the very fact that he seemed close to her deterred many would be investigators, but was there anything more sinister going on?  The right wing press and the government are quick to try and castigate the BBC over their failure to do anything about Savile's alleged crimes (despite the Beeb having no actual evidence of wrong-doing on his part at the time), but they're all conveniently ignoring the elephant in the room:  Thatcher.  Did her influence help him get the Broadmoor job?  Did the right-wing press' virtual idolisation of her in the eighties scare them off of investigating her pal Jimmy?  Sadly, with 87 year old Thatcher now reportedly frail and 'confused', we're unlikely to get answers from her.  Still, if I'd been one of Savile's friends in high places, I'd probably pretend to be gaga too in the face of the current shit storm.