By Mark McNaught
While the revelations are decades too late, the disclosure of an elite paedophile ring potentially involving MP’s, ‘Lords’, entertainers, BBC employees and other members of the UK establishment may prove to be the knockout punch to any possibility of Scotland staying in the union.
Why would any Scot vote to remain part of a governing system in which such horrific crimes could be committed with impunity and legally covered up, by some of the most powerful political figures?
While we may or may not learn the identity of the monumental Westminster paedophiles in the investigations to come, and they may or may not rot and die in a privatised prison subject to the abuse they meted out to children, the very fact that such a ring existed for so long (centuries?) clearly demonstrates to any potential ‘no’ voter what they would vote to remain part of: an institution which harbours and protects child molesters. Why is it that we usually find out who they are only after they die?
These come on the heels of the revelations of Jimmy Savile’s relationship with senior establishment figures and the Rolf Harris conviction.
These two were employed for decades by the BBC, and their depraved proclivities were widely suspected, perhaps even known. Despite thousands of complaints, victims’ voices were silenced by a corrupt judicial system, and Savile’s rapes continued unabated. I’m still having great difficulty wrapping my head around that.
It’s been revealed that Savile had a friendship with Prince Charles. What was the nature of the relationship between Prince Charles and Savile? What did the future King of the commonwealth realm know about Savile, why did they consort so much together? Don’t UK citizens and the rest of the Commonwealth have a right to know before they elect him head of state? Oh…yeah…I forgot.
As for the BBC, why would Scotland want to retain any part of an institution which employed paedophiles for decades, paid for through extortionate licence fees? Why not develop a decentralised media landscape in which no one institution is allowed to dominate in such a dysfunctional and criminal manner?
We are witnessing what happens when a feudal, barely democratic political system combined with a corrupt state broadcaster are allowed to function outside the law with no accountability.
One in which there is one set of rules for the powerful, and another for the rest. One in which parliamentary and royal immunity allow those in power to commit crimes that in the US could get the death penalty. One in which unearned aristocratic privilege and ‘droit de seigneur’ applies to small children. How could any Scot vote to remain part of this system?
The existence of this ring also shines a light on the integrity of the judicial system and the secret ‘super-injunctions’ which prevent the disclosure of information. These muzzle the press from releasing certain information, or even mentioning that they have been muzzled. Being that they are secret, we may never know the role they have played in shielding paedophiles.
This is not to deny the many MP’s that do excellent work in the Parliament and truly believe in public service and working to benefit ordinary citizens. However, the system in which they work is hopelessly corrupt, and we know now harbours and even promotes criminals.
Scottish independence will not end sexual abuse, but it gives Scots a once in a lifetime opportunity to make a clean break with Westminster and establish a more egalitarian political system. Abolition of aristocratic privilege and the Monarchy, subjecting parliamentarians to the same law as everyone else, and the elimination of secret laws and injunctions will go a long way towards assuring legal transparency and that the law is applied equally to all.
It is unlikely that we will learn much more about the allegations before a ‘yes’ vote. Currently defecating in their trousers, the UK establishment will work furiously to suppress information, and the investigation will take time.
However, this scandal has the potential to make Watergate look like an after-church picnic, and has the potential to obliterate the legitimacy of the Westminster system and the Monarchy forever.
Although we know little at this point, for those still countenancing a ‘no’ vote, please take time to consider what we do know and what you would be voting to remain part of.