Sunday Times 2
Politician dragged into British sex abuse scandal
View(s):LONDON, Nov 3 (AFP) -Internet speculation was circulating Saturday after a BBC news programme embroiled in the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal aired a report in which two men claimed they had been abused by a top politician.
The report on Newsnight did not name the man but said he was a leading Conservative politician from Margaret Thatcher’s time as prime minister, from 1979 to 1990.
The claims centred around abuse at children’s homes in north Wales, which was the subject of an inquiry in 2000.
Steve Meesham, who claimed he was repeatedly attacked during his time in care, was asked how many times he was abused by the politician.
“Off my head I wouldn’t give an exact number because obviously I’m going back many years but certainly more than a dozen,” he told Newsnight.
“Cars would pull up outside the home and you were taken.”It was alleged that the abuse took place in the late 1970s.
Another alleged victim, who was not named, did not appear on camera and whose words were spoken by an actor, said that he was abused by the same politician, who took him out in his car and a sex act took place.
The politician was described as a shadowy figure of high public standing but the Newsnight report said there was simply not enough to go on “to name names”.
The unidentified politician told The Daily Telegraph newspaper that the allegations were “totally untrue” and he had threatened legal action if his name appeared in the story.
“The BBC isn’t what it used to be,” he added.
“I’ve never been to this children’s home.”The BBC has been plunged into crisis over allegations that the late Savile, one of its top presenters from the 1960s to the 1980s, abused hundreds of youngsters, with Scotland Yard considering him one of Britain’s most prolific sex offenders.
An independent review is taking place at the BBC into the decision last December to drop a Newsnight item on Savile containing allegations of abuse.
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