A Very English Scandal

I've just finished reading 'A Very English Scandal' by John Preston (there's a tie-in with a recent well-received UK TV 3-part series of the same name). British board members of a certain age will need no reminding of the Thorpe murder plot scandal which occupied much media attention in the 1970s. For the benefit of non-Brits, an unstable young man called Norman Scott had been claiming since the 1960s that he had had a homosexual relationship with the flamboyant Liberal MP Jeremy Thorpe (and party leader from 1967). By the early 1970s attempts to fob him off in various ways had failed and his claims had become more insistent and potentially damaging to Thorpe's career. On Exmoor one night in 1975 Scott's Great Dane dog was shot by an unknown assailant and Scott himself only escaped because the gun then jammed. Various letters linked Thorpe to Scott and, in May 1979, Thorpe and three associates were put on trial at the Old Bailey accused of conspiracy to murder. Needless to say, the trial was a media sensation, no sitting MP, let alone party leader, having faced such a charge before. All were acquitted, partly due to the demolition of the credibility of prosecution witnesses by the then relatively unknown QC George Carman and partly to the summing up of the judge Sir Joseph Cantley, soon to be regarded as one of the most partial in British legal history. Despite the verdict, the general assumption was that the Establishment had closed ranks to get Thorpe off and his last years were marked by ill health, public neglect and seclusion.

The book is a very entertaining read, part gripping thriller and part tragi-comic farce. The events described are extraordinary but somehow uniquely British in terms of all the hypocrisy, class consciousness and buffoonery that accompanied them. Colourful characters abound and there are many laugh-out-loud moments. My favourite anecdote concerns Lord Arran who was responsible for guiding homosexual law reform through the House of Lords in 1967 (the Labour MP Leo Abse guided it through the Commons). Arran was nutty about badgers and allowed them to roam freely through his country house. He and his wife had to wear rubber galoshes to protect themselves from bites on the ankles. After the bill legalising homosexual acts for 21-year-olds and upwards had been ratified in the Lords, Arran was asked why this reform had succeeded but not his efforts to protect the rights of badgers. He thought for a moment and then replied, 'There are not many badgers in the House of Lords.'

It was an entertaining series, readily available by torrent - not that I'm recommending any member engage in illegal behaviour mind you. I gather Norman Scott (still alive) has complained that Ben Whishaw who plays him in the television series portrays his character as "too camp". My favourite scene is when Thorpe says to Scott at their first encounter (in Thorpe's mother's house), "Get on all fours, there's a good chap, and remember my mother's bedroom is just through the wall" or words to that effect. At the trial George Carman asked Scott what his reaction was; he replied "I bit the pillow". I recall reading a review that discussed why the Thorpe scandal was hushed up despite the large number of people who knew about his sexual interests. The view was that British society was disintegrating and making this news public would not help. Remember that Scott and Thorpe began their affair around the time of the Profumo scandal. The thing I could never understand is why Thorpe just couldn't get Scott the replacement National Insurance card he needed

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Originally Posted by frequent

The thing I could never understand is why Thorpe just couldn't get Scott the replacement National Insurance card he needed

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Absolutely what was going through my mind as I watched the entire series !! Talking about missing the easy fix - "so, what will we do here, get him a card, hmmm that may entail pulling strings in some Government department here, no, lets have him shot instead" :-) Mind you if I were in power I guess that wouldn't be the worst way to move things along with some sections of the electorate who came in complaining every week perhaps ! :)

For my sins, I drove a mini cab in London in the 1990s and George Carman was a regular account customer. By then he had a string of court triumphs to his name. I (or other drivers) would pick him up from his home in Wimbledon Village early evening and usually take him into the West End, then bring him back later when he was often sozzled. He wasn't very talkative at the best of times and certainly not when sozzled. But occasionally the rather forbidding front would relax a bit and we would chat. I recall there was a drug case (I think involving Thailand) in which a British woman was claiming that the drugs had been put into her suitcase without her knowledge. When I expressed my scepticism he said, 'Well, it's the only defence, isn't it.' I never thought to ask him about the Thorpe case and whether he really believed in his innocence. Just as well, as I suspect I’d have got a pitying smile in return.

Snotface's taxi tales (2 so far) reminded me of the Derek & Clive taxi sketch :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gK3yVJT2uk

I loved the series with Hugh Grant playing the role he was born to play. My favourite line was when Thorpe said that "these are exciting times for the party with the new MPs, Cyril Smith and Clement Freud." Both since outed as habitual sex criminals.

Freud? Any relation?

I'm not familiar with English minutiae which seems to have overtaken many a post lately. My part in this unfortunate semi-coup stops at Monty Python, and anyone with the first name of Clement.

Thank you SG ... we rolled over each other.

Clement Freud was Sigmund's grandson

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Originally Posted by Smiles

Freud? Any relation?

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My favourite bit-part character is Auberon Waugh, son of the novelist Evelyn Waugh. After the dog-shooting, after Thorpe was charged, there was a general election. While on bail Thorpe stood for the seat he had won a number of times. Auberon Waugh formed a new political party "The Dog Lovers Party" and stood as its candidate against Thorpe (both lost: it was the election that swept Maggie Thatcher to power). Waugh was a major contributor to Private Eye magazine. He was also a conservative Roman Catholic who did not like the reforms of the second Vatican council. When Cardinal Wyszyński became Pope and took the name "John Paul II" Waugh immediately christened him "Ringo II" (John, Paul, Ringo ... geddit?). That was before we found out that Cardinal Wyszyński would set about trying to undo as much of the council's reforms as he could. Waugh's father was famous for taking men to lunch at the Savoy Grill, sitting in the middle of the restaurant and, feigning deafness, asking "Was there much sodomy at your school?". As you might imagine the Waughs are my heroes