01 Oct 2012
Like many people, I feel very angry about the revelations concerning Jimmy Savile. I have just watched employees of the BBC talking about how they knew there were serious concerns surrounding Saville – some even saw events happening first hand. So why, oh why, has it taken so long for these concerns to be properly investigated and addressed. On the other hand, I totally understand the anger of Savile’s family – the man is now dead and has no ability to defend himself or answer these accusations. But as with the Catholic church, the more important crime here is the total abrogation of responsibility from the senior people in the BBC or the Church to deal properly with difficult situations. The fish rots from the head down and the people at the top of any organisation have ultimate responsibility to act swiftly and properly when confronted by uncomfortable or difficult situations: anything else is a collusion with the actual crime. For bad things to happen, all that is required is for good men to do nothing. You cannot look away.