Tuesday 29 April 2014

Fat people…

Let’s face it, all really fat people are jolly and cuddly and nice. You only have to look at The Laughing Policeman, Father Christmas, Billy Bunter, and Fatty Arbuckle to realise that.

Of course that fat old policeman (he's always on our street) may not be quite what he seems and on the take, Billy Bunter was a greedy bully, Father Christmas sneaks into children’s bedrooms, and Fatty Arbuckle – king of the silent comedy – was a murdering rapist.

Which brings me to that jolly, cuddly, smiley, nice, Sir Cyril Smith chappie; a smudged blend of them all.

There was a time when good old Cyril was everybody’s favourite politician, a real character in a world when there were a lot of characters in politics. He was all over the TV; singing with Don Estelle, appearing on Clunk Click with Uncle Jim, even showing up in a Bananarama advert. Yes Cyril was one of the good guys; a self made man, working class to his corpulent, corrupt, core, and a knight of the realm to boot forsooth.

He lived with his mother (an office cleaner), his illegitimate brother and sister, Eunice and Norman, and his grandmother in a one-up one-down cottage in Rochdale. He was fond of describing himself as "illegitimate, deprived and poor". What he didn’t say was that he was an obese (which was obvious), homosexual (which wasn't), bullying pedophile, preying on the innocent boys he claimed he was helping.

Of course there is nothing wrong with being fat or homosexual, but as far back as the 1960s Smith was spanking and sexually abusing teenage boys in a hostel he co-founded, bullying them into doing whatever he demanded. That can’t be right can it? Nor can it be right that despite numerous allegations and complaints over the years the authorities did nothing about it.

I encountered Big Cyril, as he liked to be called, on a train once. I was just twenty and on my way from Birmingham to Wolverhampton. In those days trains had compartments and he almost filled it with his body, legs stretched out akimbo in front of him. The train was packed, and for a moment I considered sitting in one of the seats opposite his huge bulk. But as I went to open the compartment door he shot me such a look of warning that I changed my mind and spent the short journey standing in the corridor.

Up until that time I’d always thought him okay as far as politicians went. But I changed my mind that day. There was something unclean about him and - maybe it’s just my mind adding even more grime to the experience - he reminded me of a bloated feral rat, like the one I was reading about in the James Herbert novel that was stuffed into my pocket that day.

Of course there will be those that will defend him. Those that ask why all this only came out after his death. Those same people will probably say that the men making these accusations are only doing it for the money. I don’t care what they say. I say strip his knighthood, burn his records and books, prosecute the people who, through complicity or silence, are as guilty as he, ridicule, pillory, and tarnish his memory beyond even the glimmer of a shine.

I really hope that Big Cyril Smith is rotting in his own shit alongside his old crony Jimmy Saville in Hell, and I make no apologies for it.

8 comments:

  1. Kevin Parrott on FB
    I'm not sure about Fatty Arbukle Andy...........
    http://history1900s.about.com/.../fam.../a/fattyarbuckle.htm

    What Was the Fatty Arbuckle Scandal?
    history1900s.about.com
    In 1921, Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle was arrested and tried for the murder of a young ... See more

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    Replies
    1. Andrew Height
      Point well made Kevin, but he was a bit of a porker and Father Christmas ain't all bad.

      Delete
  2. Laura Keegan on FB
    Vile

    Andrew Height
    As I mentioned, I briefly met him on a train once travelling second class on his own, it was in the days of carriages. Thank God there was no room for me in there. I stood all the way to Wolverhampton with my bum against the wall in the corridor. Well, I was 19 and the look he gave me...

    Laura Keegan
    Better than sharing a carriage with that. Bet you wish you'd have given him a swift kick too


    Andrew Height
    What sort of Great Britain when the police lie and cheat?

    Laura Keegan
    Its unbelievable we could debate it all day & never understand. It's as bad as assisting in the crime

    Andrew Height
    It's worse. They are meant to uphold the law, but most just pick sides.

    Laura Keegan
    Those kids had nowhere to turn, he knew it, which is why he continued, so yeah they caused it. Stuff of nightmares really. And now he's dead & nothing can be done, it's unbearable really.

    Andrew Height
    Prosecute the pigs who were compliant in the cover up. That's what happens with war crimes. I can't understand why nobody has been in court for Hillsborough and I hate football. The police just take early retirement and live happily ever after. It's worse than a sick joke.

    Laura Keegan
    Well it can, but nothing can happen to him I mean, just like jimmy savile. Hope some justice can be done for the victims

    Andrew Height
    I know..

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  3. Simon Parker on FB
    And in Santa's defence, most of the time it's not him at all, it's just people impersonating him for their own commercial gain.

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  4. Simon Parker on FB
    And on a serious note, if he is found guilty of the offences he is purported to have committed, and it looks like he will, then it's just sad that justice hasn't been done in his lifetime and he "got away with it", in this life at least. I don't remember any allegations at the time, I was too young but heard David Steel interviewed about it yesterday and it seemed talk about what he may have done was fairly public but like so much of this sort of behavior by men of that time, was largely ignored.
    It's easy to point fingers at the police and politicians and others, but ultimately, they reflect the society in which they operate: the police have been found to be racist at a time when society was and often ignored or covered up behavior that society ignored or covered up. If there is anything we can do with the legacy of this and other such sorry stories it is for us all to help create a society in which victims are listened to and protected and the guilty and brought to justice.

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    Replies
    1. Andrew Height on FB
      Agreed Simon. No comfort to his victims though and there are some things that simply aren't acceptable regardless of the time. Back in the sixties abusing children was an offence as was homosexuality. He broke laws, abused position , and blind eyes were turned. Guilty.

      Delete
    2. Simon Parker on FB
      Yes, as were, to a lesser degree, all those who pretended not to notice or saw it as "the sort of thing that goes on". It's easy to look back on "the good old days"; but in many ways, society is a better place, especially for victims of people like him.

      Delete
  5. Simon Parker on FB
    I wonder who's next?

    ReplyDelete