FORMER residents of Scotland's orphanages are to relaunch their campaign for an independent public inquiry into child abuse in residential homes in light of the Jimmy Savile scandal.
Chris Daly, secretary of victims' support group In Care Abuse Survivors, is to request a meeting with Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, who backed a public inquiry in opposition.
Several investigations into child abuse allegations have been launched in the past two weeks after hundreds of complaints against Savile and fresh paedophile claims linked to a north Wales care home
Mr Daly, 47, of Rutherglen, Glasgow, who was physically abused while in care in Nazareth House, a Catholic home, in Aberdeen, during the 1970s, said there are many parallels between the Savile case and the abuse of children in homes in Scotland. These include the fact that victims were not believed.
He said: "I'm delighted at the speed at which the authorities in England have responded to the allegations about Savile.
"I am disappointed our calls for a full inquiry into abuse in children's homes in Scotland seem to have fallen on deaf ears. With the public's attention focused now on how abusers such as Savile managed to get away with their wicked acts for so long, I hope our request will finally be successful."
It is thought Savile, who died last year aged 84, may have abused scores of young girls and some boys over a 40-year period.
The BBC, the Department of Health, police and the Director of Public Prosecutions will all examine allegations made about the late broadcaster.
It has also been announced the National Crime Agency will examine activities at Bryn Estan care home in the 1970s and 1980s. A High Court judge will examine the robustness of the original Waterhouse review into the allegations after a former resident claimed Sir Peter Morrison, a close aid to Mrs Thatcher, visited the home on a number of occasions.
Sir Peter, the MP for Chester from 1974 to 1992, died in 1995.
In Scotland, plans by ministers to establish a National Confidential Forum to allow former residents of all homes to speak out are under way. How-ever, former residents claim the powers of the proposed forum are limited. They want an inquiry that can force former staff to appear and that could pave the way for prosecutions.
Mr Daly first called for an inquiry in 2002 when he addressed MSPs at Holyrood's petitions' committee. The petition led to former first minister Jack McConnell making a public apology in Parliament in 2004 and a report on abuse in care homes in Scotland between 1950 to 1995.
Mr MacAskill, then shadow justice spokesman, supported the setting up of an inquiry in the debate that followed Mr McConnell's apology. "There are precedents elsewhere, such as in Australia, Canada and Ireland, where similar inquiries have been carried out. It is important such inquiries are carried out," Mr MacAskill told Holyrood in December 2004.
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: "In 2010, the Scottish Human Rights Commission published recommendations to the Scottish Government on access to justice, effective remedies and reparation for survivors of childhood abuse, including a public inquiry." He said the Government was engaging with the commission to consider the recommendations.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article