Savile’s paedophile network extended into politics yet investigations stayed in entertainment

Evidence

Savile was no ordinary entertainer or media figure. Like some character out of a David Lynch film, Savile had links with both the criminal underworld and the most powerful members of the ruling class. A massive police investigation into those who had worked with Savile (Operation Yewtree) discovered that he was not alone — many of his associates were also paedophiles. Yet the remit of Operation Yewtree was confined to the entertainment world — Savile was also a friend of politicians and policemen. In the wake of the Savile allegations emerging, a new scandal is brewing in the UK. This time it centres on politics, with Thatcher’s right-hand man Leon Brittan and former Conservative prime minister Edward Heath among those accused of paedophilia. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1940

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to broader themes of elite protection of abusers and institutional cover-ups, e.g. alongside the Jimmy Savile coverage seen in true-crime and investigative journalism about establishment abuse.
• QUESTION: Worth chasing: did Operation Yewtree’s entertainment-only remit reflect a genuine jurisdictional limit or a political decision to shield MPs, given the later Brittan/Heath accusations?