Thatcher's Father : pervert

[AB]

Alderman Alfred Roberts, revered father of Margaret Thatcher and inspirer of
her Victorian values, sexually harassed young female assistants working in the
grocer's shop where she grew up, according to the distinguished political
biographer Professor Bernard Crick.

Writing in the satirical magazine Punch, the political theorist, commentator
and biographer of George Orwell recounts claims from contemporaries of the
one-time Methodist preacher, pillar of society and Mayor of Grantham,
Lincolnshire, that he "was a notorious toucher-up".

The assaults supposedly took place about 60 years ago, behind the counter of
the shop, next to the "splendid mahogany spice drawers with sparkling brass
handles (and) large, black, lacquered tea canisters", recalled in her
autobiography by Baroness Thatcher, whose decisive endorsement of William Hague
as Conservative leader last week has renewed her influence with the Tory right.

"Older teachers," Professor Crick was told by a Grantham friend, "all
remembered their difficulty in trying, good women, to steer girls away from
taking jobs at his shop.

"They were frightened to hint at the real reason: for he was a figure of real
power in the town."

Crick, emeritus professor of the University of London, said that he learnt of
the allegations in the mid-1980s, when the then Prime Minister was promoting
the Victorian values of thrift and self-reliance that she had admired in her
Rotarian father.

Her comments made the left-wing academic realise that he held the seeds of a
story that could damage the Conservatives. Before the 1987 general election, he
said, he gave the story to a friendly Daily Mirror journalist, who then
declined to alert his newsdesk, fearing the wrath of owner Robert Maxwell,
should it create too much controversy.

The story remained a secret until it appeared in Punch last week, although he
had tried to persuade the magazine to publish it before this year's election.

Lady Thatcher's office said that the former Prime Minister had no comment.

However, although tales of her father's alleged sexual misconduct might not
have been known nationally, they have been common currency in Grantham for
years, it was clear last week.

Peter Hadlow, 76, lived next-door-but-one to the Robertses, and overheard many
conversations about the scandal when working as an apprentice electrician.
"Quite a broad spectrum of people said it. It was all over Grantham virtually,"
he said. "I would hear the boss talking about it. My ears were flapping - that
sounds juicy, I thought.

"These stories were bandied about, and eventually you begin to believe there
was some truth in them. But he was an Alderman and so that sort of thing got
hushed up. It was a question of who do you believe - a teenage girl, or Mr
Roberts?"

Mr Hadlow still lives in the same area of the town and added: "Funnily enough,
when he gave up running the shop, he changed into a really nice bloke".

More significant still were the comments of a 74-year-old woman from Grantham,
who told the Independent on Sunday that she had been molested on frequent
occasions by Alderman Roberts, when she worked in his shop, aged just 15.

She said: "He was a bad one. He came round and put his arms around me, feeling
my breasts. He used to put his tongue in my mouth.

"I got quite frightened. I didn't like it and I'd push him away. He'd say
nothing and go, but then he would come back again. He used to chase other girls
round the counter." She worked at the shop for six months until she told her
parents what was happening. Her father told her she should not return.

The woman, who does not wish to be named, was then a chorister at the Methodist
chapel where Alderman Roberts was a lay preacher. "One Sunday, I got up and
walked out. I couldn't stand him standing up there and preaching," she said.

It was only then, when her parents challenged her to explain her behaviour,
that she told them about the harassment she had suffered at the hands of the
Alderman.

Professor Crick said that his piece was "written in the spirit of good-
humoured satiric rage".

He said he had wanted it to be published before the general election. "I was so
angry at the Conservative Party using all that family values stuff. To use it
for political purposes is really quite off. It debases politics and in the end,
you get caught out. It's a great offence to exploit and mythologise the past
for political purposes."

Punch also sent a reporter to Grantham, who found pensioners willing to recount
lurid tales about the grocer. One elderly resident claimed that she had two
cousins working at the shop. "He was forever pinching their bums when they bent
over - and looking up their skirts."

Journalist Richard Creasy wrote: "Memories of Alderman Alf raise a smirk
amongst the pensioners who remember him far from fondly."

Paul Spike, editor of Punch, said: "People have been talking about this, but no
one has been willing to run this until now. Crick has been talking about it for
decades - he's a known responsible figure.

"We're not saying this has been established in a court of law. We thought we
should check it out further. That's as much as we could get."

The rumours about Alderman Roberts took on fictional form in a novel about
Thirties Grantham, Rotten Borough, written by local journalist Oliver Anderson
and published in 1937. It featured a councillor who ran a corner grocery shop
and was given to frolicking with his female assistants. At one point he is
caught in flagrante beside the pork pies and polony sausages when a faulty
light is switched on and passers-by see him, trousers down, through the shop
window.

Rotten Borough was withdrawn from sale after just three weeks following threats
from the Grantham establishment, including an earl and MP, of legal action. In
1989 it was republished by Fourth Estate. Its author died last year.


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/thatchers-dad-mayor-preacher-groper-1257249.html

[Cynic]

On Tue, 16 Apr 2013 13:35:01 +0100, AB <m...@privacy.net> wrote:

>
>Alderman Alfred Roberts, revered father of Margaret Thatcher and inspirer of
>her Victorian values, sexually harassed young female assistants working in the
>grocer's shop where she grew up, according to the distinguished political
>biographer Professor Bernard Crick.

It would appear that anyone famous who dies these days will be accused
of being associated with some sort of serous sexual misconduct.

Did Margaret Thatcher ever meet with Jimmy Savile, I wonder?

--
Cynic

[Keith]

She did indeed on many occasions as a quick Google shows:-


http://tinyurl.com/crqqhz5

[Keith]

>> Alderman Alfred Roberts, revered father of Margaret Thatcher and inspirer of
>> her Victorian values, sexually harassed young female assistants working in the
>> grocer's shop where she grew up,

So it seems.

http://tinyurl.com/coswfcz

[The Todal]

To be fair, lots of men have made a habit of fondling and groping young
women. It probably continues to this day. Most women can probably take
it in their stride. They are entitled to be indignant and angry, as I
would be, but if you can walk away and (if you feel like it) report it
to a policeman then it isn't really enough of a big deal to justify
trashing a dead man's reputation.

Compare and contrast:
http://www.everydaysexism.com/

where a large proportion of the complaints are vanishingly trivial
unless you happen to be hypersensitive to sexism. Example: being told by
your new boss you'll "need to grow some balls" for your new role [oh,
for goodness sake, grow a pair and accept it as a figure of speech]. The
author has picked what seem the most important instances for this piece:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/the-womens-blog-with-jane-martinson/2013/apr/16/everyday-sexism-project-shouting-back?INTCMP=SRCH

but it is (of course) rather silly to claim that if a man sexually
assaults you he represents all men or a state of mind that all men share.

[Cynic]

On Tue, 16 Apr 2013 18:10:10 +0100, Keith <goa...@hotmail.com> wrote:

>>> Alderman Alfred Roberts, revered father of Margaret Thatcher and inspirer of
>>> her Victorian values, sexually harassed young female assistants working in the
>>> grocer's shop where she grew up, according to the distinguished political
>>> biographer Professor Bernard Crick.

>> It would appear that anyone famous who dies these days will be accused
>> of being associated with some sort of serous sexual misconduct.

>> Did Margaret Thatcher ever meet with Jimmy Savile, I wonder?

>She did indeed on many occasions as a quick Google shows:-
>http://tinyurl.com/crqqhz5

Hmmm. Well, now she's dead there can be no repercussions if someone
accuses her of being an abused child-turned-predator and assisting
with Savile's "grooming" process or similar, so I guess it's only a
matter of time before we start reading all sorts of unproven nonsense.

--
Cynic

[Mel Rowing]

They never write these things whilst the subject is still alive and
able to defend himself do they?