[The Red Arrow]

Didn't know where to leave this - should it really be under 'other UK parties'?

Ken Clarke: police investigate second claim of indecent assault
http://www.exaronews.com/articles/5624/ ... nt-assault" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[The Weeping Angel]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33794974" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A former brothel keeper has denied accusing ex-Prime Minister Edward Heath of involvement in child sexual abuse.
Myra Forde's ex-lawyer says she did not state that the late PM was a client, nor did she threaten to expose him if a prosecution against her was continued.
Forde says she has "no knowledge of any misconduct on his part" and recent media coverage had caused her distress.

[new puritan]

There was a Ch4 After Dark debate many years ago about the security services which included Tony Benn who revealed the dirty tricks they used not only against Labour but playing a part to remove Heath in favour of Thatcher. Benn showed a pamphlet is was given by the security services they'd written called I Accuse Ted Heath which detailed these allegations. Benn said he'd kept but those sort of dirty tricks weren't his style. He didn't reveal if he believed them or not. If true I suppose like Savile he was hiding in open view as the jolly bachelor yachtsman.

The whole thing's here. It's a fascinating watch.

[youtube]BvAAY7UiMH8[/youtube]

Worth watching just for Benn's incredulity at Miles Copeland's 'you mean we shouldn't have got rid of Allende?' remark.

[The Weeping Angel]

The Tories didn't need the security services help to get rid of Heath.

[youngian]

Heath was no nonce but I couldn't stand him anyway says Tebbit. I'd be interested to know what Heath thought about Tebbit.

I didn't like Sir Edward Heath, but these wild claims are a travesty of justice
Our animosity wasn’t just because we disagreed on matters of politics - although I was never able to forgive him for abandoning the economically liberal “Selsdon Manifesto”, on which he had been elected, for the disastrous corporatism which led to his defeat in 1974.
We shared no interest outside politics either. I could not engage with him through his musical flair as a conductor, nor his outstanding ability as a yachtsman. In fact I, like many of my friends, found him something of a “cold fish”.

As you would be if you were in a political party with the likes of Tebbit

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... stice.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[The Weeping Angel]

Heath was once heard to describe his backbenchers as shits bloody shits and fucking shits. Probably true but not a good attitude to display if your leading a political party.

[The Red Arrow]

The Spectator wheels out the big guns in Heath's defence...

Jonathan King Spectator Piece Suggests Sir Edward Heath Wasn't Gay Because His Advances Were Spurned
The Huffington Post UK | By George Bowden

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/08 ... f=uk-media" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[PaulOnBooks]

The Spectator wheels out the big guns in Heath's defence...

Jonathan King Spectator Piece Suggests Sir Edward Heath Wasn't Gay Because His Advances Were Spurned
The Huffington Post UK | By George Bowden

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/08 ... f=uk-media" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I refuse to read what King says but I imagine there'll be a fair amount of conflation of homosexuality and paedophilia amongst the reactions.

[Ebon Badger]

The Spectator wheels out the big guns in Heath's defence...

Jonathan King Spectator Piece Suggests Sir Edward Heath Wasn't Gay Because His Advances Were Spurned
The Huffington Post UK | By George Bowden

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/08 ... f=uk-media" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That title makes my brain hurt. If he was making advances to other men, then he is absolutely gay (or bisexual. Or pansexual.) regardless of whether he got to play hide the sausage with any of them. If the people he was making advances to were women, the title implies that people thought that he'd "turned" gay because of a lack women who were interested, when he was gay because of other reasons (like, being born that way). Or that his advances to the ladies were proof of straightness. Frankly if all the women you approach are telling you to sod off, you may want to reassess your methods...

Haven't read the article, HuffPost makes my internet crash.

[lord_kobel]

No, King made the advances, Heath turned him down. The headline isn't very clear.

[Cyclist]

No, King made the advances, Heath turned him down. The headline isn't very clear.

So Heath might have been gay. But, just like a lot of people, couldn't stand Jonathon King.

I think that says more about King's ego than it does about Heath's sexuality.

[GKC]

The Spectator wheels out the big guns in Heath's defence...

Jonathan King Spectator Piece Suggests Sir Edward Heath Wasn't Gay Because His Advances Were Spurned
The Huffington Post UK | By George Bowden

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/08 ... f=uk-media" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I refuse to read what King says but I imagine there'll be a fair amount of conflation of homosexuality and paedophilia amongst the reactions.

A large proportion of the comments express outrage that The Spectator has chosen to publish anything written by Jonathan King - especially a piece in which King is unrepentant and uses the opportunity to proclaim his innocence.

[youngian]

Jonathan King used to be a celebrity columnist for this newspaper

http://insidetime.org/wp-content/upload ... -20131.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Its a recommended read though.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

The conventional wisdom about Heath at the time was that he may have had 'homosexual tendencies' but was, in fact, almost or completely asexual. King's story would tend to support that.
Perhaps he was 'hiding in plain sight' but differently from Savile.