Thursday 15 November 2012

£185,000

That is what The BBC is paying Lord McAlpine in compensation for its libel of him, promptly corrected. And there may be more coming to him as his lawyers search the internet for more people to sue.

How much compensation have Jimmy Savile's victims received from the BBC so far? Zero.

How much will they receive? An awful lot less than McAlpine did.

Payouts of as much as £50,000 in child sex abuse cases are rare, and require proof of loss of earnings capability directly attributable to the abuse, or some diagnosed mental or physical condition that can be proved to have been solely caused by the abuse.

Most child sex abuse cases get settled for £5,000 to £15,000, with more towards the lower end of that scale.

So a retired politician's hurt feelings are valued by this society as being about twenty times as valuable as a life wrecked by childhood sex abuse.

Am I angry about this? You bet I am!