HEALTH Secretary Jeremy Hunt pledges, in the wake of the Lampard report into the crimes of Jimmy Savile, that the power of celebrity or money must never again prevent people from exposing wrongdoing.

Savile was utterly brazen in daring NHS officials and police officers to take action against him.

He felt secure in his position as a major charity fundraiser for Stoke Mandeville, where he had a bedroom, a plush office and a master key with access to all areas despite having no qualifications or experience.

His wealth and political connections, not least with Margaret Thatcher at whose Downing Street New Year’s Eve parties he was a permanent fixture, persuaded people not to take him on.

However, Tory MP Dr Phillip Lee, who worked briefly at Stoke Mandeville, is surely correct in saying that, if junior staff were aware of what Savile was doing, senior managers and clinicians must also have done.

Turning a blind eye to abuse of patients, visitors, staff members and others for fear of losing the charity funds his activities generated was a gross betrayal of the victims’ right to personal security.

Labour shadow health secretary Andy Burnham’s call for a formal inquiry into accountability for failure to investigate this serial predator’s crimes must be supported.

Those in positions of influence who chose not to speak to the Lampard inquiry should be subpoenaed to give evidence and explain their roles.

Many people will be shocked to learn that there is no legal compulsion on NHS staff to blow the whistle on people suspected of abusing patients.

That legal loophole must be closed so that people in authority cannot encourage embarrassing suspicions to be swept under the carpet.

Above all, Savile’s reign of abuse and terror must not be seen as a one-off aberration.

Too many children and vulnerable adults have been disbelieved in a variety of institutions and forced to carry their torment with them.

That culture must end. Complaints must be recorded, investigated and taken as far as required.

Politicians should also consider whether our essential health services should be better funded through taxation rather than being dependent on celebrities organising charity drives for self-aggrandisement.

Disunited Left

EVERY political party has a right to stand in elections and a vibrant democracy should provide for the blooming of a thousand flowers.

But the undemocratic first-past-the-post electoral system in Britain effectively limits the formation of a government to a two-horse race.

The reality is that the May general election will deliver a single-party government or coalition led by either David Cameron or Ed Miliband.

The United Left grouping within the Unite union is correct to engage its Socialist Party comrades in debate and to make the case for not standing in marginal constituencies where the party’s electoral vehicle, the Trade Unionist & Socialist Coalition, could tip the balance for Tory and Liberal Democrat candidates.

Simply repeating the mantra that the main three parliamentary parties all back an austerity agenda doesn’t make them indistinguishable.

The first priority for the labour movement has to be defeating the conservative coalition.

Without that initial step, proposals for an alternative political programme, an effective mass party of labour or a more democratic electoral system are doomed to failure.