Skills I learned as a young man at journalism college
included 100 words a minute shorthand - and how to hypnotise people.
I can still manage the shorthand.
The hypnotism I abandoned long ago.
Sending people to sleep was not
strictly a requirement for a journalism qualification, though you can see how
it could help.
An interview with the PM might proceed along the lines: “ David Cameron you’re
feeling relaxed, your eyes are getting heavy...let them close, David...just
listen to my voice...and tell me all your secrets.”
Of course that would be utterly
unethical. But I picked up the knack from a lecturer who hypnotised a student
after class.
And it became my party trick,
entertaining guests by making someone pretend to be a dog or suchlike, sniffing
and yelping round the room.
My friends thought I simply bored subjects into
submission. I think they were trying to tell me something.
Then it began to go wrong. One
young man I hypnotised declared his secret love for the girlfriend of his best
mate to the embarrassment of all.
Another girl revealed abuse as a
child, and kept drifting back into a trance. This was no longer funny, and I
vowed never to do it again.
But it showed the dangers of messing with people’s minds. Which is why the light regulation of
psychotherapists in this country is worrying.
In the 1990s the now discredited
technique of recovered-memory therapy saw children making false claims of
satanic abuse. It led to a witch hunt.
Another
witch hunt is going on, but now it’s against Tom Watson after police dropped a
rape inquiry against former Home Secretary Leon Brittan the Labour deputy leader urged them to
pursue.
Tom and this newspaper have
collected persuasive evidence of historical child abuse and a cover-up
involving establishment figures.
Throughout our investigations we
were conscious memory can play tricks, especially when it stretches back to a
childhood many years ago.
Which is why allegations against
261 famous figures need careful consideration. And we look forward to the
police completing their work.
But until they have the jury is
out, and Tom doesn’t deserve the ducking stool.
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