Jimmy Savile's hold over Downing Street in the 1980s is revealed in a series of letters in which he declares his "love" for Margaret Thatcher, according to newly released records.
Photo: National Archives/PA
National Archives files show that Savile met with Mrs Thatcher at both Downing Street and Chequers in his successful attempts to secure a ยฃ500,000 donation from the government for the rebuilding of Stoke Mandeville Hospital.
In a hand-written letter, sent to Mrs Thatcher in February 1980, Savile says his "girl patients" were "madly jealous" of her. He later asked her to appear on Jim'll Fix It, a request which she declined.
Since his death it has emerged that Savile allegedly sexually abused sick girls at the hospital, some of whom were as young as eight. As a major donor at the hospital he was left "free to roam" the wards and even had his own room.
The hospital is only three miles from the Prime Minister's official residence, Chequers, and Savile became a friend of Mrs Thatcher. The pair reportedly spent New Year's Eve together 11 years in a row.
However, the Cabinet Office refused to release a record of a telephone conversation between Thatcher and Savile in February 1980 and an undated letter because they were considered "confidential". They will not be published for another decade.
The first meeting detailed in the previously secret files took place in February 1980. A week later Savile sent Thatcher a hand written note on "Jim's 'Daily Dozen' paper, in which he said he had delayed writing because he didn't want to appear too "effusive".
He wrote: "Dear Prime Minister. I waited a week before writing to thank you for my lunch invitation because I had such a superb time I didn't want to be too effusive.
"My girl patients pretended to be madly jealous + wanted to know what you wore + what you ate. All the paralyzed lads called me 'Sir James' all week.
"They all love you. Me too!! Jimmy Savile OBE xxx."
In January 1981 Savile and Mrs Thatcher met for lunch at Chequers, where he asked her for a "goodwill gesture" from the government in the form of a donation to Stoke Mandeville.
Caroline Stephens, her personal secretary, subsequently wrote: "Can you kindly let me know if you made any promises to Jimmy Savile when he lunched with you yesterday, for instance:
"(i) Did you offer him any money for Stoke Mandeville?
"(ii) Did you tell him that you would appear on Jim'll Fix It?"
The first question is annotated by hand by Thatcher, saying: "will tell you in detail. MT", while next to the second is a simple "no".
Mike Pattison, then Number 10 private secretary, told Health Minister Dr Gerard Vaughan's private secretary that Savile met with Thatcher with the hospital's plans and suggested a "government grant" as a goodwill gesture.
"The Prime Minister said was he thinking of a million pounds and Mr Savile replied that they would be grateful for any sum, and that there was absolutely no hurry at all, and that equally he would understand if she had to come back to him and say that this was not possible," he wrote.
At the time, the Conservatives had made significant cuts to benefits for disabled people. Norman Fowler, the Health Secretary, wrote to the Prime Minister to say that a ยฃ500,000 donation to the Stoke Mandeville spinal injuries unit would help show that the government's support for disabled people "had not ended".
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