Fall From Grace (35 page)

Paul couldn’t believe how many people were there. He’d chosen a Saturday to launch proceedings so that as many of the estate’s residents, including all the children, could take part in the ceremony. But he hadn’t counted on virtually the whole estate turning up. He looked at the expectant faces. He wanted it all to change for the sake of the children. He had to make it all work for them. Sam Cowley had settled happily into his new foster home over at Eccles with a couple who were giving him the right support to learn that he’d sorely needed for so long. But he couldn’t take them all away. Some of them had to be helped from where they were.

‘I hope I can pull this off,’ said Paul.

‘Well it’s up to them now,’ said Kelly. ‘You’ve done all you can.’

As soon as they got out of the car Paul was besieged by the press. He answered their questions carefully and then Anita Cowley managed to get both him and Kathy inside where the leader of the council and the city’s MP, a woman whom Paul had met before and liked for the way she didn’t stand on ceremony, were both waiting for them. So were Superintendent Hargreaves and DCI Hoyland whom Paul had invited to be part of the whole event.

‘This is all going mental,’ said Anita, ‘even me Mum is here.’

It had been difficult getting Lorraine Cowley to see a future for herself after what had happened to Michaela. She’d blamed herself but with the right kind of counselling she was now coming through it and had finally settled into her reading and writing classes after going sick for the first three. Michaela, like the rest of the girls who’d been rescued from the Cheshire farmhouse, was still in a psychiatric unit working through the trauma she’d endured. But the doctors were hopeful and every day she was making progress according to Anita.

‘Yes I do,’ said Paul ‘You know the estate inside out and you know the people here. I didn’t want to get anyone in from outside who didn’t have the first idea about how life works on an estate like this. I’ve every confidence in you. I believe in you. You’ve got to believe in yourself.’

Film crews from both the BBC Northwest and ITV Granada filmed the whole ceremony, from Anita’s faltering start before she found her groove and got stuck in, through the congratulations received from the leader of the council and the praise from the MP who said it was just the direction that communities should take in owning their regeneration, to the tearful expressions of thanks from Kathy. Paul then wrapped things up with his own speech.

‘…Ladies and gentlemen, I’m delighted to be able to launch the Wilfred Jenkins foundation, a non-profit trust that will begin its work with the purchase of all the properties of the Tatton estate. The purpose of the foundation is two-fold. One, it is a way of restoring the good name of Wilfred Jenkins who was wrongfully hanged for murder back in 1940 on the false evidence of the real perpetrator of the crime, my grandmother, Lady Eleanor Harding. We’ve also now applied for a posthumous pardon for Wilfred and I’m proud to make this announcement in the presence of his daughter, Kathy.’ He waved his hand in Kathy’s direction and she blushed as she took her applause. ‘Kathy, I wish to publicly apologise for the terrible crime inflicted on your family by mine and I hope that today will be the start of putting all that sorrow behind us.’

Paul didn’t know if it was the applause he got for his remarks but he was starting to feel quite emotional. He took a few deep breaths before carrying on.

‘…and that’s not the only apology I have to make. More than twenty girls were taken from their homes and put through hell by evil men and the whole plan had been masterminded by an evil woman, my grandmother. So I say to them and to the children who were bought from their families during the Second World War… I say to them all that on behalf of my family I am truly sorry. But friends, criminal charges against my grandparents were dropped because the police were ordered to drop them. The powerful should no longer be able to use their connections to escape the law in this day and age so I urge everyone to join our campaign to remove all the privileges of the establishment once and for all. Only then could we say that a truly fair society is within our reach.

‘But now to the working remit of the foundation which will be to invest in the kind of social projects that will be of benefit to people who’ve never shared in the wealth of our society. The people of the Tatton need a new start and the Wilfred Jenkins foundation is going to provide them with it. People all over the world are waking up to the power they have and we’re bringing that dynamic to the Tatton and to all the other estates we’ll be taking over in the next few months.’

Once the speeches were over the crowds dispersed and Paul was whisked into a side room by Marius Van Urk for an ‘exclusive’ interview.

‘Paul,’ Marius began, ‘you inherited millions when your grandmother signed over her estate to you but now you’ve given over most of it to the Wilfred Jenkins foundation that you’ve created and which you head. Why did you do that?’

‘I had to wash the money clean,’ said Paul, ‘it struck me that this was an opportunity to do something positive that could affect the lives of a lot of people as well as doing something to right the wrong that had been done against the Jenkins family. That’s why I decided to set up the foundation in Wilfred Jenkins’ name. We need to start a revolution from the bottom up and show people who’ve never believed in themselves that they can make it to wherever they want to go. I take my inspiration from the Reverend Jesse Jackson in the United States who tells disadvantaged people to keep believing that they are somebody despite their current circumstances and that they do have a right to a better future. But of course, they themselves have also to put in the effort too. That’s where the tough love comes in.’

‘I hope so,’ said Paul. ‘The hall will become the headquarters of the Wilfred Jenkins foundation and the rest will become a conference and events centre under a separate management team. We’ve managed to secure all the jobs of those who work there now and we’ll be looking to recruit more people too. I’ll keep my own private apartment there and I’ll be the Chair of the foundation.’

‘Well coming back to the work of the Wilfred Jenkins foundation,’ said Marius. ‘The tenancies of the residents of the Tatton estate have been re-written by the foundation after it took them over. Tell us more about that?’

‘Well, it is a condition now of the tenancy that nobody borrows money from doorstep lenders. We know that loan sharks have been targeting estates like the Tatton, playing on the vulnerability of residents who can’t be part of the normal loan market, and charging them ludicrous amounts of interest for the privilege. We’ve set up a credit union for residents of the estate where they’ll be able to borrow money at much lower and more affordable rates and which will be a community initiative that nobody profits from.’

‘But there is one aspect of the new tenancy agreements that is somewhat controversial?’

‘Well, yes, we’ve said that we have the right to instruct social services to take children into care at the earliest sign of abuse,’ said Paul. ‘There have been far too many cases recently of little kids ending up dead because those who could’ve rescued them didn’t. We’ve been too timid to condemn bad parenting. That’s something we won’t be timid of at the foundation. Also, if any child on the estate is accused of a crime then we will call the parents in and ask them to explain how the situation could’ve arisen. Parents have to take an interest in what their children are up to.’

‘You’ve also set up a nursery in this community centre, what’s the intention there?’

‘It’s a full-on children’s centre that takes care of all aspects of children’s welfare and is linked to the social services centre that I manage just up the road in Broughton. It’s about giving people the support they need whilst also allowing them to take advantage of opportunities with regard to finding a job. One of the problems on the estate is the absence of a culture of work but the children growing up here need to see that going to work is about earning money to live. The Benefits system is there to help support people on low incomes. It shouldn’t be seen as a lifestyle choice.’

‘And are the residents buying into all that?’

‘The job of the foundation will be to assist the residents in that process.’

‘You’ve also been on the receiving end of some sharp criticism from people who say you’re basically taking control of the residents, taking away their free choices and their liberties. What do you say to that?’

‘Well, the people who say that are mostly middle class sitting around their tables in nice leafy suburbs and who’ve never been anywhere near the Tatton and certainly never spoken to anyone living here. Look, I’m a social revolutionary. I don’t accept that things can never change. I adopt a tough love approach because here on the Tatton there are problems that require it.’

‘Such as?’

‘There are too many children having children for a start,’ said Paul. ‘We have fathers and mothers who can’t get a job because they can’t read and write, people who are becoming grandparents at the age of thirty without ever having worked. Now people in the wider community who work hard are growing tired of subsidising that kind of behaviour. What we need is realism and honesty instead of softly, softly kid gloves. And also, it’s about the waste of human potential which is a crime in itself in this day and age. Unless someone takes firm leadership of the situation then all of the people on these estates will remain at the bottom of the heap and I don’t think that’s good enough for them or for the wider community. You see, it’s not just about the gap between rich and poor in society although that is important. But it’s also about realising the value of education. If people in developing countries can see education as the means to get out of poverty then why can’t our people here?’

‘So you do support early intervention in so-called problem families on the estate?’

‘I certainly do, yes, because I’m thinking of the rights of the children. There are cases right across the country where if social services had intervened earlier then children’s lives might have been saved. It’s not about the Nanny state. It’s simply about saving lives. We also need to recruit more social workers from estates like the Tatton, people who’ve got firsthand experience of living in a community that never goes beyond its own boundaries, never goes to the cinema or into town or on holiday, never engages with the rest of society. We need people who know what it’s like to live on estates like the Tatton and can deal with the residents because they’re one of their own. We need to look into how we can achieve that because middle-class do-good solutions don’t work on estates like the Tatton.’

‘Creating the big society?’

‘No,’ said Paul, firmly, ‘creating the truly fair society where everybody recognises their responsibilities as well as their right to a fair go.’

‘You sound like you’re on a bit of a crusade?’

‘I don’t like the word crusade but I do want to do something to stop the tide of wasted lives. We’re also working with Colleen Price who did a fantastic job as Head of Tatton High School only to see her hard work destroyed by a mindless vandal. We’re working with her to repair the damage done to the school and she’ll set standards of education in the area higher than they’ve ever been.’

‘And what’s the other dimension to what you’re doing at the foundation?’

‘Well we’ve set up at Clarissa Harding Hall a residential clinic for members of the armed forces who’ve returned from active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan with combat stress. Now that could mean anything in terms of how their behaviour changes but the clinic will be there to give them the necessary treatment.’

‘You’ve given up your title of the Earl of Gatley and with it your right to sit in the House of Lords. That’s a lot of history to give up.’

‘I’m not interested in titles,’ said Paul, ‘I never have been and I don’t see any reason to change now. I’ve never been in favour of the hereditary principle and I don’t think that anybody should be in the second chamber of parliament unless they’ve been elected to it. People talk about a democratic deficit in the EU but the biggest democratic deficit for British people is a House of Lords that remains unelected. It’s what I felt before I inherited the title and I don’t see any reason to change my view now.’

‘Despite the change in your personal circumstances?’

‘Especially because of the change in my personal circumstances. You have to put your money where your mouth is or else your values are nothing more than meaningless posturing.’

‘And what about your campaign to remove all remaining privileges from the establishment? How is that going to be more than posturing?’

‘I want to shame those at the top of our society into recognising that privilege has no place in a modern country like ours. I want to see an end to all titles and I want to see an end to the monarchy. I’ve been given a profile that wasn’t of my choosing but I’m going to use it as a means of waking the people up to what’s been done to them for centuries. The royals and the aristocracy don’t give a damn about ordinary people. That’s the message I want people to understand and then do something about it.’