No abuse inquiry head until next spring, say Labour

By The Press Association28th November 2014News EnglandChild Abuse, Government / Politics, Inquiry, News England

The inquiry into the handling of child sex abuse allegations by public bodies which has been plagued with difficulties from the outset will not have a chair in place until spring 2015 at the earliest, Labour has claimed.

Shadow home affairs minister Diana Johnson said there are currently 100 candidates to chair the Government’s wide-ranging inquiry into the handling of paedophile activity by the state and other public bodies.

Ms Johnson said she understood that the nominees will go through a rigorous process of background checks and consultations and so a chair will not be appointed until spring of next year.

Home Secretary Theresa May has come in for fierce criticism for failing to get the inquiry off the ground, with two chairs being forced to quit over their links to senior figures from the 1970s and 1980s, when much of the abuse is alleged to have taken place.

Baroness Butler-Sloss stood down as chairwoman of the historic child abuse inquiry in July amid questions over the role played by her late brother, Lord Havers, who was attorney general in the 1980s.

Her replacement Fiona Woolf, the then-lord mayor of London, resigned last month following a barrage of criticism over her “establishment links”, most notably in relation to former home secretary Lord Brittan.

In a backbench debate on the progress of the inquiry, Ms Johnson said: “I understand that the current position is that about 100 nominations have now been made for the chair and with due diligence checks and pre-appointment consultation and hearings that have been scheduled a chair is unlikely to be in place before the spring of 2015.

Ms Johnson stressed that speed was vital for the inquiry as many of the alleged abusers are getting older and need to be brought to justice before they die.

She told the Commons: “I am sure the minister cannot be in any doubt about the commitment of members of this House for this child abuse inquiry to succeed, to make sure it has the confidence of survivors, or about the scale of the task facing the inquiry panel.

“And to do so in a timely manner as many perpetrators we know are growing older and need to be brought to justice wherever possible.”

Former children’s minister Tim Loughton said both former chairs were excellent candidates to head the inquiry, adding it was “unfortunate” that circumstances conspired to ensure they lost credibility in the eyes of the survivors.

He said: “I don’t think we should see that as any deliberate intention to undermine or rig the inquiry in any way.

“These were two honourable, heavyweight candidates and unfortunate because of the delicacies and sensitivities that this issue has now become that they were not able to continue.”

Among the latest allegations of historic abuse is the claim that police might have helped cover up the murder of an eight-year-old boy by a Westminster paedophile ring.

Mrs May has warned that allegations of child sex abuse at public institutions that have emerged so far are just the “tip of the iceberg”.

Opening the debate, Labour MP Simon Danczuk made a direct plea to the perpetrators of child abuse to come forward to the inquiry.

Mr Danczuk, an outspoken campaigner on the issue, urged them to admit their guilt to spare the victims the trauma of having to relive their plight.

In a passionate speech, he said: “There is another group of people who should come forward to this inquiry, these people are the perpetrators of child abuse. To those people I would say this:

“I urge you to think about the people you have abused, to think about your victims, damaged as children, they continue to suffer now well into their adult lives.

“You have inflicted upon them untold misery – on them and their families. In many cases what you did has made it impossible for them to live normal lives.

“Now they must suffer again by coming forward and speaking about what you did to them. They will have tried desperately to bury the memories of abuse, but now they will have to drag them back into the light.

“They will have to relive that trauma, but you can spare them some of that suffering. You can come forward and admit your guilt, admit what you have done. Some of that pain can be saved and some people can begin to rebuild their lives.

“As a perpetrator of these crimes, you must come forward to the inquiry and take responsibility for what you have done.

“You can never undo the wrong, but you can at least prevent further agony.”

Mr Danczuk also reiterated his call for an amnesty for police officers who might have information about specific cases but are worried about breaching the Official Secrets Act and losing their pensions.

Conservative former minister Sir Paul Beresford warned against the focus falling solely on high-profile cases.

He said: “I am bothered that in concentrating on the high-profile cases we’re missing those thousands, and they will be thousands, of children that are being abused and have been abused over the years by gangs.

“We’ve got to be broad. The advantage of the high-profile cases is it does make absolutely sure that it is in the media and it’s in the minds and that is having a positive effect.”

The Mole Valley MP also said the Government’s inquiry did not have a highly-experienced, recently retired police officer who is an expert on the issue.

He said: “There’s no-one on this team that has actually looked for these people, arrested them, talked to the victims as part of the campaign etc. and as part of the whole programme and I hope the Home Office will think about this.”

Home Office minister Karen Bradley said she could not provide the House with a date, but insisted appointing a chair was a priority for the home secretary and the Government.

She told the House that Mrs May was committed to working with survivors to choose an individual who was both suitably qualified and had their confidence.

She confirmed the Home Office had received more than 100 nominations and that whoever was chosen would be subject to a pre-confirmation hearing before the Home Affairs Select Committee.

“Whilst we will appoint a new chair as soon as possible, we must also take the time to get that appointment right, to ensure survivors have had their say and their say has been heard,” she went on.

“So that we can all be confident we have the right person in place to lead this once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver justice to those who have suffered and to save other young children from the appalling abuse that so many have already endured.

“I think it is the least we can do.”