Theresa May under pressure to give investigation greater powers.
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| Home Secretary: Theresa May |
As the much delayed
inquiry into child sex abuse descends even further into the world of
pantomime, another potential chair for this investigation bows to
pressure and stands down from the post. It will be difficult, if not
impossible, to find a suitable candidate to fill the role of chair
for this essential inquiry, who has not had some contact or
relationship with, or perhaps is related to, some “establishment”
figure implicated in or otherwise involved in some form or other, at
any level, with the allegations of abuse and the alleged cover up of
these crimes.
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| Fiona Woolf |
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| Elizabeth Butler-Sloss |
The perception prevails,
rightly or wrongly, that “the establishment” cannot be trusted to
investigate themselves and the “old school tie” network, even in
the first half of the 20th Century, is as rife now as it has ever
been and will go to any lengths to protect its members from scrutiny,
investigation or even impeachment. We have seen in other places,
where prevarication, delays and glaring obstruction have been
employed to prevent exposure of individuals and institutions involved
in historic child abuse and the conspiracy to cover up the facts
which might lead to prosecutions. It has now been some months since
the Home secretary announced the creation of this enquiry, but we are
no further forward than when the House of Commons was first given
Theresa May's statement.
Clearly, a chair must be
appointed who will have the trust of the alleged victims and their
supporting organisations, but such a person will not be found from
within the ranks of “the establishment”. There is a growing
proposition that such a person should be brought in from outside,
perhaps from Europe to chair this inquiry, where the Commons Select
Committee could establish beyond any doubt the credibility and
impartiality of the appointee. In this way, the possibility of
further errors of judgement by Theresa May, would be avoided.
What is unquestionably
essential, is that the inquiry must be commenced without more delay
and must be broadened to carry statutory powers, including compelling
witnesses and documents to be disclosed. Any continuing delay would
be unacceptable to the public and the victims and would only
discredit the legitimacy of the inquiry even further.
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