The Home Secretary Theresa May has launched an independent inquiry into historical child sex abuse cases.
She announced today in a Commons statement addressing the recent story of an alleged MP paedophile ring in Eighties Westminster that the head of children’s charity the NSPCC, Peter Wanless, is to lead the review into the allegations. It will also investigate the handling of the information given to the police and prosecution service about the allegations at the time. May added that this review would additionally look into the Paedophile Information Exchange group. This report is expected in eight to ten weeks.
May also announced a wide-ranging, Hillsborough-style inquiry to be launched by an independent panel of experts on the broader topic of law and child protection. This isn’t expected to report before the next election. May also suggested that this panel inquiry could be launched into a full-scale public inquiry, depending on its findings: “Our priority must be the prosecution of the people behind these disgusting crimes,” she said.
The Prime Minister told reporters earlier today that the government would leave “no stone unturned” in seeking the truth about the allegations:
[It is] vital that we learn the lessons right across the board from these things that have gone wrong and it’s also important that the police feel that they can go wherever the evidence leads and they can make all the appropriate arrangements to investigate this properly.
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