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| Dame Lowell Goddard preferred to work alone, MPs told | Dame Lowell Goddard preferred to work alone, MPs told |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Dame Lowell Goddard, the former head of an inquiry into child sexual abuse, kept panel members at a distance and would have rather worked alone, MPs have heard. | Dame Lowell Goddard, the former head of an inquiry into child sexual abuse, kept panel members at a distance and would have rather worked alone, MPs have heard. |
| Professor Alexis Jay, her successor, told the Commons Home Affairs Committee that despite this, they tried to make arrangements work. | Professor Alexis Jay, her successor, told the Commons Home Affairs Committee that despite this, they tried to make arrangements work. |
| Dame Lowell Goddard, the inquiry's third chairwoman, resigned in August. | Dame Lowell Goddard, the inquiry's third chairwoman, resigned in August. |
| The committee is quizzing new chair Alexis Jay and two panel members. | The committee is quizzing new chair Alexis Jay and two panel members. |
| 'Challenges' | |
| One of them, Ivor Frank, was asked whether Dame Lowell Goddard was a "nightmare to work with". | One of them, Ivor Frank, was asked whether Dame Lowell Goddard was a "nightmare to work with". |
| "I would not use that language. I would prefer to say there were challenges," he replied. | "I would not use that language. I would prefer to say there were challenges," he replied. |
| He said she was not always present throughout her 16-month tenure so the panel was able to continue working without very much contact. | |
| "There were times when things were amicable. Other times when it was less amicable," he told the committee. | |
| Who is Justice Lowell Goddard? | |
| During questioning, Prof Jay denied the inquiry had been "an unhappy ship" on which to work. | |
| She said a great deal of work had been done, it had always been "open for business" and it was not true to say it was ever in crisis. | |
| But she acknowledged that had Dame Goddard not resigned, it would have been "very difficult" for the work of the inquiry to be carried out. | |
| In her resignation letter from August, Dame Lowell Goddard said the inquiry had a "legacy of failure which has been very hard to shake off". | |
| She has since been accused of using racist language, something she has strongly denied. |