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Fiona Woolf resigns as chair of government’s child abuse inquiry Fiona Woolf resigns as chair of government’s child abuse inquiry
(about 2 hours later)
Fiona Woolf has resigned as the chair of the government’s child abuse inquiry over concerns about her links to the Westminster establishment. The government’s child sex abuse inquiry was thrown into crisis after Fiona Woolf became the second senior legal figure to quit as chair over her links to the Westminster political establishment.
In a severe embarrassment for the government, the lord mayor of London stepped down after representatives of victims group said they had “unanimously” lost confidence in the process. Woolf’s departure is a major embarrassment for the government and raises questions about the judgment of the home secretary, Theresa May, just months after retired judge Elizabeth Butler-Sloss stepped down over similar concerns.
Woolf’s links to former home secretary Leon Brittan came under scrutiny because he is likely to be called to give evidence to the inquiry about his handling of child abuse allegations. Woolf’s exit has not only left the inquiry without a chair but exposed concerns about the whole process overseen by the Home Office. Victims’ groups which pressed for Woolf to step down are now also calling for a much tougher judge-led inquiry. Alison Millar, head of the abuse team at law firm Leigh Day, which represents victims, said her clients were pleased that Woolf had stepped down. “Now the work begins for a proper inquiry which listens to the survivors and supports them in giving their evidence to an experienced panel,” she said.
Brittan denies failing to act on a dossier of paedophilia allegations he received while in office in the 1980s. “The terms of reference must be based on the needs of survivors and must cover the scale of abuse which is slowly coming to light across the UK.”
On Friday, Woolf said: “I did not think it was going to be possible for me to chair it without everybody’s support.” Woolf lost the support of victims’ groups after it emerged that she was a friend and neighbour of the former home secretary Leon Brittan, whose role in dealing with allegations of child abuse in the 1980s is likely to come under scrutiny.
She added that it was the views expressed by the victims rather than the “innuendo and negative comment” in the press which “turned the tide” for her. One claim at the heart of the inquiry is that a dossier containing accusations about Westminster paedophile activity went missing from his department during the 1980s. He denies any failure to act and there is a letter suggesting it should have been passed on to police.
“I am obviously sad that people are not confident in my ability to chair what is a hugely important inquiry impartially,” she said. “I don’t think that it was going to be possible for me to chair it without everybody’s support.” Calls for her to resign intensified after it emerged that the Home Office had helped Woolf rewrite a letter detailing her contacts with Lord Brittan seven times in a way that played down their relationship.
Documents published on Thursday showed that a letter setting out Woolf’s contacts with Lord Brittan and his wife was redrafted seven times, with guidance from Home Office officials, before being sent to the home secretary, Theresa May. In interviews, Woolf said she realised she needed to “get out of the way” after losing the confidence of survivors of sexual abuse. “I am obviously sad that people are not confident in my ability to chair what is a hugely important inquiry impartially,” she said. “I don’t think that it was going to be possible for me to chair it without everybody’s support.”
Woolf, who is a former president of the Law Society, detailed in the four-page letter how she had lived in the same road in the capital as Brittan and his wife since 2004 and had been with them at a series of dinner parties.
As well as inviting the Brittans to dinner at her house three times, she had dined at their home twice, met Lady Brittan for coffee, sat on a prize-giving panel with her, and sponsored her £50 for a fun run.
May said she accepted the resignation with regret, given that she believed Woolf “would have carried out her duties with integrity, impartiality and to the highest standard”.May said she accepted the resignation with regret, given that she believed Woolf “would have carried out her duties with integrity, impartiality and to the highest standard”.
The home secretary will make a statement to the Commons on Monday and has promised to personally consult with victims’ groups, after being criticised for sending officials in her place to a meeting on Friday. Her role in the affair is likely to come in for intense criticism, as the government said it had done “due diligence” on Woolf and promised she was less of an establishment choice than Butler-Sloss.
The rest of the panel of experts appointed to the inquiry will begin work without a chairman in order to make some progress. The home secretary will make a statement to MPs on Monday and has promised to personally consult victims’ groups, as well as having a pre-appointment hearing with the Commons home affairs committee. But May has come under fire for sending officials in her place to a meeting with survivors and their legal representatives on Friday. Some said they had not been guaranteed expenses by the Home Office for travelling to the meeting, although they had come from all over the country.
Woolf’s departure is a huge blow for the government after the previous chair of the inquiry, Baroness Butler-Sloss, also had to quit because her late brother, Sir Michael Havers, was attorney general in the 1980s. The rest of the panel of experts appointed to the inquiry will begin work without a chair in order to make some progress.
She warned that it could now be difficult to find a suitable replacement who was willing to take on the role in the face of intense media scrutiny. The Labour MP Tom Watson warned his party against getting its knives out for May, saying she was the wrong target and it would politicise the inquiry. “Labour should not go after May, though we probably will,” he said. “I have a sense there may be some Tories who want to as well. But the key thing is to try to get something positive out of it … There are plenty of people who have the intelligence and independence to do the job.”
Woolf’s departure is a huge blow for the government after the previous chair of the inquiry, Lady Butler-Sloss, had to quit because her late brother, Sir Michael Havers, was attorney general in the 1980s.
Woolf warned that it could now be difficult to find a suitable replacement willing to take on the role in the face of intense media scrutiny.
“It is really going to be hard to find someone with no connections. A hermit?” she said.“It is really going to be hard to find someone with no connections. A hermit?” she said.
She added: “This inquiry needs to get on with the job. Above all it needs to report in a time-scale that doesn’t take 10 years.” She added: “This inquiry needs to get on with the job. Above all it needs to report in a timescale that doesn’t take 10 years.”
Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons home affairs committee, welcomed Woolf’s resignation but said the whole process had been “chaotic”.Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons home affairs committee, welcomed Woolf’s resignation but said the whole process had been “chaotic”.
He told the BBC: “Given the concerns of the victims and the information that was given to the select committee that we released yesterday, it was the right thing to do.He told the BBC: “Given the concerns of the victims and the information that was given to the select committee that we released yesterday, it was the right thing to do.
“The real problem in all this has been the process. This is the second head of the inquiry who has gone and I would have thought it would have been better all round if she had made these disclosures at the beginning.“The real problem in all this has been the process. This is the second head of the inquiry who has gone and I would have thought it would have been better all round if she had made these disclosures at the beginning.
“I think it’s essential that there should be proper scrutiny and [an] open, robust, vigorous, appointment process but also one that, before it even begins, there needs to be full consultation with stake holders for the next name.“I think it’s essential that there should be proper scrutiny and [an] open, robust, vigorous, appointment process but also one that, before it even begins, there needs to be full consultation with stake holders for the next name.
“This has been chaotic. Look at the way in which this matter has been dealt with, it has been so badly put together.“This has been chaotic. Look at the way in which this matter has been dealt with, it has been so badly put together.
“It is wrong for them [the Home Office] to have conducted this process in such a way that two very distinguished women who are path finders in their fields should have had to have resign from the inquiry.”“It is wrong for them [the Home Office] to have conducted this process in such a way that two very distinguished women who are path finders in their fields should have had to have resign from the inquiry.”
Alison Millar, head of the abuse team at law firm Leigh Day, which represents victims, said: “We are pleased that Fiona Woolf has stepped down and now the work begins for a proper inquiry which listens to the survivors and supports them in giving their evidence to an experienced panel.
“The terms of reference must be based on the needs of survivors and must cover the scale of abuse which is slowly coming to light across the UK.”