Vaz Demands "Full Explanation" over Goddard Resignation

ITV
August 5, 2016

http://www.itv.com/news/update/2016-08-05/vaz-demands-full-explanation-over-goddard-resignation/

Keith Vaz said 'serious questions' need to be answered. Credit: PA

The Government must provide a "full explanation" for Dame Lowell Goddard's decision to quit as head of the child sexual abuse inquiry, Labour's Keith Vaz has said.

Mr Vaz, chairman of the Commons Home Affairs committee, said the decision was "astonishing" and that "serious questions" should be asked about "why the Home Office has not monitored events more carefully".

"We will expect a full explanation from both the Prime Minister and the new Home Secretary about these matters," he said. "We need to examine again the remit, cost, purpose and ambition of what the inquiry was tasked with."

Tom Watson, deputy leader of the Labour Party, said a new chair must be found as "a matter of great urgency", adding: "I hope the new Home Secretary will not attempt to take control of the investigation. The independence of this inquiry must not be compromised by ministers or officials."