UNITED KINGDOM
Express
BARONESS Butler-Sloss was the wrong choice to chair the inquiry into allegations that child sex abuse was aided and abetted by state bodies.
Her late brother Sir Michael Havers served as Attorney General in the 1980s when some of the alleged crimes took place and the inquiry is expected to look at how he handled claims of abuse.
This is a strong conflict of interest and despite the many undoubted qualities she possesses Lady Butler-Sloss’s ability to remain impartial has to be questioned.
A major aim of the inquiry is to find whether senior establishment figures were involved in a large-scale cover-up of paedophilia.
Having it led by somebody with close family ties to one of those establishment figures would have undermined the inquiry’s findings.
Those who did suffer or who have claimed that they suffered at the hands of paedophiles need to have the chance to deliver their evidence to an inquiry that is completely and utterly impartial.
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