UNITED KINGDOM
International Business Times
By Nick Assinder Political Editor
July 11, 2014
When ministers announced that Baroness Elizabeth Butler-Sloss was to head the over-arching investigation into child sex abuse in Britain the backlash was swift and loud.
Distinguished and unimpeachable though she is, her brother, former Tory attorney general Sir Michael Havers, had been criticised for not taking action against alleged establishment paedophiles in the 1980s when he was in post.
What surprised many of those MPs leading the demands for an inquiry was that it appeared the prime minister David Cameron and Home Secretary Theresa May had not spotted the potential conflict of interest.
Shadow attorney general, Emily Thornberry, told the BBC: “I don’t question this admirable, extraordinary woman’s integrity … but I’m surprised the home office didn’t look at this, because I think they have put her in a very difficult position.”
There was a very simple reason why the apparent problem was overlooked. It was because the creation of the Hillsborough-style inquiry and appointment of its head had been done in a huge rush in order to get the story off the front pages.
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