UNITED KINGDOM
Irish Times
Patrick Wintour
Mon, Jul 7, 2014
The UK’s home secretary, Theresa May, has announced a wide-ranging inquiry into public bodies’ and institutions’ handling of historical child abuse allegations. British prime minister, David Cameron, said there would be no stone left unturned in the search for the truth.
The government drew parallels with the panel inquiry into the 1989 Hillsborough disaster – and its subsequent handling by public bodies including the police – rather than the judge-led Leveson inquiry into the practices of the British press.
The prime minister’s spokesman said there was a case for examining how a range of public bodies handled child abuse claims. These are likely to include hospitals, broadcasting, the church, judicial authorities as well as political bodies.
The detailed terms of reference are still being worked on and may yet be adjusted once the panel of the inquiry is identified.
Mr Cameron spoke to the home secretary over the weekend and agreed that no stone should be left unturned in finding the truth, and that any lessons from how organisations handled claims needed to be learned to understand the failure of society as a whole to listen to the complaints of children.
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