Theresa May to make third effort to name head of abuse inquiry

UNITED KINGDOM
Financial Times

Kiran Stacey, Political Correspondent

Theresa May will next month make a third attempt to propose a suitable person to run an inquiry into the alleged sexual abuse of children by politicians, six months after announcing the probe.

The home secretary is likely to choose a judge that would preside over hearings, government officials said on Monday. This means witnesses could be required to testify but also that the inquiry could take years to reach a conclusion.

Ms May is also poised to scrap a panel that was appointed to look into the sex abuse allegations and replace it with a new system to reflect the new statutory powers that the inquiry will be given.

“Theresa May has her heart in the right place but I’m not sure about other people. I can’t help thinking that there is something afoot when you have establishment figures chosen to chair it who are wholly inappropriate because they are connected to some of those involved,” said Simon Danczuk, Labour MP for Rochdale.

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