WALES
Daily Post
Jan 07, 2015 By David Williamson
Ex Welsh Secretary Peter Hain labels the department’s decision as ‘scandalous’
The Home Office has rejected former Welsh Secretary Peter Hain’s calls for the inquiry into historic child abuse to have a representative from Wales.
Mr Hain accused the Home Office of showing “total disregard” and warned that unless such person was on the panel the it would “fall short of its purpose”.
In November, Mr Hain warned it would be “scandalous” and “mind-boggling” if the Independent Panel Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse did not include somebody with in-depth knowledge of specific issues about the care of children in Wales.
However, Liberal Democrat Home Office minister Lynne Featherstone has written to the Neath MP and argued this is “not the only way” the inquiry can draw on Welsh experiences and expertise.
The panel has already been rocked by the withdrawal of Baroness Butler-Sloss and Dame Fiona Woolf as chairs following concern about their establishment links.
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