UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News
Dominic Casciani
Home affairs correspondent
Last year’s catastrophic double-failure to launch the historical child sex abuse inquiry posed serious questions for Home Secretary Theresa May and her team.
Two chairs appointed, two chairs resigned and there was a deepening sense of despair among people who’ve been abused that the truth would never come out.
Right from the start, both of the previous chairs – Baroness Butler-Sloss and her successor Fiona Woolf – were under incredible scrutiny. And both were ultimately compromised because they could not command the support of people who have spent years waiting for justice.
Justice Goddard has all the key qualities necessary to lead the Inquiry’s work … this is a completely fresh start”
So last November, under immense political pressure, the Home Secretary publicly conceded she had got it wrong. She would pause and listen to survivors and their representatives before she went any further.
The omens did not look good. She knew that abuse survivors were at the end of their tether – so much talk, so many promises, but so little delivered.
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