UNITED KINGDOM
Yorkshire Post
THE Government’s inquiry into historical child abuse has been plagued with controversy since it was established last year. Here are the key events:
* July 7, 2014: Home Secretary Theresa May announces she will establish an independent inquiry to examine the handling of allegations of paedophilia by state institutions as well as bodies such as the BBC, churches and political parties.
* July 8, 2014: Baroness Butler-Sloss is named as the chairwoman. Eyebrows are immediately raised by the choice. Home Affairs Select Committee chairman Keith Vaz questions the choice of a member of the House of Lords, ‘’no matter how distinguished’’, to investigate the establishment – pointing out that her brother was Lord Chancellor during the era being probed.
* July 9, 2014: Calls for the appointment to be abandoned intensify over reports that Baroness Butler-Sloss’s brother, Sir Michael – later Lord – Havers, tried to prevent former West Yorkshire MP Geoffrey Dickens airing claims about a diplomat in Parliament in the 1980s.
* July 14, 2014: Downing Street announces that Baroness Butler-Sloss is stepping aside by her own choice.
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