UNITED KINGDOM
The Argus
Press Association
Former head of the independent child sexual abuse inquiry Dame Lowell Goddard resigned “because she found it too much for her”, Home Secretary Amber Rudd has suggested.
A Commons committee also heard that the probe refunded £2.5 million to the Home Office last year – despite Dame Lowell’s claim that its budget does not match its “sheer scale and size”.
Last month the New Zealand high court judge became the third chairwoman to quit the inquiry, which has been beset by problems since it was launched in 2014.
Earlier this week it emerged that following her departure Dame Lowell delivered a critical assessment in a written submission to the Home Affairs committee in which she called for a complete review of the inquiry.
Ms Rudd was questioned about the episode as she appeared at the committee.
Asked why she believed Dame Lowell had stood down, the Home Secretary said: ” I think she went, although it is a matter for her I have to say, that she went because she found it too much for her and a lthough she could contribute to it and there was some good work done in the past year, ultimately she found it too lonely. She was a long way from home and she decided to step down.
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