MP puts PM on the spot over what she knew and when
Lisa Nandy asked a razor sharp question about Theresa May’s role in the scandal-prone child abuse inquiry at today’s Prime Ministers’ Questions.
The Labour MP, who resigned as Shadow Energy Secretary in June unhappy with Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, asked what May knew, and when, about the inquiry set up by May as Home Secretary in 2014.
In response, the Prime Minister confirmed she knew of ‘stories’ about Dame Lowell Goddard’s heading the the inquiry, but could not intervene based on ‘hearsay’.
You can watch the exchange and read Nandy’s question below:
PM tells @lisanandy a home sec cannot take action on “suspicion, rumour or hearsay” over child sex abuse claims https://t.co/26Bsl9M4xc
— DailySunday Politics (@daily_politics) October 19, 2016
“The child abuse inquiry needs to regain the trust of survivors. In September the Home Secretary said she had no information about serious leadership failings, but on Monday she told the House that she had known about serious problems since July.
Yesterday it emerged that senior Home Office officials were briefed as early as April of this year.
She set up the inquiry. She appointed the chair. She was the individual responsible for the inquiry’s success. She was the Home Secretary in April. And she was the only person who had the power to act.
So can she now finally tell us when she personally learnt of the serious problems developing in this inquiry, and why it was that she took no action at all?”
Nandy also writes about this in the Guardian today, demanding justice for survivors.
Adam Barnett is staff writer for Left Foot Forward. Follow him on Twitter @AdamBarnett13
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