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Nick Clegg backs Fiona Woolf as chair of child abuse inquiry Nick Clegg backs Fiona Woolf as chair of child abuse inquiry
(about 1 hour later)
Nick Clegg backed Fiona Woolf as the chair of the government’s inquiry into child sex abuse saying she was a “credible person” for the role. Nick Clegg has backed Fiona Woolf as the chair of the government’s inquiry into child sex abuse, saying she was a “credible person” for the role.
Woolf is under pressure in the face of evidence that she is a friend of Lord Brittan, the former Conservative home secretary alleged to have done too little to investigate allegations of child abuse including by senior members of the establishment in the 1980s. Woolf is under pressure in the face of evidence that she is a friend of Lord Brittan, the former Conservative home secretary alleged to have done too little to investigate claims of child abuse by senior members of the establishment among others in the 1980s.
Speaking on LBC’s Call Clegg show, the deputy prime minister said Theresa May, the home secretary, had made the decision to recommend Woolf to Cameron and himself “following an exhaustive look at the candidates”. Speaking on LBC radio’s Call Clegg show, the deputy prime minister said Theresa May, the home secretary, had made the decision to recommend Woolf to David Cameron and himself “following an exhaustive look at the candidates”.
He said: “Fiona Woolf is obviously the chair but the panel, I think there is a full panel of nine people, and that’s … I haven’t heard anything which suggests to me that the home secretary took the wrong decision. I think Fiona Woolf is obviously a very credible person. Clegg said: “Fiona Woolf is obviously the chair but the panel, I think there is a full panel of nine people, and that’s … I haven’t heard anything which suggests to me that the home secretary took the wrong decision. I think Fiona Woolf is obviously a very credible person.
“The previous nominee decided to withdraw, the Home Office did their due diligence and they clearly don’t feel that the reasons given somehow disqualify Fiona Woolf from the job. And I haven’t heard anything yet which suggests to me that the home secretary has made the wrong decision.“The previous nominee decided to withdraw, the Home Office did their due diligence and they clearly don’t feel that the reasons given somehow disqualify Fiona Woolf from the job. And I haven’t heard anything yet which suggests to me that the home secretary has made the wrong decision.
“There’s this issue about the file, while he [Lord Brittan] was home secretary, that was given to the Home Office; he has provided explanations and so on. I just think you have got to have confidence in the way in which the home secretary and her team scrutinise the panel members and Fiona Woolf and made the recommendations that they did.” “There’s this issue about the file, while he [Brittan] was home secretary, that was given to the Home Office; he has provided explanations and so on. I just think you have got to have confidence in the way in which the home secretary and her team scrutinise the panel members and Fiona Woolf and made the recommendations that they did.”
Woolf, the second person appointed to lead the government’s inquiry into child abuse, is to be asked by a committee of MPs to clarify discrepancies over her account of meetings with the wife of Lord Brittan. Woolf, the second person appointed to lead the government’s inquiry into child abuse, is to be asked by a committee of MPs to clarify discrepancies over her account of meetings with Brittan’s wife.
The chairman of the home affairs select committee, Keith Vaz, said it was “not totally satisfied” with Woolf’s answers after previously undisclosed details of her meetings with Lady Brittan emerged less than a day after her appearance before the MPs.The chairman of the home affairs select committee, Keith Vaz, said it was “not totally satisfied” with Woolf’s answers after previously undisclosed details of her meetings with Lady Brittan emerged less than a day after her appearance before the MPs.
The committee’s move added to mounting legal and parliamentary pressure on Woolf to resign as chair of the inquiry.The committee’s move added to mounting legal and parliamentary pressure on Woolf to resign as chair of the inquiry.
Woolf, a QC and the lord mayor of London, replaced the government’s initial choice, Lady Butler-Sloss, who resigned soon after the inquiry was set up when it emerged that her late brother, Lord Havers, had been attorney general during the period when some of the incidents are alleged to have taken place.Woolf, a QC and the lord mayor of London, replaced the government’s initial choice, Lady Butler-Sloss, who resigned soon after the inquiry was set up when it emerged that her late brother, Lord Havers, had been attorney general during the period when some of the incidents are alleged to have taken place.
A second conflict-of-interest row is growing as lawyers representing victims of the abuse insist that Woolf should resign after it emerged that Brittan was a neighbour with whom she had dined five times since 2008. A second conflict-of-interest row is growing as lawyers representing victims of the abuse insist that Woolf should resign after it emerged that the Brittans were neighbours with whom she had dined five times since 2008.
In a letter to the home secretary, released on Tuesday, Woolf admitted she knew Lord Brittan and his wife, and that she had met Lady Brittan for coffee on a “small number of occasions”. The last such meeting was in April 2013, she said. She also admitted that the two women were on a judging panel for the Dragons awards for corporate involvement in the community in 2014, making no reference to the same awards the year before. In her letter to the home secretary, Woolf said: “I have had no social contact with Lady Brittan since 23 April 2013 and have not spoken to either of them in person or by telephone since.” In a letter to May, released on Tuesday, Woolf admitted she knew the couple and that she had met Lady Brittan for coffee on a “small number of occasions”. The last such meeting was in April 2013, Woolf said. She also admitted that the two women were on this year’s judging panel for the Dragons awards for corporate involvement in the community, making no reference to the same awards the year before. In her letter to the home secretary, Woolf said: “I have had no social contact with Lady Brittan since 23 April 2013 and have not spoken to either of them in person or by telephone since.”
Photographs have emerged of Woolf at recent social functions. One shows the two women in conversation with the former newsreader Martyn Lewis in October 2013 at the Dragons award ceremony. Another shows Woolf standing close to Lady Brittan at a mayoral event.Photographs have emerged of Woolf at recent social functions. One shows the two women in conversation with the former newsreader Martyn Lewis in October 2013 at the Dragons award ceremony. Another shows Woolf standing close to Lady Brittan at a mayoral event.
Vaz said he was surprised that details of further meetings had emerged. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme, he said: “I am surprised that there is new information about the list of meetings that Fiona Woolf has had simply because she was very clear to the committee yesterday ... this was a long letter that had been carefully gone through ... She said she had checked this in a draft with the Home Office.”Vaz said he was surprised that details of further meetings had emerged. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme, he said: “I am surprised that there is new information about the list of meetings that Fiona Woolf has had simply because she was very clear to the committee yesterday ... this was a long letter that had been carefully gone through ... She said she had checked this in a draft with the Home Office.”
He added: “I will write to her to ask her why this particular piece of information was missing and is there anything else she can help the committee, and therefore the public, in respect of other issues.”He added: “I will write to her to ask her why this particular piece of information was missing and is there anything else she can help the committee, and therefore the public, in respect of other issues.”
Vaz said the committee wanted to raise three other issues with Woolf, including whether she had time to chair the inquiry after its launch was delayed to fit in with her busy schedule.Vaz said the committee wanted to raise three other issues with Woolf, including whether she had time to chair the inquiry after its launch was delayed to fit in with her busy schedule.
He said: “We were not totally satisfied [with her evidence] that’s why we are writing to her. He said: “We are writing to her about how much time she has to do this very important job. The committee wants to hear from her, rather than others, about her suitability … If she feels that she doesn’t have the confidence of the victims and others, then I’m sure she will make her decision in her own way.”
“We are writing to her about how much time she has to do this very important job. The committee wants to hear from her, rather than others, about her suitability … If she feels that she doesn’t have the confidence of the victims and others, then I’m sure she will make her decision in her own way.”
Woolf also faces a legal challenge over her appointment and a parliamentary motion calling for her replacement.Woolf also faces a legal challenge over her appointment and a parliamentary motion calling for her replacement.