Sex abuse inquiry chairman denies clash as QC steps down
THE chairman of the inquiry into allegations of an establishment cover-up of sex abuse has said there is “no truth” in reports of a difference of opinion with a leading lawyer who quit his job last night.
Professor Alexis Jay said she had accepted Ben Emmerson QC’s decision to step down from the post of senior counsel after two years.
Mr Emmerson was suspended from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse on Wednesday night amid reports he was about to resign. His departure was announced just hours after it was revealed his junior colleague Elizabeth Prochaska had also left her role.
But Prof Jay, previously chief social work adviser to the Scottish Government, said: “There is no truth in suggestions that he has resigned due to a difference of opinion with me about the next steps for the inquiry.”
Prime Minister Theresa May had earlier said that the “really important” inquiry would go ahead as planned, amid claims that it was in “crisis”.
Mr Emmerson said he would be “sad” to leave, saying: “I remain totally committed to securing a fair and just result for those who matter most, the victims and survivors of childhood abuse.”
He added: “Shortly after you took over, you announced a review of the Inquiry’s ways of working to identify any changes that may be necessary in the public interest.
“When you decided to re-appoint me as counsel to the Inquiry in early September, I had my personal doubts about whether I was genuinely the right person to steer that review process. Since then, it has become clear to me that I am not the person to take this review forward on your behalf.
“It is now time for someone else to take the helm with a different leadership of the counsel team.
“There is no truth in suggestions that I have resigned due to a difference of opinion with you about the next steps for the inquiry.”