I did hear rumours about abuse probe judge, admits May
THERESA May knew about ‘tensions’ at the top of the Government’s troubled child sex abuse inquiry while she was Home Secretary, it emerged last night.
As claims of a cover-up intensified, the Prime Minister told MPs that she had been aware of ‘stories’ about Dame Lowell Goddard’s strained relationship with the inquiry panel.
However, she said she had been unwilling to intervene ‘on the basis of suspicion, rumour and hearsay’.
Last night, Downing Street admitted that Mrs May had first been informed of the concerns ‘some weeks’ before Dame Lowell resigned from the Independent Inquiry Into Child Sexual Abuse on August 4 with an £80,000 payoff.
But officials denied she was specifically aware of disputed allegations of racism and bullying that have now been levelled against Dame Lowell.
Labour MP Lisa Nandy last night urged the Prime Minister to ‘come clean’ about what she knew of the affair and what she did in response to concerns about Dame Lowell’s management of the inquiry.
‘Now that Theresa May has admitted she knew of failings in the abuse inquiry whilst she was in charge of it she must explain why she took no action other than to allow a generous £80,000 payoff to the judge at the centre of these serious allegations,’ she said.
‘The new Home Secretary Amber Rudd must also explain why she told MPs as recently as September that “all the information” she had was that Dame Lowell Goddard resigned because she was homesick.
‘This feels like a cover-up, making it imperative that the Prime Minister and Home Secretary are now completely open about precisely what they knew so that survivors can regain confidence in this crucial inquiry.’
The Home Office said last Friday that it had been ‘made aware of concerns about the professionalism and compe- tence’ of Dame Lowell on July 29 – five days before the former New Zealand judge quit.
MPs were told on Tuesday that the issue had first been raised with a senior Home Office official in April, at which time Mrs May was still the Home Secretary.
The Prime Minister said: ‘That conversation was asked to be confidential and it was, as far as I am aware, treated as such. I think it is important for us to recognise that, when the Home Office was officially informed of issues, the Home Office acted.
‘It’s now for the inquiry to get on and deliver for victims and survivors.’
Mrs May yesterday ducked questions about exactly when she was first told about the emerging crisis around the inquiry’s third chairman. But she said she had never been told anything that would justify using the ultimate sanction of sacking Dame Lowell.
She added: ‘There were stories around about the inquiry and about individuals related to the inquiry, but the Home Secretary cannot intervene on the basis of suspicion, rumour or hearsay.’
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman later declined to be drawn on what action the Home Office took, but stressed that, as an independent inquiry, it was first and foremost the responsibility of the panel to deal with the issue, adding: ‘The only stories she was aware of were in relation to tensions with the panel – nothing more than that.
‘There was nothing that would constitute a formal complaint or convincing evidence. Government cannot act on rumours.’
Dame Lowell has strongly denied allegations against her – including claims that she used racist language – describing them as ‘falsities’, ‘malicious’ and part of a ‘vicious campaign’ against her.
However, she has yet to respond to a request from MPs to put her side of the story at a public hearing.
Chuka Umunna, a Labour MP on the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, questioned the approval of her £80,000 payoff when there were concerns about her behaviour, adding: ‘I have to say to the public, this whole thing stinks.’
Victims’ groups reacted with fury last night.
Phil Johnson, acting chairman of the Minister and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors group, said: ‘It’s clear that Theresa May did know ahead of Dame Lowell Goddard’s resignation of what she describes as hearsay and rumours. ‘But why was nothing done? ‘Surely, if there were rumours of serious difficulties within the inquiry, she should at the very least have asked more questions. Then why was a payoff agreed when concerns had been raised? It smacks of a cover-up.
‘This inquiry is supposed to be open and transparent, it’s supposed to be fighting to expose the truth, but it is doing anything but that.’
Tim Loughton, acting chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said he had unanswered questions about the issue after the inquiry’s fourth chairman, Professor Alexis Jay, refused to provide any detail about the departure of Dame Lowell and the inquiry’s top lawyer Ben Emmerson, QC, who quit 24 hours after he was suspended last month.
Mr Loughton told the Mail: ‘The inquiry is now on its fourth chair, the departure of senior legal advisers has been shrouded in mystery, huge amounts of public money have been spent and it is unclear what progress it has bought.’