Bishop Hits out at Delay in Abuse Probe LED by Lawyer with Leon Brittan Links

By Jonathan Petre
Mail on Sunday
September 27, 2014

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2772197/Bishop-hits-delay-abuse-probe-led-lawyer-Leon-Brittan-links.html

Bishop Paul Butler said that the long-awaited investigation would not start work until almost five months after it was announced, because of Fiona Woolf’s existing workload

A senior Church of England bishop has criticised delays created by the controversial appointment of a high-profile lawyer to lead the Government’s historic child abuse inquiry.

The Bishop of Durham, Paul Butler, who is the chairman of the Church’s committee on abuse, said that the long-awaited investigation would not start work until almost five months after it was announced, because of Fiona Woolf’s existing workload.

And he highlighted concerns that until the inquiry begins, officials accused of a cover-up could be shredding important documents.

His intervention comes after The Mail on Sunday revealed Mrs Woolf has close links to Tory grandee Leon Brittan, accused of failing to investigate alleged VIP paedophile rings when Home Secretary.

It can also be revealed that the 66-year-old commercial lawyer, who, as Lord Mayor of London, has spent much of the past month on overseas business, has not yet responded to urgent calls to appear before MPs. Bishop Butler told a child protection conference: ‘Given her very heavy duties as Lord Mayor, it is hard to see how the inquiry will be able to get under way until late November at the earliest.

‘This is an unfortunate delay, since the initial announcement was made in early July. It has already led to concerns being expressed about files being shredded in Government departments and elsewhere.’

Lord Mayor of the City of London Fiona Woolf (left) has been named as the chairman of the independent inquiry commissioned by the Government into historic child sex abuse; Lord Brittan (right) with his wife, Diana

The inquiry suffered an earlier setback when retired judge Baroness Butler-Sloss was forced to step down as the original chairman because her brother had handled child abuse cases involving high-profile figures when he was Attorney General in the 1980s.

The Home Office has also admitted it has lost 114 files relating to allegations of child abuse over three decades, fuelling claims of an establishment cover-up. Meanwhile, the Home Affairs Select Committee, which is carrying out its own inquiry into child sexual exploitation, asked Mrs Woolf to give evidence about her role and potential conflicts of interest after the MoS discovered her links with Lord Brittan. She lives on the same street, sits on a City board with him and also worked as a magistrate with his wife Diana.

But three weeks after Mrs Woolf’s appointment was announced, she is yet to agree a date to appear.

MP Keith Vaz, the chairman of the committee, said: ‘The committee is very keen to see Fiona Woolf appear before it.’

But he admitted Mrs Woolf’s office have not yet responded to requests for her to appear and insisted: ‘We will press her.’