Theresa May today announced the National Crime Agency is to examine fresh claims a senior Conservative figure was involved in abuse at care homes in 1970s and 1980s.
The Home Secretary said the conclusions of the Waterhouse Inquiry in 2000 will be looked at again, but alleged victim Steve Messham who spoke out last week has demanded a wider investigation warning: 'There's no point in having an inquiry into the inquiry.'
David Cameron is poised to order a single wide-ranging judicial inquiry into spiralling child abuse allegations which have rocked the BBC, the NHS, police and government.
Inquiry: Theresa May and Prime Minister David Cameron are in support of an inquiry into child abuse allegations
Ms May used a statement to the Commons to announced Keith Bristow, the director general of the National Crime Agecy will lead investigations into new claims about sex offences against youngsters in the 1970s and 1980s, and review how previous inquiries were carried out.
North Wales Police chief constable Mark Polin asked Mr Bristow to 'assess the allegations recently received, to review the historic police investigations and investigate any fresh allegations reported to police into the alleged historic abuse in North Wales care homes'.
Mr Messham claimed last week that a senior figure from the Thatcher era repeatedly took part in abusing him while he was in care at the notorious Bryn Estyn children’s home in Wrexham in the late-1970s.
The 49-year-old will meet with Scotland Yard officers today over rape claims against one former top Tory politician.
He said he was ‘sold’ to men for sexual abuse at a nearby hotel and that the politician was among the perpetrators. Mr Messham, a witness at an inquiry led by judge Sir Ronald Waterhouse into abuse claims at 40 homes from 1974 to 1990, will also meet Welsh Secretary David Jones today to discuss his case.
Downing Street sources have said the door is ‘open’ to an overarching public inquiry to be headed by a judge. This could happen if suggestions of links between separate allegations of child abuse are substantiated.
Yesterday the Prime Minister interrupted a trip to the Middle East to announce two new independent inquiries in claims of abuse in North Wales.
The former Bryn Estyn boys home in Wrexham closed down following claims of child abuse and is again in the spotlight following Steve Messham's claims
'I want justice': Steve Messham said he was an abuse victim at the Bryn Estyn children's home in Wrexham in the late 1970s
The first, expected to be headed by a judge, will examine the conduct of the earlier official probe into the scandal. The second will consider the police handling of complaints made at the time.
Mr Cameron said today: 'These are very, very concerning allegations, they are dreadful allegations. We must get to the bottom of it as quickly as possible on behalf of the victims.
'That is why I have ordered this rapid investigation into the previous inquiry to find out whether there was something wrong with it and make sure the victims are properly listened to.
'Today the Home Secretary will be speaking to the House of Commons and making sure that the police have the capacity to deal with these allegations and make sure no stone is left unturned in getting to the bottom of these appalling matters.'
Mr Messham gave the announcement a cautious welcome.
'I welcome the announcement as long as it's an inquiry into the abuse that took place. There's no point in having an inquiry into the inquiry,' he told the BBC.
'I think we need that done by an outside police force, maybe the Met could come in and look at that.'
He also warned Mr Cameron against appointing a judge to lead the investigation into the way the Waterhouse inquiry was conducted.
Mrs will today make a statement to Parliament about what ‘support’ will be made available to North Wales police.
The Home Secretary defended ordering a fresh inquiry, when no new allegations have been made which were not made to the Waterhouse Inquiry.
‘I think what has changed is we have at least one individual who has come forward and made a number of comments, allegations and complaints about what happened in the past. Obviously those need to be looked at,' she told BBC Radio4's Today programme.
‘These are hugely serious allegations that are being made. Child abuse is appalling and shocking.’
The Prime Minister’s announcement of two further inquiries is an attempt to demonstrate that the Government is reacting more effectively to historic abuse allegations than the BBC did in the Jimmy Savile scandal.
Foreign Secretary William Hague, who set up the Waterhouse inquiry while John Major’s Welsh Secretary, is among those likely to be asked to give evidence.
Evidence: Foreign Secretary William Hague is expected to give evidence to one of the probes
Sources said he would co-operate fully, pointing out that no MPs had questioned the remit of the previous inquiry at the time.
They added that the report was handed to Labour ministers in 2000. It concluded that some of the abuse claims were ‘embarking on the realm of fantasy’.
Scandal: The allegations of sexual abuse against Sir Jimmy Savile, who died last year, have prompted five different inquiries
Lawyer Mark Stephens, who represented 15 victims at the Waterhouse Inquiry, told ITV Daybreak: 'I think one of the problems and one of the challenges that comes out of the Waterhouse Inquiry, this North Wales child abuse inquiry that took place back in 1997, is the fact that there was no substantive follow-up by the police and that is a key issue.'
He added: 'There were 28 people who were named in the inquiry but were not publicly reported, now the reason for that, and there is a good reason, was that Sir Ronald Waterhouse, the judge who ran the inquiry, did not want to prejudice any upcoming trial.
'Of course the problem then is that there was no substantive follow through and of course that's the really important issue here, we needed to have the follow through and the people who are making the complaints today were making the complaints back in 1997 and before.'
There are now at least five separate inquiries under way into child abuse claims, covering the BBC, NHS, police and government, following hundreds of allegations against Savile, who died a year ago.
A senior Number Ten source said the case for a single, public inquiry into all the allegations was becoming stronger.
‘Let’s take this one step at a time, let’s get a proper sense of what has been going on in North Wales, at Broadmoor, at the BBC,’ the insider said.
‘The Prime Minister wants to make sure that all of this is properly examined. We are certainly not closing the door on a broader inquiry, particularly if there are links between any of these allegations.’
Speaking in Abu Dhabi, Mr Cameron said: ‘These allegations are truly dreadful and they mustn’t be left hanging in the air.
‘I am going to be asking a senior independent figure to lead an urgent investigation into whether the original inquiry was properly constituted and properly did its job.
‘I would also urge anyone who knows anything to go to the police. That is where evidence should be taken so that we can deal with this dreadful, dreadful issue.’
Labour MP Tom Watson, who raised separate allegations of a paedophile ring linked to No 10 under a past government at Prime Minister’s Questions, said the scandal could be bigger than phone hacking, which he has campaigned to expose. In a letter to Mr Cameron last night, he said: ‘What you have suggested does not go anything like far enough.
‘Its limited scope may even slow things down, muddy waters, damage trails. What is needed is a much wider, but equally immediate, investigation.
‘One allegation involves alleged child abuse and a former Cabinet minister. This was specific, informed and appeared well corroborated.’
Mr Messham welcomed Mr Cameron’s comments, but said he would not support a judge-led review into the findings of the Waterhouse Report.
Bigger than phone hacking: Labour MP Tom Watson has written to the Prime Minister saying the proposed inquiry doesn't go far enough
‘To have the Prime Minister step in is excellent news. But I hope he doesn’t appoint a judge because the judiciary always stick together,’ he said. ‘It’s got to be led by someone totally independent so the mistakes over Hillsborough aren’t repeated here.’
Mr Messham is expecting to meet a detective from the Metropolitan Police’s Operation Yew Tree investigation into historic child abuse today to make his formal allegations.
‘I don’t want this swept under the carpet again – I want to see him questioned and I want justice,’ he said.
Conservative MP Rob Wilson wrote last night to the BBC and two police forces asking them to co-operate in fully investigating allegations that a senior Conservative from the Thatcher years was involved in a paedophile.
No comments:
Post a Comment