Professor Alexis Jay emerges as favourite to take over child sex abuse inquiry

From the Telegraph, and the BBC 

Professor Alexis Jay, who exposed the Rotherham sex abuse scandal, has emerged as the favourite to take over the Government’s chaotic child sex abuse inquiry. The former social worker, who currently sits on the inquiry’s panel, is understood to be willing to consider taking on the role if approached by Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary.

Professor Jay is widely respected among survivor’s groups and having been brought up in a tenement in Edinburgh, by a single parent, has none of the establishment links that have tripped up previous heads.

The first chairwoman, Baroness Butler-Sloss, a hugely experienced retired judge, stood down after a week because of concerns relating to the fact she was the sister of the late Lord Havers. He was attorney general at the time of some of the abuse that was to be examined. Why that had not been considered, or thought to be important, before her appointment remains a mystery.

The second, City solicitor Dame Fiona Woolf, lasted less than two months. Her judicial experience was confined to sitting as a part-time magistrate. She resigned after it was claimed she was too close to Lord Brittan, who was at the time under investigation for sexual offences.

Which is why Dame Lowell Goddard the Judge from New Zealand seemed to me like an ideal choice. Senior enough to know her stuff. From an English speaking Commonwealth country with a Common Law system whose culture is like enough to our own, but being 14,000 miles away would mean she didn’t have the history and connections that were inevitable with any professional born, reared or trained in England and Wales (Scotland and ireland have separate systems). So why she decided to resign is a mystery and a disappointment. Hence this BBC job description:– Wanted: highly respected chairman or chairwoman, available for up to 10 years, robust in the face of press scrutiny, and with no ties to the British establishment – it is becoming the most toxic job description in public life.

The inquiry goes beyond the Muslim grooming gang scandal. It keeps growing and at the moment includes (and this is not an exhaustive list) the BBC abuse cover up, the abuse and cover up within the Church of England and the Catholic Church, the allegations of abuse (including murder) within political circles during the 1970s and certain specific individuals. Possibly its scope is too big and there should be several inquiries. The scale of the Muslim gang grooming is quite big enough. Which you can read all about in Easy Meat by Peter McLoughli?n, available here and published by the New English Review Press.