Danczuk offers support to new chair of child abuse inquiry, but urges her to hit the ground running

Simon Danczuk MP offers support to new chair of child abuse inquiry, but urges her to hit the ground running

Rochdale’s MP Simon Danczuk has offered his support to the newly appointed chair of the Government’s child abuse inquiry, but warned that progress must be made quickly.
Urging Fiona Woolf to hit the ground running, child abuse campaigner Danczuk said that momentum had been lost as a result of the resignation of the previous chair, Lady Butler-Sloss.

“I’m pleased the Home Secretary has finally got this moving,” he said. “Although I would not have looked to high office in the square mile to find someone to challenge the establishment, Fiona Woolf is a smart and capable woman and she has my support. Britain is in the middle of a child abuse crisis and this inquiry has to be a watershed. It must go to the heart of the establishment and challenge why crimes have been swept under the carpet for so long. There really is no time to lose.”

He added that the Home Secretary had called him to discuss the appointment and that he was encouraged by the panel she had assembled so far to support Woolf.

“I’m very pleased that Professor Alexis Jay is an advisor to the panel, as she did a remarkable job in Rotherham,” he said. “I’m also pleased Graham Wilmer, a survivor of abuse, is on the panel. The Home Secretary has indicated she wants others to join the panel and I will be making suggestions,” he added.

Over the last year, Danczuk estimated that hundreds of people had contacted his office about child abuse. He urged Woolf to bring a sense of urgency to her investigation, as he suspected that a number of abusers were very elderly and could escape justice if the inquiry dragged on too long.

“I’m very clear that we cannot have lawmakers who are child abusers,” he said. “This inquiry must champion the voiceless, not protect the establishment.”