Sex Abuse Inquiries: The Unanswered Questions
Updated: 7:52pm UK, Monday 07 July 2014
By Jon Craig, Chief Political Correspondent
Theresa May went a long way to satisfying MPs' demands for a wide-ranging inquiry into child sex abuse allegations.
But there are still plenty of unanswered questions arising out of the affair and the so-called "Dickens dossier" presented to then-home secretary Lord Brittan in 1983.
In fact, the Home Secretary told MPs there was no such thing as a "single Dickens dossier", despite Lord Brittan confirming last week that the late Tory MP went to him with a "substantial bundle of papers".
Mrs May has set up two inquiries, the first a "review of a review", as she put it, to look into an investigation carried out by her permanent secretary, Mark Sedwill, last year.
The second is a much wider inquiry carried out by a panel of experts into allegations of abuse which the Home Secretary said could become a full public inquiry like that into the Hillsborough disaster.
According to Yvette Cooper, the Shadow Home Secretary, Mrs May had "changed her position" by bowing to the demands from MPs led by the Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk, who exposed the activities of Cyril Smith.
The Government denies charges of a U-turn, of course. But it's significant that her widely welcomed announcement followed talks with the Prime Minister on Sunday.
All the signs are that David Cameron ordered her to agree to a wide-ranging investigation. It was Number 10, after all, that announced on Sunday evening that the Home Secretary would make a Commons statement.
The unanswered questions will now be put to Mr Sedwill when he gives evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee, exactly a week after Mr Danczuk challenged Leon Brittan's handling of the Geoffrey Dickens allegations.
"The Committee will be interested to hear what has happened to the missing files, understand further details of the review Mr Sedwill has set up, including how this fits into the Home Secretary's inquiry, and why the Committee were not directly informed about the original investigation beforehand," said Keith Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee.
Let's take those one by one:
:: The missing files
This was the issue that most exercised MPs of all parties during questions following Mrs May's Commons statement.
Mr Sedwill has admitted 114 files are missing. Until he provides satisfactory answers about what happened to them, conspiracy theorists will cry, "cover-up!"
:: The Home Office review
Presumably Mr Vaz is referring to the review which will now be carried out by Peter Wanless, the NSPCC chief, into what happened when Mr Sedwill carried out a review last year in response to parliamentary questions from Labour MP Tom Watson.
:: The Home Secretary's inquiry
This is all a bit vague so far. We don't yet know who will lead it and what form it will take.
It sounded from her statement as though the Home Secretary hasn't decided this yet and may not even have found a chairman or chairwoman yet.
:: Why was the Home Affairs Select Committee not told in advance about the original inquiry?
This sounds a bit like Mr Vaz being self-important. But he may have a good point if the Home Secretary was trying to hush up the inquiry or keep it secret from MPs.
But let's ask a fifth question, not posed by Mr Vaz, but by Labour MP Lisa Nandy and Tory MP Mark Reckless in the Commons earlier:
:: How much did Government and Opposition whips know about the sex abuse allegations?
Whips often boast about their "little black book", containing colourful details of MPs' sexual exploits.
Will they be asked to spill the beans? Almost certainly not.
John Wakeham, Margaret Thatcher's great fixer and now in the Lords, was Tory Chief Whip from 1983-87 and Derek Foster, also now in the Lords, was Labour's Chief Whip.
Knowing the inscrutable Lord Wakeham as I do, I'd be very surprised if he were to reveal the secrets of the "little black book".
But whether or not Theresa May was ordered by the PM to bow to pressure from MPs, with her skilful and adept handling of the rapidly escalating child abuse crisis she has defused the tension for now.
But the allegations won't go away and if either inquiry uncovers some explosive discoveries, the Home Secretary - and her Tory predecessor Leon Brittan - will have more uncomfortable questions to answer.
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