Child Sexual Abuse Inquiry: Recommendations

Lord Brownlow of Shurlock Row Excerpts

Wednesday 8th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

I am grateful to the noble Baroness; she makes a sound point. I will reflect on wider public inquiries, as it is a cross-government response, but I can say to her from the Dispatch Box that we have started to respond to the recommendations from IICSA on Monday and will continue to respond. That will be for public record, public examination and public accountability of Ministers on the issues that we agree to address.

[Lord Brownlow of Shurlock Row (Con)]

My Lords, this is a very complicated situation. I understand the position of the previous Government—the current Opposition—but there is something that worries me, and it is a spectre that we need to understand and deal with. Can the Minister comment on what his view might be if the leader of the Reform party follows through on his commitment yesterday to raise private funds to hold a private public inquiry into this matter, which could be funded from overseas?

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

With due respect, I appreciate the noble Lord’s question but the leader of Reform can do what he wishes. We are the Government, and we are trying to take sensible approaches and to get cross-party support for those sensible approaches. He is welcome to contribute to that. There is a real issue of safeguarding children, and those who seek to make political capital out of that are not, in my view, people who have a serious approach to life.