Victims' group withdraws from child abuse inquiry amid 'botch job' claims
A group representing 600 victims of sexual abuse has withdrawn from the official inquiry, branding it an "unpalatable circus".
The Shirley Oaks Survivors Association says it has lost confidence in the inquiry's leadership, in another major blow to the independent probe.
The group represents former residents of children's homes run by Lambeth Council in south London who were abused by paedophiles over several decades.
In a strongly-worded statement the group said it believes the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) is a "botch job" and chair Professor Alexis Jay is the wrong person to lead it.
Their withdrawal of support is yet another disaster for the crisis-hit inquiry, which is on its fourth chairwoman in just two years and has seen a number of senior lawyers resign in recent months.
The group said: "Our decision to pull out of the IICSA should have come with regret but we are sad to say the only emotion we feel is relief.
"Now our members do not have to relive their worst nightmares in this stage-managed event which has now been contrived in such a way that it enables the guilty to wash their dirty hands, whilst the establishment pats itself on the back."
They say Professor Jay "has not even bothered to meet us or contact us since her appointment" in August.
The group expressed fears the former social worker will lead "a talk shop … which we believe will achieve nothing."
The inquiry was set up by Theresa May personally when she was Home Secretary, and Mrs May has repeatedly said the confidence of victims and survivors in the inquiry is paramount.
Shirley Oaks Survivors Association previously threatened to withdraw this summer, over concerns about the independence of the Home Office, which had some oversight over the Lambeth children's homes.
They continue to have concerns about the need for the Home Office to "come clean about its own role in covering up historic child abuse", they said.
Too many departmental officials and too few independent people are working on the inquiry, they said, and they have concerns about Professor Jay's background in social work rather than the law.
Thousands of children grew up at Shirley Oaks, which used to be Britain's biggest care home.
The survivors group has taken hundreds of pages of testimony from children who were abused by paedophiles from the 1950s until its closure in 1983.
Other children's homes in Lambeth were also affected, and abuse continued up until the 1990s.
The treatment of children in the care of Lambeth Council is one 13 areas or institutions the inquiry is investigating.
Since it was set up in 2014, the inquiry has seen three chairs resign and has been hit by claims its work could take decades and cost £100m.
Last month the most senior lawyer, Ben Emmerson QC, resigned, as did his deputy Elizabeth Prochaska.
Another senior lawyer, Aileen McColgan, quit on Wednesday.
Chuka Umunna, the Labour MP representing the area, said he had lost confidence in Professor Jay and thought she needed to be replaced by a High Court judge.
Mr Umunna said there was "severe dysfunction" in the inquiry which needed to be tackled.
The Home Office was not informed in advance of the decision by Shirley Oaks Survivors Association.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd said: "The Independent Inquiry has a vital role to play in exposing the failure of public bodies and other major organisations to prevent child sexual abuse.
"We must learn the lessons of the past and we owe it to victims and survivors to get behind the Inquiry, and its chair Alexis Jay, in its endeavour."
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