00:00Let me reassure the victims and the House that the scope of the inquiry will not be diluted
00:07and we won't shy away from cultural or religious issues.
00:12And Mr Speaker, it was me that commissioned Baroness Casey in the first place
00:17who gave me her recommendation in relation to a national inquiry.
00:21And we have, in the four months since then, finalised the panel and trying to get the leadership of this inquiry right with survivors at the heart.
00:33Mr Speaker, in that period, we have also reopened 1,200 historic closed cases.
00:41I have long argued, Mr Speaker, that the criminal route where it can be pursued is the right route for perpetrators.
00:48We've introduced mandatory reporting of child sex abuse.
00:51I happen to think that is a vital safeguard.
00:54I've been campaigning for that for over a decade.
00:56I asked the last government to introduce it and that fell on deaf ears.
Comments