Mandate Now

Peter Saunders claimed NAPAC received >72,000 calls from survivors in 2015, yet the figure was 5,457. This was revealed in the recent NAPAC submission to the Government consultation on Mandatory Reporting (10/16) as you can read here : https://goo.gl/vbZMpX The clock that strikes thirteen casts doubt not merely on the thirteenth strike, but on all the strikes that preceded it and in the unique...

A standout phrase from the exchange 'rushed appointment' the impact of which has yet to be seen and appreciated.

Conflict of interest is raised by Raymond Stevenson in this sometimes prickly exchange with Peter Saunders on BBC VictoriaLIVE. The suggestion from Peter Saunders that anyone who criticises the inquiry is 'knocking' it, is an attempt to unwisely shut down any criticism. Saunders then proposes those who criticise should 'get around a table and discuss how we can all work together.' From where does...

A repeat of the 'nothing to see here' routine from a seemingly 'captured' member of the VSCP who simply cannot resist microphones. Having been 'released' from the Vatican Commission for the protection of minors, perhaps for speaking critically of that church, Mr Saunders gushes nothing but good news about IICSA to anyone who will listen. Similar behaviour exists in school governors subsumed by 'gr...

Excellent contribution from Mr Umunna which is hard to fault.

We also know that departing lawyers are tied up in confidentiality clauses. In these matters IICSA replicates the institutions it is 'investigating.' Etiquette would see Ms Cooper omit 'historic' from future interviews.

Everything was terrible - Sharon Evans. Everything is wonderful and its all different now - Chris Tuck. Has the VSCP been 'captured' gone 'native?' It looks like it because the IICSA spokespersons (Saunders, Duckworth, Tuck - https://goo.gl/sgWXQ9 ) narrative has been uniformly on message - ' nothing to see here' . It renders the VSCP barely credible. Chris Tuck speaking in a personal capacity but...

Commenting on the Times reports about the behaviour of Justice Lowell Goddard, Mr Saunders, with his unerring addiction to microphones, was drawn to r4today aided by his top secret 'Microphone Guidance System.' How many times has Mr Saunders bounced onto the media just like Tigger, with pom pom quivering cheerleader narrative, to suggest IICSA has 'turned a corner?' It has happened repeatedly, par...

The MRConsult was assembled when Mrs May was Home Secretary. It was signed off by Karen Bradley (Minister for Preventing Abuse, Exploitation and Crime) on 12th October 2015 and then not released until 21 July 2016; the last day of Parliament. It is an intense effort to retain the status quo and not provide a solid legal foundation on which a functioning child protection system can be built. Our re...

bbcr4 20/9/2016 - For a long time, society didn't want to believe child sex abuse was happening - but now are sex crimes against elderly victims being dismissed in the same way? File on 4 reveals new figures about the scale of alleged sex offences taking place in residential and nursing homes. Whether 5 or 85, should the victims of sexual assault be treated any differently? Claire Savage hears fro...

bbcr4 20/9/2016 - For a long time, society didn't want to believe child sex abuse was happening - but now are sex crimes against elderly victims being dismissed in the same way? File on 4 reveals new figures about the scale of alleged sex offences taking place in residential and nursing homes. Whether 5 or 85, should the victims of sexual assault be treated any differently? Claire Savage hears fro...

Peter Saunders speaking on behalf of NAPAC, asserting the Janner case is within IICSA's remit. Should someone who is also a member of the VSCP be commenting? If an IICSA comment is necessary at all, should is not come from an IICSA spokesperson? Who is that incidentally?

Can we rely on the VSCP to make sure failure doesn't happen as Peter Saunders suggests? It's an imaginative claim because the VSCP advises on process and support for survivors, but does not ‘represent’ survivors. It can do little more than this under the ambit of the Inquiries Act. Its function is therefore an adjunct to the main business of IICSA. Here are the VSCP ToR's, authored by its members...

The correct title is Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

Ms Duckworth reading from her notes during the interview.

Bishop Holland appears to have known nothing and forgotten everything. Although not in this clip he was asked by counsel to the inquiry if he had been advised (prepared) by a lawyer before the hearing? He said he was not. .

How can anyone learn? There is an absence of child abuse data in this country i.e. age, sex, location, abuse type (sexual, physical, neglect, emotional, adult on child, child on child, CSE, CSA, trafficked) Setting : familial, regulated activity - by type, opportunistic, other + outcomes for each.  Where is the data? You will see that not even the MR consultation provides it. The data does not to...