Mr Steerpike couldn’t help but do a double take this afternoon when Labour shadow attorney general Shami Chakrabarti suggested that the government should launch an independent judge-led inquiry into allegations of historical torture.
In a Labour press release, Baroness Chakrabarti of Kennington lamented the fact that the government had missed a self-imposed deadline to form an inquiry and opined:
‘After eight years and two inadequate inquiries fettered by Whitehall interference, a fully independent judge-led inquiry is the only way to bring comprehensive resolution to this scandal.’
While the formation of an inquiry might be sensible, Mr S wonders if Chakrabarti is best placed to decide what an independent investigation should look like. After all, she was the independent asked by Corbyn to lead an inquiry into Labour anti-Semitism in 2016 following incidents involving Naz Shah and ex-Mayor Ken Livingstone.
When her report was completed, it remarkably concluded that Labour was not overrun by anti-Semitism, and only had an ‘occasionally toxic atmosphere.’
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