May: Child Abuse Cases Are 'Tip Of The Iceberg'

Allegations of sex abuse within the institutions meant to protect vulnerable children are "only the tip of the iceberg", Theresa May has claimed.

The Home Secretary believes such abuse is "woven, covertly, into the fabric of our society" - with survivors claiming the exploitation runs through every level of society like "a stick of Blackpool rock".

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Mrs May added it was a "new beginning" for the independent inquiry into child sex abuse, and conceded the investigation got off to a difficult start.

She wrote: "We already know the trail will lead into our schools and hospitals, our churches, our youth clubs and many other institutions that should have been places of safety but instead became the setting for the most appalling abuse.

"However, what the country doesn't yet appreciate is the true scale of that abuse."

Mrs May also insisted that the inquiry was a "once-in-a-generation opportunity" that would enable the country to learn lessons for the future by addressing the wrongs of the past.

She wrote: "The victims and survivors who have had the courage to speak out are clear that they have done so for one common reason - to save the next generation of children from the abuse they suffered.

"That is what this inquiry is for. Where there has been a failure to protect children from abuse, we will expose it and we will learn from it."

Justice Lowell Goddard is chairing the four-person panel, which was established in the wake of several child sex abuse scandals.

They include the crimes committed by disgraced TV star Jimmy Savile, the abuse of vulnerable girls in towns and cities nationwide, and growing fears that an alleged paedophile ring was operating in the heart of Westminster.