Late on Tuesday, the BBC reported that Professor Aileen McColgan, a barrister and Professor of Law at King’s College, London, who was leading IICSA’s investigations into the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches, had resigned. Professor McColgan declined to comment.

The BBC provided a list of those counsel who had resigned:

• Hugh Davies QC – deputy counsel to the inquiry (December 2015)
• Toby Fisher – joint first junior counsel to the inquiry (August 2015)
• Elizabeth Prochaska – joint first junior counsel to the inquiry (September 2016)
• Ben Emmerson QC – lead counsel on the inquiry (September 2016)
• Aileen McColgan – lead counsel on inquiry investigations into the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches (November 2016).

Yvette Cooper MP, who chairs the Commons Home Affairs Committee, was quoted as saying that what went wrong must be made clear, adding: “This has got to be about getting it back on track for the survivors of child abuse because they really need to know that this inquiry’s going to be effective.”