Hodge: never ignored abuse claims

Downing Street has defended the prime minister's decision to appoint Margaret Hodge as children's minister despite her past involvement in the Islington child abuse scandal.

A spokesman for Tony Blair insisted the he takes "considered judgements" when appointing minister to their portfolios.

Speaking on Monday, Hodge denied claims that she ignored warnings about child abuse in Islington social services during her time as council leader.

The minister's intervention came after social workers accused her of repeatedly ignoring warnings about child abuse during the 1980s and early 1990s.

Hodge, who was this month appointed as the UK's first ever children's minister, admitted mistakes had been made.

But she denied any suggestion that she turned a blind eye to abuse claims. "I always put children first. Did things go wrong, yes they did," she told the BBC's Today programme.

"I never ignored one single allegation of abuse against a child.

"I think there was a deep lack of understanding, by myself, by the social services, by policymakers, by all of us as to actually the state of what was happening in children's homes.

"We've moved on from that. Of course we've learned the lessons. Whenever an allegation of something going wrong was brought to my attention, we investigated it.

And she insisted the lessons she learned during the period would equip her to tackle the wider problem of child abuse.

"I've had 12 years to think about those issues, to read about them, to talk to people about them, to learn about them," said Hodge.

"I think that equips me better than most, having been through that experience, in thinking about how we now create a safe environment for those children at risk, and really put the children at the heart of all the policies and the structures that we develop."

But she warned that assessing child abuse involved encountering "difficult circumstances".

"We'll never get it all right. We can't find an easy quick fix to these issues," she said.

"But have I learnt? Of course I have. And I'll bring that experience to bear in how we now take forward those services for children."

A Number 10 spokesman said Hodge was the right person for the job but would not say whether her past had been a factor in her appointment to such a sensitive post.

"The prime minister has put Margaret Hodge in charge of this particular portfolio because she is a capable minister who the prime minister believes will do a very good job," the spokesman told journalists.