Cameron's cover-up warning iffull case review is not published

Jonathan Reed Political Editor

FAILING to publish the full serious case review into the Edlington attacks would risk creating a “cover-up”, Tory leader David Cameron has claimed.

He demanded publication of the full review in order to learn lessons amid concern authorities missed numerous opportunities to stop the attackers.

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Grilling Gordon Brown in the House of Commons yesterday, he questioned why warning signs about the boys were missed and why it had taken the Government so long to intervene in Doncaster’s troubled children’s services department, where seven children had died in three years.

Ministers insist the full reports should remain secret in order to protect children and ensure people continue to co-operate, but Mr Cameron said the argument was now “tipping in favour” of publishing them fully because summaries of other reports had failed to bring about necessary changes.

He also seized on the fact that the BBC claimed this week that a leaked copy of the full report contained devastating details which were eliminated from the summary.

“This is an appalling case of two children being dragged on to wasteland and tortured within an inch of their lives,” Mr Cameron told MPs.

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“The Prime Minister talks about the publication of the report. Instead of consulting, let him listen to this important point: The BBC, which has seen the report, says that the summary and the full report do not match up. Are not we in danger of having a cover-up if we do not publish it in full?”

Mr Brown insisted lessons would be learned from the summary, and said professionals backed up the Government’s stance.

“For two boys to be assaulted in this way by two other children who were at that time in the care of foster parents but who had a history where there had been social services and other intervention(s) to try to deal with their problems is one of the most tragic cases we could see,” he said.