A top law-firm co-founded by Cherie Blair is said to have silenced its own members over a report into alleged sexual harassment.
Matrix Chambers, which was founded by the former Prime Minister’s wife in 2000, was at the centre of a storm last year over claims barrister Ben Emmerson QC sexually assaulted a woman in a lift.
He was cleared of any wrongdoing by a subsequent review by a retired judge, but a secret new report into that review is said to be critical of the way it was handled.
A report by Sir David Calvert-Smith (right) cleared Ben Emmerson QC (left) of any wrongdoing. A secret new report is said to question to methods of the original inquiry
The allegations centred on Mr Emmerson, who had been the lead counsel in the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).
His quit his role on the inquiry after claims were made on BBC Newsnight about the alleged sexual assault.
Matrix Chambers then brought in Sir David Calvert-Smith, a respected senior judge, to look into the claims, over which no formal complaint was ever made.
The £1,700-a-day lawyer quit last September shortly after being suspended over concerns about his ‘leadership’, only to be cleared three months later of any wrongdoing.
Last year a Commons committee said the inquiry’s handling of the sexual assault and bullying allegations on its premises had been ‘wholly inadequate’.
It was accused of a cover up after lawyers who resigned from the probe said they were blocked from speaking out.
The Times reported today that a separate review commissioned by the chambers was critical of legal approach of the previous investigation and some of the findings.
However, the report is not being made public and members of the chambers are being told not to comment on it to the press, the newspaper reported.
Members of Matrix Chambers, which was founded by Cherie Blair (left), have been told not to comment on the latest report, it emerged today
The secret report will add to concerns over a perceived lack of transparency surrounding the investigations and any impact it may have had on the public inquiry.
Labour MP Lisa Nandy said: ‘It’s high time we saw some transparency and clarity from Matrix and the IICSA about these serious allegations.
‘It raises critical questions about how an inquiry set up to shine a spotlight on abuse failed fully to investigate allegations of misconduct within its own organisation.’
Matrix has been contacted for comment.
Mrs Blair left the chambers in 2014.