David Cameron's foolish reaction to the Wanless Review

Peter Wanless review of the missing Home Office documentation on child abuse, as quoted by the BBC, is convolutedly anxious not to claim too much:

"It is, therefore, not possible to say whether files were ever removed or destroyed to cover up or hide allegations of organised or systematic child abuse by particular individuals because of the systems then in place. ...

"It follows that we cannot say that no file was removed or destroyed for that reason. By making those observations they should not be misinterpreted. 

"We do not conclude that there is any basis for thinking that anything happened to files that should not have happened to them, but identify that limitation in our review. 

"Further, and with the same caveat, our review cannot be taken to have concluded one way or the other whether there was organised child abuse that has yet to be fully uncovered - indeed it is public knowledge that active police investigations examining allegations of historic child abuse are under way."

So why this reaction from David Cameron?

Prime Minister David Cameron said the report meant people "looking for conspiracy theories" would "have to look elsewhere".

That is not how Wanless himself sees it:

But speaking to BBC Radio 4's PM, Peter Wanless said David Cameron was "wrong" to say his report proved there was no cover-up. "He can only say that into the registered filing system of the Home Office," he said. "I think it's really important that no-one regards our piece of work as the beginning and end of all this.

I suspect David Cameron will come to regret his words. Certainly, they were an unnecessary hostage to fortune.

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