Blame

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A High Court judge, leading a public inquiry, finds it doesn’t do to inquire too deeply.

A judge appointed to head a public inquiry quickly discovers that Cabinet would prefer a prolonged and detailed investigation over the implication of blame or responsibility.

Lady Radebe, a retired member of the Supreme Court, is appointed by HM Government to head a public inquiry. Lady Radebe plans to operate the “phased” approach employed by the late Lord Justice Taylor’s 1989 first inquiry into football stadium safety after the Hillsborough disaster earlier that year. Taylor insisted on a rapid “interim report”, making recommendations for stadium safety. These were made and implemented within six months of the deaths, with the inquiry then moving on to address culpability. Yet this model has never been applied to any subsequent inquiry - governments and institutions want inquiries to be “late and long” because they are the “long grass”, in which fault and responsibility can be forgotten. Lady Radebe says that she will insist on making rapid interim recommendations “in order to help the many public inquiries currently taking place.”.  But will she be allowed?

Blame by Mark Lawson

Lady Grace Radebe ..... Cecilia Noble
Clerk to the Inquiry ..... Nickolas Grace
Witness 1 ..... Haydn Gwynne
Witness 2 ..... Tom Glenister
Witness 3 ..... Jane Slavin
Witness 4 ..... Philip Jackson

Producer/Director: Eoin O'Callaghan
Production Co-ordinator: Sarah Tombling
Sound Engineer: Wilfredo Acosta
Sound Editor: Joe Bedell-Brill

A Big Fish Radio Production for Radio 4.

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