Several child welfare focused comments this week have made the British public do a double take, so we’re adding them below.

Boris Johnson, “some investigation into historic child abuse” and all his “malarkey”

Politician Boris Johnson upset just about everyone on the planet this week after saying the nation’s child abuse inquiry was a gigantic waste of money and that it wouldn’t help to protect victims of abuse. He told LBC:

“Keeping numbers high on the streets is certainly important but the question is about where you spend the money and where you deploy the officers.

“And one comment I would make is I think an awful lot of money and an awful lot of police time now goes into these historic offences and all this malarkey.

“You know, £60m I saw was being spaffed up a wall, you know, on some investigation into historic child abuse.

“What on earth is that going to do to protect the public now?”

Lord Steel and Cyril Smith 

Lord Steel told the nation’s inquiry into child sexual abuse that he had spoken with MP Cyril Smith about allegations made against Smith but did not report any of the discussions to the authorities.

Lord Steel said he asked Smith in 1979 about claims that he abused boys at a Rochdale hostel in the 1960s, and came away from the conversation convinced Smith had committed the offences. Steel told the inquiry that he took no further action because it was nothing to do with him.

Steel, who is a Liberal Democrat, is now being investigated by his party over the remarks.

Hassan Abbasi praises parents who hand over their children for execution

As we’re watching Iran at the moment we thought we would add a comment in from Hassan Abbasi, a strategist for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Abbasi praised parents  for handing over their children to security forces for execution after discovering the children disagreed with Iran’s current government.  He told Israeli news outlet MEMRI TV:

“There were mothers whose children were being executed for opposing the regime, and they would come and stand before the gallows [to watch the execution].