Dame Margaret Hodge, who is promoting a new memoir, Battleaxe

DAME Margaret Hodge has “never been held accountable” for her handling of Islington’s child abuse scandal, a leading campaigner said yesterday (Thursday), as the former leader of the council released her memoirs.

Dame Margaret, who led the Town Hall for ten years between 1982 and 1992, referenced the Care Home Scandal as the “biggest regret of her career” as she promoted the book, titled Battleaxe, this week

Hundreds of children, across 41 care homes in Islington, were sexually, physically and mentally abused over a period of more than 30 years.

When the story first broke in the early 1990s, Dame Margaret publicly dismissed the claims as “sensationalism” but later then faced scrutiny for the council’s failure to stop the abuse.

The full extent of the scandal and the council’s role has been revealed after decades of campaigning.

Dr Liz Davies OBE, the social worker who was the whistleblower on the scandal after her warnings were not acted one, now coordinates the ISN. She has spent the rest of her career fighting for justice and support for the victims.

“I heard Ms Hodge speaking on the radio to promote her new book Battleaxe, saying that she had apologised for her involvement in the scandal over ten times.

Dr Liz Davies

“But Margaret Hodge and the other people in power have never been properly held accountable for not taking the action that was needed.”

Dr Davies added that when public inquiries were launched into the scandal, neither Ms Hodge or her former colleagues in the Town Hall were interviewed.

“The thing with Margaret Hodge, is that it is always all about her. It is never about the survivors,” said Dr Davies.

“She could have spoken to our support network, but she never has. She could be saying a lot more about the survivors publicly but she never has. She hasn’t once contacted the Survivor’s Group, or offered to help in any way.”

Dr Davies added that “no justice” has been served in the years following the revelations of how deep the abuse in Islington’s children’s homes ran and that the council were trying to “wash their hands” of what was done.

Islington Survivors Network (ISN) had its funding cut by the Town Hall earlier this year in a shock decision, leaving survivors without the free access to therapy and other services that they had previously been able to access

“The council has cut all of our funding for services that we’ve spent ten years building up,” Dr Davies said.

“We are carrying on with what we are doing because we know what is right, even with no money. But it was such a kick in the teeth, it feels as though they are trying to cut us off at the knees.

“It feels like they are just trying to get rid of us, rather than discussing the future.”

In January, the council responded by reiterating an apology to the survivors, and said that they were looking into alternative funding for the ISN.

In an interview to promote Battleaxe with The Guardian, Dame Margaret said that the care home scandal had caused her “more political problems” than anything else in her career.

When the claims about abuse emerged, she dismissed Evening Standard reports as “gutter journalism”, for which she has since apologised.

She said: “I just don’t think any of us thought paedophiles were operating out of children’s homes. It was unconscionable. Now it’s unconscionable today to think that we didn’t realise it.”

Dr Davies said: “There has certainly been no justice for the survivors, all this time later. I have given up trying to fight criminal proceedings, and many of the people at the top have survived the scandal and continued their career.

“We’ve been vindicated in our continuous work to support the survivors, we just want proper services.”

Dame Margaret was appointed Children’s Minister under Tony Blair’s Labour government in 2003 – and her memoir details how she reached the top rungs of British politics.

There are also sections in which discusses her clashes with Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn during his time as leader of the party over how Labour dealt with accusations of anti-semitism.

Mr Corbyn said Dame Margaret had engaged in “baseless smears” against him.