A NORTH-EAST Labour police commissioner has called for Lady Butler-Sloss to be axed as the head an inquiry into allegations of child sex abuse at the heart of the establishment.

Former solicitor general Vera Baird said the appointment was "an error" because the former judge's family connections meant she had a conflict of interest.

Lady Butler-Sloss's brother Sir Michael Havers, who was attorney general and lord chancellor in the 1980s, is alleged to have tried to prevent ex-MP Geoffrey Dickens airing claims about a diplomat in Parliament.

Pressure mounted at the weekend when she was reported to have told a victim of alleged abuse she did not want to include the allegations in a review of how the Church of England dealt with two paedophile priests because she "cared about the Church" and "the press would love a bishop".

Lady Butler-Sloss insisted that she has "never" put the reputation of an institution ahead of justice for victims.

Home Secretary Theresa May will be questioned about the appointment this afternoon when she appears before the Commons home affairs committee.

While saying publicly that the inquiry must enjoy public confidence, the Labour leadership has stopped short of joining calls for Lady Butler-Sloss to be removed as the head of the inquiry panel.

But Ms Baird, the Northumbria Police commissioner, said her position was untenable.

"I don't think her personal qualities could be in contention here. Her suitability is pretty immaculate," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"The difficulty is that she is, through her family, linked to the very establishment that this inquiry is being set up to look at.

"I have no reason to know anything at all - there are rumours everywhere about this - as to whether Michael Havers was ever given any information or whether he acted upon it or it didn't.

"But she is going to have to investigate the role played by her late brother.

"If she were in a court case, presiding over it, and her brother was mentioned as someone she may have to investigate as to his role, she would of course withdraw due to a conflict of interest.

"The conflict of interest is even bigger here where we have a vulnerable community of people who say they have been not allowed to get justice.

"It has got to be done by somebody who is an outsider to this, who is completely independent."

She went on: "Should somebody be investigating something in which their brother has been named, however, in due course, he may be exculpated?

"Is this going to satisfy this very vulnerable company of people who feel that the establishment's kept them out of justice already?

"I think it is an error. I don't know if she, when agreeing to take it on, knew the implications for herself and for her family. She is a very dutiful person and would feel she should take it on if she was asked to do so.

"The error is the Home Secretary's and it needs correcting."