reported that survivors of child abuse were increasingly concerned about her apparent links to Lord Brittan, and Labour MP Simon Danczuk, who campaigned for the inquiry, said he thought Woolf should resign. Woolf made the disclosures to MPs ahead of her appearance before the Home Affairs Select Committee, saying she was aware of "speculation gaining traction on social media" about her links with the Brittans and she wanted to: go the extra distance to make sure I have dug out every possible connection with someone who is essentially one of thousands of people I know in the City. […] Do I have a close association with them (the Brittans)? the answer is no. Let us remind ourselves that this is not an inquiry about Lord Brittan but about hundreds of institutions and frankly thousands of systemic failures. On 22 October, the BBC reported that it had seen a judicial review application launched by a victim of historical child sexual abuse which challenged the choice of Woolf as the chair of this inquiry on the basis that she was not impartial, had no relevant expertise and might not have time to discharge her duties. The judicial review hearing could have been held before the end of 2014. On 31 October 2014, she resigned her chairmanship of the panel. Honours DBE (2015) - CBE, 2002 DStJ (2013) - SSStJ, 2010; Woolf was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for "services to the U.K. Knowledge Economy and Invisible Earnings" in 2002 and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for "services to the legal profession, diversity, and the City of London", in recognition of her longstanding commitments in public life. Charitable work and other interests Woolf is involved in supporting the work of a number of charitable and other organisations. She was a trustee of Raleigh International 2010–2016, and a governor of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama,. She is also President of the Chelsea Opera Group Trust, and is actively involved in the operation, fundraising and co-ordination of its volunteers, as well as being a member of its choir and a Trustee of the Wexford Festival Opera Trust References External links 1948 births Living people Lawyers from Edinburgh People educated at St Margaret's School, Edinburgh Alumni of Keele University University of Strasbourg alumni English solicitors British women lawyers