Lemn Sissay accuses children’s commissioner for England of failing children in care

Poet and broadcaster says Rachel de Souza should be pushing ministers to do much more

Lemn Sissay, the poet and broadcaster, has launched a bruising attack on the children’s commissioner for England, accusing her of failing to champion children in care at a crucial time and “smothering the voice of her own office”.

Sissay, whose bestselling memoir My Name is Why was a reflection on his own childhood in care, tweeted that Rachel de Souza, a former headteacher and advocate of academy schools appointed to the role by Boris Johnson in 2020, was producing “so much fudge I could set up a stall”.