THE short life and harrowing death of little Poppi Worthington will never be far from the minds of many people in our community or indeed across the nation.

Readers will know that last month a senior coroner agreed with a judge’s verdict that Poppi died shortly after she probably suffered a serious sexual assault by her father, Paul Worthington, who is now living under police protection.

Police blunders at the crime scene in December 2012 and subsequent failings mean the chances of bringing criminal proceedings are remote.

However, that is not the final chapter in this sad story.

Readers might also know that on January 20 a letter signed by fellow Cumbrian MPs Tim Farron, Trudy Harrison, Sue Hayman, and myself was delivered to the prime minister calling for her to order a public inquiry into:

- Improving child safeguarding processes;

- Strengthening police disciplinary processes;

- Inquiring whether Cumbria police have truly learnt from their deeply flawed investigation;

- Examining the adequacies of resources provided to child protection agencies.

Theresa May said she was “shocked and appalled” by the circumstances surrounding Poppi’s death.

She added there was a need for lessons to be learnt and for justice to be obtained.

We cannot bring Poppi back, but we can continue to bolster the case for a public inquiry while the Crown Prosecution Service considers fresh grounds for evidence following the January inquest findings.

The Mail has led the way in calling for a public inquiry and it is a privilege to work with the paper as the fresh petition gathers momentum.

So if you haven’t already signed up in support, please go tohttps://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/210024 and urge your family and friends do so the same.

At the time of going to press, almost 4,000 people have registered support.

At 10,000 signatures, the government will respond to the petition and at 100,000 signatures the petition will be considered for debate in parliament.

One of Cumbria's most senior officers faced criticism from the police watchdog following her handling of Poppi’s case. I have subsequently written to home secretary Amber Rudd over the proposal to promote Michelle Skeer to Chief Constable of Cumbria police.

I am not going to question the judgment of the members of the panel who appointed her. However I do think this appointment could further damage public confidence in our police without a public inquiry confirming changes the force assures us have been made.

I hope the home secretary responds positively to this request, otherwise we have a detective in charge of Poppi’s case who was demoted, not sacked, and now another senior officer who faced criticism leading the force moving forward.

Systemic failure failed Poppi and the government must address this.

This brings me to my concluding point; this week we discovered that Cumbria County Council children’s services department has been lifted out of special measures after four years and I praise Councillor Anne Burns’ contribution to this turnaround.

The service is now graded as “requires improvement”. No-one will be satisfied until our children receive the top-notch care and support they deserve, but this report acknowledges that progress is finally being made which should help to motivate everyone to make those required further improvements.