HOME secretary Amber Rudd has vowed to consider what steps she can take in light of the Poppi Worthington inquest verdict.

She stepped in after a meeting with Barrow and Furness MP John Woodcock and amid mounting pressure from The Mail.

We are calling for a full independent inquiry into all failings surrounding the death of the tot who was sexually assaulted by her father.

Mr Woodcock met Mrs Rudd in her House of Commons office to discuss The Mail’s #justiceforpoppi campaign.

He stressed the need for an inquiry to look again at policing procedures after senior police officer Amanda Sadler was not sacked despite being found guilty of gross incompetence in the Poppi investigation, then was allowed to retire without facing further sanction.

Changes introduced by the government in 2015 but weakened last year were designed to prevent officers from escaping responsibility for misconduct by retiring.

Speaking to the Mail after the meeting, Mr Woodcock said: “I am pleased that the home secretary took time to see me tonight and made clear she recognises the community is reeling over Poppi’s death and the terrible failings that surround it.

“Mrs Rudd pledged to consider urgently what steps she can take in the light of yesterday’s verdict and asked me to work with her home office team to try to make any action she takes as effective as possible.

“Ministers always stress they cannot direct the Crown Prosecution Service who we are praying will look at the case in a fresh light following the coroner’s verdict, but the home secretary can act to help restore confidence in our policing system which has been badly damaged by this terrible affair.”

The #justiceforpoppi campaign was launched by The Mail in January 2016 after High Court judge Mr Justice Jackson, now Lord Justice Jackson, ruled Poppi had been sexually assaulted by her father Paul Worthington before she died.

It gained thousands of signatures to an online petition calling for an inquiry.