Grooming Gangs Inquiry Will Not Be Watered Down, Says PM
Prime Minister Keir Starmer told MPs the grooming gangs inquiry would not be "watered down". (Alamy)
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Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said the government's grooming gang inquiry will not be "watered down" after four survivors announced they were leaving the inquiry citing unhappiness with how it was being conducted.
Speaking in Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, Starmer sought to reassure MPs that the government is trying to "get this right", and that he wanted survivors to be at "the heart" of the inquiry.
His remarks came after four survivors — Fiona Goddard and Ellie Reynolds, as well as Elizabeth and Jess (not their real names) — withdrew from the survivors panel, saying that their voices were being ignored and the inquiry was being diluted.
"The grooming scandal was one of the worst scandals of our time; women and girls were abused and exploited by predatory gangs of men, and survivors have been ignored for many years — including by the state that is, of course, supposed to protect them," Starmer said.
"My vow to Fiona and them is that this national inquiry will change that.
"I do acknowledge that in recent days, some members, including Fiona, have decided to step away from the panel.
"I say this, Mr Speaker: should they wish to return, the door will always be open. But, even if they do not, we owe it to them and to Fiona, and to the country, to answer the concerns that they have raised.
"The inquiry is not, and will never be, watered down; its scope will not change, it will examine the ethnicity and religion of the offenders, and we will find the right person to chair the inquiry."
The PM also announced that Dame Louise Casey would "now support the work" of the inquiry, working alongside Home Office minister Jess Phillips. It was Casey's review of abuse carried out by grooming gangs earlier this year that led to the government announcing a new inquiry. In her audit, Casey said the ethnicity of the attackers should not be "shied away" from.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said survivors had lost confidence in Phillips and called for the minister to be removed from involvement in the inquiry.
"The member for Birmingham Yardley has clearly lost the confidence of the victims. Does she still have the confidence of the Prime Minister?" said the Leader of the Opposition.
Starmer responded by saying that while he had "respect" for the views of all survivors, he believed Phillips had "probably more experience than any other person in this House in dealing with violence against women and girls".
"Alongside her will be Louise Casey, these two individuals, Mr Speaker, have spent decades, decades, standing up for those who have been abused and sexually exploited, and I absolutely think they're the right people to take this forward," the PM said.
Amy Clowrey, who is acting as a lawyer for two of the victims of the scandal, told the BBC that it was "inevitable" women would withdraw from the inquiry when restrictions were put on what they were able to speak about publicly.
"They feel that it's being silenced and that it's all being really watered down, because there have been questions about widening the scope to make it more about child sex abuse generally and not about the grooming gangs," she said.
The decision to hold an inquiry followed heavy political pressure from opposition parties and high-profile public figures like Elon Musk, owner of social media website X, who accused the UK government of not doing enough to tackle the issue of grooming gangs.
