Victims can have confidence in grooming inquiry, minister says after two quit

Justice minister Sarah Sackman has insisted victims can have confidence in the national inquiry into grooming gangs despite two survivors of child sexual abuse quitting their roles in the probe.

Fiona Goddard and Ellie-Ann Reynolds resigned from the inquiry’s victims and survivors liaison panel on Monday, levelling heavy criticism at the Home Office’s handling of the issue.

In her resignation letter, Ms Goddard said the process so far had involved “secretive conduct” with instances of “condescending and controlling language” used towards survivors.

She also cited a “toxic, fearful environment” and a “high risk of people feeling silenced all over again”.

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick told BBC Breakfast the resignations “cast a real shadow over the Government’s efforts” to set up the inquiry, and he said ministers must “grip this”.

But Ms Sackman told the PA news agency on Tuesday: “The grooming gangs scandal and the abuse that was suffered by victims is one of the worst crimes in recent British history.

“As minister for courts, my focus is always on the victims. They can have confidence.

“This Government has acted in ordering a national inquiry. We’re taking our time to choose the best possible chair to ensure that our response is robust.

“The fact that the Prime Minister is someone that prosecuted grooming gangs before he entered Parliament shows how much this is a priority at the very top of Government, and I want to reassure victims that we will stop at nothing to ensure that they get the justice they deserve.”

Resigning on Monday, Ms Reynolds accused the Home Office of holding meetings without telling survivors and making “decisions we couldn’t question”.

She added: “The final turning point for me was the push to change the remit, to widen it in ways that downplay the racial and religious motivations behind our abuse.

“For many of us, these were not incidental factors; they were central to why we were targeted and why institutions failed to act. To erase that truth is to rewrite history.”

Speaking on Tuesday, Ms Reynolds told LBC another reason she decided to step away was because the panel set out conditions that survivors could not seek support from their families or other survivors, which she described as “more of a manipulation tactic”.

Ms Reynolds also told GB News: “They’ve tried to divide us, to weaken us, and if we can’t seek support from each other, we’ve all then got to be divided.

“Then, obviously, when the chairs got leaked, we then kind of turned against each other and started being reluctant to trust one another.”

She added: “But this inquiry, we genuinely had faith that it was going to serve its purpose, and we’ve literally just watched it collapse underneath us.”

Both women have expressed concern about the candidates shortlisted to chair the inquiry, one of whom is reportedly a former police chief and the other a social worker.

Ms Goddard said: “This is a disturbing conflict of interest and I fear the lack of trust in services from years of failings and corruption will have a negative impact in survivor engagement with this inquiry.”

Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Tuesday, Mr Jenrick suggested the inquiry should be chaired by a senior judge with experience of family and criminal law, possibly from another country, rather than anyone with connections to the police or social services.

Describing the resignations as “a real, real disappointment from the Government”, he added: “They’ve got to take action now and grip this.”

Ms Goddard and Ms Reynolds’s resignations come amid mounting pressure on the Government to move forward with the inquiry, first announced by the Prime Minister in June, including by setting out terms of reference and appointing a chair.

Sir Keir Starmer faced Opposition criticism over the resignations on Monday, with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch telling him to “grow a backbone” and “do everything possible to ensure criminal investigations run in parallel now, across the entire system”.

Home Office minister Jess Phillips told MPs last month the appointment process for a chair was in its “final stages” and a panel of survivors and victims would be involved in the selection.

Downing Street said the Government was working “flat out to get the right chair in place”, with survivors “absolutely at the heart of what we’re doing”, but declined to give “running commentary” on the process.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The abuse of children by grooming gangs is one of the most horrific crimes imaginable.

“Any suggestion that this inquiry is being watered down is completely wrong – we are committed to delivering a robust, thorough inquiry that will get to the truth and provide the answers that survivors have so long campaigned for.”