Claims of grooming probe ‘dilution’ is false, minister says after victims quit

Allegations that a national inquiry into grooming gangs is being diluted or there is intentional delay is “false”, the safeguarding minister has said, after two survivors of child sexual abuse quit their roles in the probe.

Jess Phillips has rejected concerns adding the inquiry will “remain laser focused on grooming gangs” despite the survivors citing heavy criticism at the Home Office’s handing of the issue.

Fiona Goddard and Ellie-Ann Reynolds resigned from the inquiry’s victims and survivors liaison panel on Monday.

In a resignation letter, Ms Goddard described a “toxic, fearful environment” and a “high risk of people feeling silenced all over again” from the process so far.

Meanwhile, Ms Reynolds said the final turning point for her was “the push to change the remit, to widen it in ways that downplay the racial and religious motivations behind our abuse”.

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.

Ms Phillips told the Commons that she “regrets” their resignations from the inquiry but added she does not know who is on the inquiry panel of victims, stressing it is independently managed by a grooming gang charity.

The minister said she was “always sad when victims feel that they can’t take part in a process”, but there are many different views, and all would be listened to.

She said: “We are gathering views to ensure their perspective remains central.

“We must avoid delays, as was seen in the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, and are progressing as swiftly as thoroughness allows.

“Misinformation undermines this process.

“Allegations of intentional delay, lack of interest or widening of the inquiry scope and dilution are false.”

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the inquiry into grooming gangs is “descending into chaos”, as he repeated his call for a judge to be brought in to chair the process.

Both women who resigned from the probe had 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.”

It comes amid reports that one of the prospective candidates to lead the inquiry has since withdrawn from the process.

Ms Phillips told MPs the appointment of the chairperson is at a “critical stage” but said Baroness Louise Casey, in recommending a national inquiry, said she did not want a judicial-led process.

Ms Phillips said: “She was explicit, and if anyone in this House can find me an institution that didn’t fail these girls over the years, including our courts who took the children away from grooming gang victims, who criminalised some of them.

“There is no institution in our country that hasn’t failed.

“We will continue today, I will meet with many of the victims and get their feedback, and I will continue to progress with that in mind.”

Elsewhere on Tuesday, a campaigner against forced marriage and abuse blamed a failure of leadership for the problems surrounding the grooming gangs inquiry, following the resignation of two survivors of child sexual abuse from their roles in the probe.

Asked if the blame should be placed from the top, Dame Jasvinder Sanghera told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme: “Yes, absolutely.

“The first rule of survivor engagement is you set the foundation, you develop an environment where survivors feel safe, respected and included.

“It feels to me now that they’ve been invited to the party, but not invited to the dance.

“If this is lip service, it’s not real engagement.”

Speaking on Tuesday, Ms Reynolds told LBC among the reasons she decided to step away from the inquiry 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.”

Downing Street also responded to her accusations that the inquiry’s remit was being widened to downplay the racial and religious motivations behind abuse, saying the Prime Minister is aware that victims have been let down by the prioritisation of community relations.

Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman told reporters: “The Casey Report, which the Prime Minister commissioned, was clear that a disproportionate number of Asian men have been responsible for grooming gangs.

“And as the Prime Minister has said, we know that victims have been let down because the very people who should have been looking after them prioritised community relations and protecting institutions above all else, and that’s why we’re making it mandatory for the police to collect data on the ethnicity of suspects.”

Asked about claims the inquiry’s remit could be widened from a focus on grooming gangs, the official said: “The terms of the inquiry will be established when we’ve appointed a chair.”