Communities across the UK have been shaken by the grooming gang scandal (Image: Andy Stenning/Daily Express)
Survivors of grooming gangs have been betrayed a Government which looks like it supports a “cover-up”, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has warned. A nationwide review of grooming gang evidence is expected to complete its work next month but Mr Philp insisted anything less than a full national inquiry into the abuse and rape of women and girls would be a “betrayal” of the victims.
He blasted the Government’s support for five local inquiries as “totally inadequate” and said he wants public figures held to account for their failure to take action.
Mr Philp said: “It’s a complete disgrace that they appear to be continuing to countenance a cover-up of some of these terrible events.”
Setting out the case for a nationwide inquiry with powers to compel witnesses to attend and to requisition evidence, he said: “We need a national inquiry which covers not just five towns but all the towns affected. It needs to be a statutory inquiry so it has the powers to compel the production of evidence and one of the key things the national inquiry should get to the bottom of is whether people in positions of public authority – whether that’s local councillors, the police, the Crown Prosecution Service, which of course was run by for some of this time – did they do their job properly, were they negligent?”
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He continued: “They certainly did ignore victims. Did they even actively cover this up for misplaced reasons of cultural or racial sensitivity?
“If any public officials did cover this up they should be investigated for the offence of misconduct in public office. These are the questions that a proper statutory national inquiry needs to get to the bottom of.
“Not a single public official – whether it’s a councillor, the police, the CPS – nobody has been held accountable for these failures and it is wrong.”
In January, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced Baroness Louise Casey would lead a “rapid national audit to uncover the scale and profile of group-based offending in the UK today”.
The Government has acknowledged that the “vast majority of child sexual exploitation and abuse goes unidentified” but said that of the “115,000 child sexual exploitation and abuse offences recorded in 2023 by police”, more than 700 were “group-based grooming gang offences”.
Mr Philp said: “Many victims have called for a proper national inquiry but the Labour Government has ignored those victims and it does constitute a betrayal.”
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Reform UK Deputy Leader said: “Let’s not forget, the had 14 years to launch an inquiry but ignored the calls from victims and whistleblowers.
“Whilst Labour’s local inquiries and reviews are a step in the right direction, they do not go far enough. A national inquiry, with all the legal powers that brings, is vital to achieving real justice for victims of these barbaric crimes.”
The Home Office has been invited to comment.