UK (Parliament Politics Magazine) – British PM Sir Keir Starmer says Baroness Casey will support the grooming gangs inquiry after four survivors quit, promising truth and justice.
As reported by The Independent, Sir Keir Starmer told the Commons that Baroness Louise Casey will assist the grooming gangs inquiry following the resignations of four survivors this week.
What did Keir Starmer say about the grooming gangs inquiry?
The prime minister stated that Baroness Casey “will now support the work of the inquiry and it will get to the truth.”
Addressing MPs, Keir Starmer pledged that injustice will find no hiding place and reassured former panel members that the door remains open.
Responding to Tory leader Kemi Badenoch at Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Starmer responded,
“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.”
He said,
“I can tell the house today, Mr Speaker, that Dame Louise Casey will now support the work of the inquiry, and it will get to the truth. Injustice will have no place to hide.”
Ms Badenoch stated,
“Four victims on the rape gangs survivors’ panel have resigned and they’ve resigned because they’ve lost all confidence in the Government’s inquiry. So I’m giving my first question to one of them, to Fiona.”
She said,
“Being dismissed and contradicted by a minister when you’re telling the truth takes you right back to that feeling of not being believed all over again’. Fiona’s question is simple. What’s the point in speaking up if we’re just going to be called liars?”
The Labour leader replied,
“Can I thank her for raising that on behalf of Fiona? The grooming scandal was one of the worst scandals of all 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.”
He stated,
“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, 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 the religion of the offenders and we will find the right person to chair the inquiry.”
Mr Starmer said,
“I can tell the House today that Dame Louise Casey will support the inquiry and it will get to the truth and justice will have no place ot hide.”
Ms Badenoch said,
“I doubt she’ll be satisfied with that answer. He says that they could return to the panel if they wish to. Why would they do that? The Government has been engaged in a briefing war against survivors.”
During her address, Ms Badenoch was briefly interrupted, saying,
“They say ‘shame’. Why don’t they listen to what Elizabeth had to say? Elizabeth, who was abused in Rotherham from the age of 14 had this to say, and I quote, ‘the Government has created a toxic environment for survivors’. They were looking for answers from the Prime Minister and what they’ve heard is Labour MPs saying ‘shame’ at their words. Yesterday, the safeguarding minister said Elizabeth was wrong. Who should we believe, the Prime Minister’s safeguarding minister or Elizabeth?”
Mr Starmer responded,
“Let me put on record my respect for all of the survivors who’ve been through the most awful ordeal and I want to thank those that have been involved in the work in the process. What we’re trying to do is get this right and have an inquiry with survivors at the heart.”
He stated,
“As the safeguarding minister told the House yesterday that’s not easy, they’ve all come with difficult experience. There’s a wide range of views, understandably, and every survivor does bring their own painful experience to this. The survivors met the prospective chairs this week and we want to have them to have the chance to engage. I want survivors to be at the heart of this […] These are the hard yards, I accept that, but I want to press on and get this right.”
The Tory leader accused the Prime Minister of covering up grooming gangs, saying,
“He says that he wants survivors to be at the heart of this but in his first PMQs this year he said we did not need a national inquiry and when he did all of these MPs cheered, they were nodding their heads including the safeguarding minister.”
She added,
“They voted against the national inquiry three times so the victims don’t believe them. They can say ‘no’ as much as they like, it is on the record. They don’t like it but it’s true. Now one of the victims has quit. Contrary to what the Prime Minister has just said, and what the Home Secretary wrote this morning, they believe that the inquiry will downplay the racial and religious motivations behind their abuse. Aren’t the victims right when they call it a cover-up?”
Mr Starmer replied,
“Let me reassure the victims and the House that the scope of the inquiry will not be diluted and we won’t shy away from cultural or religious issues. It was me who commissioned Baroness Casey in the first place […] In the four months since then, we have finalised the panel and are trying to get the leadership of this inquiry right with survivors at the heart.”
He said,
“In that period we have also reopened 1,200 historic closed cases. I have long argued the criminal route where it can be pursued is the right route for perpetrators. We have introduced mandatory reporting for child sex abuse.”
The Labour leader said previous efforts for mandatory reporting “fell on deaf ears,” adding that the inquiry will proceed rapidly to secure justice while keeping survivors at the heart of the process.
Ms Tory acknowledged that victims have legitimate concerns and pointed out that the party first called for a national grooming gangs inquiry ten months ago.
She stated,
“It is shocking that they still do not have a chair. One of the final two candidates has pulled out, leaving a former police officer that the victims don’t want. What they do want is a judge, they deserve a judge. So we are talking about the industrial-scale rape of women and girls. Unlike most of the inquiries that are going on, why is it that this inquiry doesn’t deserve a judge?”
Mr Starmer responded,
“It’s a serious point, because whether it should be judge-led was looked at by Louise Casey and she decided against that for a reason. And her reasons were twofold. The first was the speed with which we could do this. The second is really important and that is at the same time as the inquiry I was absolutely determined that criminal investigations would go on at the same time.”
He added,
“One of the problems that judge-led inquiries run into, I’ve seen and experienced this myself, is they’re often held back until the end of the criminal investigations and I was determined that we were going to be able to run the two together.”
How does Keir Starmer respond to calls to remove Jess Phillips?
During the PMQs, Kemi Badenoch asked if Keir Starmer continued to support safeguarding minister Jess Phillips in her role.
She referenced a survivor’s view that Ms Phillips “should be removed,” claiming her conduct during the inquiry was unsuitable for her role.
Ms Badenoch said,
“The member for Birmingham Yardley has clearly lost the confidence of the victims. Does she still have the confidence of the Prime Minister?”
The prime minister responded,
“I respect the views of all the survivors and there are different views, I accept that. But the safeguarding minister has probably more experience than any other person in this House in dealing with violence against women and girls.”
He added,
“Alongside her will be Louise Casey. These two individuals have spent decades standing up for those who have been sexually abused and exploited and I absolutely think they’re the right thing to take this people.”
What did the Tories say about Keir Starmer and Jess Phillips?
The Conservatives have called on Keir Starmer to dismiss Jess Phillips as safeguarding minister, after grooming gang survivors criticized her handling of the inquiry, which has faced further turmoil this week.
A Tory spokesman added,
“Jess Phillips’s conduct over the grooming gang scandal is shocking. She should be sacked. If the Prime Minister had a backbone, and truly cared about the survivors, he’d do it today.”
How many survivors have resigned from the grooming inquiry?
Two survivors, Fiona Goddard and Ellie-Ann Reynolds, resigned on Monday, with another woman, Elizabeth, and one unnamed survivor resigning on Tuesday.
The women raised concerns over plans to broaden the inquiry’s scope and the candidates being considered to chair it, reportedly a former police chief and a social worker.
In her resignation, Elizabeth accused the inquiry of being a “cover-up” and said it had already created a toxic environment for survivors.
She argued the process seemed “scripted and predetermined” rather than emerging from honest dialogue with survivors.
Ms Elizabeth said,
“This sense of control and stage-management has left many of us questioning whether our voices truly matter, or whether we are being used to legitimise decisions that have already been made.”
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.”
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.”
What did Shabana Mahmood say about the grooming inquiry and the victims’ role?
In response to the resignations, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood pledged the inquiry will continue and “will never be watered down,” saying it will examine how some of the most vulnerable were abused by predatory individuals.
She said,
“It is essential that the victims themselves are at the heart of this inquiry. It was for that reason that we set up a victims group to support the inquiry in its inception, and throughout its work.”
Ms Mahmood stated,
“It was with a heavy heart, in recent days, I learnt that some members have decided to step away from the group.”
The Home Secretary described the inquiry as “robust” with powers to compel witnesses, adding there will be no hiding place for abusers or anyone who concealed crimes.
How did the Home Office respond to criticism of the grooming inquiry?
A Home Office spokesperson stated,
“The abuse of children by grooming gangs is one of the most horrific crimes imaginable.”
They added,
“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.”
What do the numbers reveal about grooming gang victims?
Official data recorded around 700 offences in 2023, but the Casey Report notes this likely underestimates the true scale. The Grooming Gangs Taskforce supported over 4,000 victims in a single year.
Local inquiries estimated 1,400 children were abused in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013, and around 1,000 children in Telford over three decades.
