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Grooming gang survivors have attacked Jess Phillips as Labour’s national inquiry into the scandal plunged into further turmoil. Abuse victims hit back at the Home Office minister after she rejected their claims that the inquiry could be watered down and expanded to cover other forms of child sexual abuse. Fiona Goddard, one of four survivors who quit the inquiry’s victims’ panel over their concerns, produced a consultation document in which they were asked whether the inquiry could “take a broader approach”. “I didn’t make this up. The documents are right there. 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,” said Ms Goddard. “I think she needs to step down because she’s publicly accused a grooming gang survivor who, throughout my whole life has been accused, of lying over and over again – that is part of the whole scandal.” The public row came on a day when Annie Hudson, a senior social worker and one of the candidates to chair the inquiry, withdrew from the process and three more grooming gang victims quit. The survivor, who has not publicly identified herself, followed Ms Goddard and Ellie-Ann Reynolds in resigning from the victims liaison panel advising the Home Office. On Tuesday night, Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, sought to reassure the victims by pledging the inquiry would not be watered down “on my watch.” It would focus on grooming gangs and examine the ethnicity and religion of offenders, who were disproportionately Asian, she added. Ms Goddard quit after saying she had “repeatedly faced suggestions from officials to expand this inquiry … with grooming gang victims forgotten”. Ms Reynolds said the “final turning point was the push to widen the remit of the inquiry in ways that downplay the racial and religious motivations behind our abuse”. However, Ms Phillips published a letter on Monday evening to MPs saying reports that the Government was “seeking to dilute the focus of the inquiry… by expanding the scope beyond ‘grooming gangs’” were “untrue”. In an angry and emotional statement in the Commons, Ms Phillips maintained: “Allegations of intentional delay, lack of interest or widening of the inquiry scope and dilution are false. The inquiry will remain laser-focused on grooming gangs, as Baroness Casey recommended.” In response, Ms Goddard published the consultation document, headed “Questions for reflection” with six questions, including one asking: “Should the inquiry have an explicit focus on ‘grooming gangs’ or group-based CSEA [child sexual exploitation and abuse] or take a broader approach.” “When I resigned, I knew I was risking my credibility by speaking out. To have Jess Phillips tell a parliamentary committee that my concerns about scope expansion are ‘untrue’ when we were literally asked in writing whether the inquiry should take ‘a broader approach’ is devastating,” said Ms Goddard. “Other survivors will see this and think, what’s the point in speaking up if we’re just going to be called liars? We needed honesty from this Government. Instead, we got denial and dismissal.” She claimed it was “a blatant lie” to suggest it was untrue that there had been “a possibility or conversation around expanding the scope beyond grooming gangs”. The Home Office, however, maintained that survivors were being asked what they wanted from the inquiry to inform any future decisions on its remit rather than dictating to the victims. Ms Goddard directly challenged Ms Phillips over the questionnaire, saying: “Every which way this is being manipulated away from what it was supposed to be and it’s unfair.” In the text exchange released by Ms Goddard, the minister replied: “No one is trying to manipulate the response and it is my view that it is only a grooming gangs specific inquiry, but it is not right for me to make that decision without it being formally consulted upon.” The third survivor to quit, a victim of the Rotherham scandal known by the pseudonym Elizabeth, said she was concerned by a “sense of control and stage-management” that had left many of her fellow victims “questioning whether our voices truly matter”. In her resignation letter, Elizabeth said the process felt like “a cover-up” and had “created a toxic environment for survivors”. She said she felt the process had been “scripted and predetermined”, “rather than emerging from honest, open dialogue with survivors”. The fourth victim to quit, Jessica, which is not her real name, from West Yorkshire, said she was stunned to learn that the two prospective chairmen of the inquiry were a former police officer and a former social worker. “When I found out the two potential chairs were a former police officer and a former social worker, I was shocked and I didn’t know how they could be involved. Ms Hudson, a former director of children’s services for Lambeth, is understood to have told survivors that she no longer wanted to be considered after recent media coverage. Her decision to withdraw leaves Jim Gamble, a former head of the Royal Ulster Constabulary special branch in Belfast, and at least one other candidate in the running. Interviews were being conducted this week. The Home Secretary said the statutory inquiry would ensure there was “no hiding place” for the “evil child rapists” and those who covered up for them. “Firstly, this inquiry is not, and will never be, watered down on my watch. Its scope will not change, and nor will its intent. It will be robust and rigorous,” Ms Mahmood said. “Secondly, this inquiry will focus on grooming gangs – and that will not change. Thirdly, it will explicitly examine the ethnicity and religion of the offenders.” She said it was “with a heavy heart” she learnt that some victims had stepped away, but said “the door will always remain open to them” if they wished to return. “But even if they do not, I owe it to them – and the country – to answer some of the concerns that they have raised,” she added. Downing Street denied the inquiry was in crisis. The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “The important thing from our point of view is to set up this inquiry and to set it up in the right way. The terms of the inquiry will be established when we’ve appointed a chair and that process is ongoing.” A Home Office spokesman said: “The Government is working closely with victims from across the country so they can shape the direction and scope of the inquiry. “The conduct and procedure of the inquiry will be a matter for the chair, but the terms of reference will be clear that its scope will be laser-focused, as Baroness Casey recommended.”
