Copyright yahoo
The grooming gangs inquiry will leave “no hiding place”, the home secretary has vowed, after the probe was plunged into chaos. Shabana Mahmood was forced to intervene after a string of resignations from survivors on the inquiry’s overseeing panel amid claims of an alleged cover-up and a “toxic environment”. There are also concerns that a chair has still not been appointed for the inquiry. The resignations are a huge blow to the prime minister, who had been strong-armed into holding an inquiry after a national outrage over the sexual abuse of children by gangs. In comments made after the resignations, Ms Mahmood insisted the scope of the inquiry will not change and “will never be watered down on my watch”. She said it would focus on how some of the “most vulnerable people in this country” were abused “at the hands of predatory monsters”. Writing in The Times, she acknowledged frustrations about the process, adding that “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.” “It was with a heavy heart, in recent days, I learnt that some members have decided to step away from the group,” she wrote. She said that the probe would be “robust” with the power to compel witnesses, adding: “There will be no hiding place for those who abused the most vulnerable in our society. Nor will those who ignored victims, and even covered up what occurred, be shielded from the truth.” On Wednesday morning, one of her cabinet colleagues, environment secretary Emma Reynolds, also offered an apology to victims of grooming gangs “if they felt let down” by the process of setting up the national probe. One victim known as “Elizabeth” announced her resignation on Tuesday, following Fiona Goddard and Ellie-Ann Reynolds, who walked out of the inquiry’s victims and survivors liaison panel on Monday. In her resignation letter, Elizabeth said the process appeared to be a “cover-up” and had already “created a toxic environment for survivors”. She said that she felt the process had been “scripted and predetermined”, rather than “emerging from honest, open dialogue with survivors”. “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. She also 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.” Ms Goddard and Ms Reynolds also levelled 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 that the resignations “cast a real shadow over the government’s efforts” to set up the inquiry. He said ministers have “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. 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.” Annie Hudson, a former director of children’s services for Lambeth, has now withdrawn her candidacy following recent media coverage, according to reports on Tuesday. Sir Keir and his domestic abuse minister Jess Phillips had initially refused to agree to an inquiry but eventually relented when the Tories and Reform pushed it to the top of the agenda. Ms 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.”
