Survivor calls for judge to lead grooming gangs inquiry – despite PM saying this isn’t possible
A survivor who resigned from the government’s national inquiry into grooming gangs has told Sky News she wants it to be led by a judge – despite the government saying this won’t happen.
Asked why she quit the panel, Ellie-Ann Reynolds said: “I think the two [reasons] that stuck out the most werethe two candidates that were meant to be chairing the panel. The minute that we found out their former employment, it raised red flags.
“Also, the way that we were gaslit and manipulated in that process was concerning, so I think them two together built enough for the majority to say something isn’t right here.”
This week has seen four survivors quit the panel, and all the candidates to chair it have since withdrawn their names.
Social worker Annie Hudson and former police officer Jim Gamble had both been put forward as potential chairs.
Hudson decided to step back from the inquiry in the past few days, while Gamble withdrew his name this afternoon.
Reynolds said it was the backgrounds of the two candidates that has led to survivors quitting.
She explained: “I think when for years and years, it’s the very institutions that have failed us.
“I think it would be unrealistic to say that we have any faith, within our authorities and systems, especially when they are supposed to be chairing an inquiry.”
Reacting to Gamble’s departure, she said: “It was the right thing to do for both of them to step back it.
“They weren’t fit to to chair that inquiry, their former employment – it was never going to be unbiased. It was never going to be impartial.
“They’ve always got an unspoken rule of [the need] to protect their own. That’s how the survivors feel on that.”
She insisted that survivors would like “somebody that’s unbiased, impartial” like a judge.
Reynolds: Safeguarding minister should resign as she is ‘unfit for the role’
Earlier today, Sir Keir Starmer ruled out appointing a judge leading the probe as he said that would require all criminal proceedings finishing.
But hitting back at the criticism that this would take longer, she responded: “We’ve waited years for the truth. The time is really it doesn’t matter.
“As long as we know that it’s going to be done properly and impartial, and the truth is going to be out there, we would be able to wait to ensure that that’s done, and it suceeds as it should.”
She also said the handling of the panel so far had been “dangerous”.
Reynolds explained: “What really concerned me was we were told that we couldn’t fix apart from each other. We couldn’t seek support from our general support networks. We weren’t allowed to talk to family about it. We weren’t allowed to even talk to each other on the panel about it.
“I think what also concerned is when they give us information about the the candidates, it was very, very locked down. It was very password protected. ‘Don’t talk for or don’t talk about it. Don’t screenshot.’
“We also were told that if any media approached us, we’d have to go directly back to them. It was a very controlled environment.”
She also called for the safeguarding minister, Jess Phillips, to resign, saying that she is “unfit for the role” and suggesting her body langugae in the Commons was “aggressive”.