{"id":217112,"date":"2025-10-22T05:16:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T05:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/217112\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T05:16:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T05:16:09","slug":"grooming-gangs-inquiry-wont-be-watered-down-home-sec-vows-as-more-survivors-quit-panel-politics-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/217112\/","title":{"rendered":"Grooming gangs inquiry ‘won’t be watered down’, home sec vows – as more survivors quit panel | Politics News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The national inquiry into grooming gangs will leave “no hiding place” for those involved in the scandal, the home secretary has warned.<\/p>\n

Shabana Mahmood’s vow comes amid accusations the inquiry is “descending into chaos” – with Home Office minister Jess Phillips called a “liar” for disputing allegations that the inquiry is being diluted.<\/p>\n

Three survivors have resigned from its liaison panel<\/a> in recent days over concerns about how the process is being handled, while a frontrunner to chair the inquiry has also pulled out.<\/p>\n

\"Home<\/p>\n

Image:
\n Home Office minister Jess Phillips. Pic: PA<\/p>\n

While Ms Mahmood acknowledged there are frustrations about the pace of progress towards launching the inquiry – which had been announced back in June – she said its scope “will not change”.<\/p>\n

In an article for The Times, she vowed the probe “will never be watered down on my watch” – and said it will focus on how “some of the most vulnerable people in this country” were abused “at the hands of predatory monsters”.<\/p>\n

“In time, we came to know this as the ‘grooming gangs’ scandal, though I have never thought the name matched the scale of the evil. We must call them what they were: evil child rapists,” Ms Mahmood wrote.<\/p>\n

Read more:
Grooming gangs scandal timeline: What happened?<\/a><\/p>\n

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

3:18<\/p>\n

Grooming gangs victim speaks out<\/p>\n

Fiona Goddard resigned from the liaison panel after citing a “toxic, fearful environment” and “condescending and controlling language” used towards survivors.<\/p>\n

Ellie Reynolds also quit – saying the “final turning point” was the “push to widen the remit of the national inquiry in ways that downplay the racial and religious motivations behind our abuse”.<\/p>\n

A third known as Elizabeth – which is not her real name – followed yesterday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Ms Mahmood said “the door will always remain open to them” if they decide to return to the liaison panel.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

The home secretary also insisted the inquiry will be “robust and rigorous” – with the power to compel witnesses, and examine the ethnicity and religion of the offenders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The national inquiry into grooming gangs will leave “no hiding place” for those involved in the scandal, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":217113,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-217112","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}