Keir Starmer\u2019s grooming gangs inquiry has descended into fresh turmoil after the only remaining candidate to be its chair blamed \u201cpolitical opportunism\u201d and \u201ca lack of trust\u201d for his withdrawal as an applicant.<\/p>\n
As a key survivor called for a face-to-face meeting with the prime minister to save the inquiry<\/a>, Jim Gamble, a former deputy chief constable, said the process to appoint a committee head was \u201ctoxic\u201d and defined by \u201cvested interests\u201d.<\/p>\n The loss of another candidate<\/a> risked eclipsing attempts by Starmer on Wednesday to get to grips with the inquiry by announcing that Louise Casey, the civil service troubleshooter, will be brought in as an adviser.<\/p>\n It comes after four survivors invited on to an inquiry panel resigned<\/a> over two days and accused the UK government of attempting to manipulate them into broadening it to include other forms of sexual abuse.<\/p>\n One of those survivors, Fiona Goddard, told the Guardian she wanted face-to-face talks with Starmer so he could understand abuse victims\u2019 experiences and their demands for a judge-led inquiry.<\/p>\n Jim Gamble (pictured here in 2016) said he had pulled out of the appointment process due to \u2018a lack of confidence\u2019 in him among survivors. Photograph: Ken McKay\/ITV\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n Gamble, a former head of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre and of the RUC special branch in Belfast, was one of two known leading candidates for the role. The other, Annie Hudson, who was once the head of children\u2019s services at Lambeth, said on Tuesday<\/a> she no longer wanted to be considered after intense media coverage.<\/p>\n Survivors had complained that senior police officers and social workers should not be considered for the role because both professions had been accused of participating in a cover-up of abuse.<\/p>\n In his withdrawal letter, Gamble said he had pulled out of the appointment process because of a \u201clack of confidence\u201d in him among some survivors of grooming gangs \u201cdue to my previous occupation\u201d.<\/p>\n He later criticised those \u201cwho have been mischief-making\u201d by highlighting his former police career, saying it was \u201cnonsense\u201d to imply that he would align himself \u201cwith any political party to hide their blushes\u201d.<\/p>\n Asked why he stepped back, Gamble told Sky News: \u201cI think the growing level of toxicity and the fact that in the midst of lots of misinformation, I think many of the victims and survivors were being disrespected and misinformed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018We need someone [to chair the inquiry] who is politically neutral,\u2019 said Fiona Goddard, a survivor of gang abuse. Photograph: Lucy North\/PA<\/p>\n