Labour has faced fury over the grooming gangs scandal (Image: Getty)
Grooming gang inquiries have been “kicked into the long grass” after Labour watered down plans to hunt for the truth. Furious Tories warned ministers that “children across Britain have been sexually tortured by gangs of men”.
But on Tuesday the Home Office was accused of letting local authorities decide if they want to hold inquiries – despite fears over cover-ups and corruption. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper previously provoked fury by refusing to commit to a national inquiry, instead choosing to back five “Telford-style” local inquiries.
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Tory MP Robbie Moore has blasted the lack of progress (Image: Getty)
Conservative frontbencher Katie Lam said MPs know “almost nothing” about the progress of local inquiries into “rape gangs which have terrorised so many innocent children”.
Ms Lam told the Commons: “In January, the Home Secretary said the Government would conduct five local inquiries into the rape gangs which have terrorised so many innocent children.
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“Over three months since the Government announced these local inquiries, Tom Crowther KC – a barrister invited by the Home Office to help establish them – knows almost nothing about their progress, and neither do we.
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“Why is the framework for local inquiries now being led by ministers rather than by independent voices such as Tom Crowther? Why is the ￡5million set aside for inquiries no longer being allocated but instead being delivered on an opt-in basis? And what does the Government intend to do about local leaders who say there is no need for an independent inquiry, like in Bradford or in Wales?
“The girls we’re talking about are predominantly white, the men who preyed on them were predominantly Muslim generally, either from Pakistan or of Pakistani heritage.
“One of the victims from Dewsbury was told by her rapist: ‘We’re here to f*** all the white girls and f*** the government.'
“Will the minister accept that in many cases these crimes were racially and religiously aggravated? How, without a national inquiry, can we understand what part these factors played?"
She raised cases of girls who were victims and said a “dedicated unit” in the National Crime Agency should investigate “councillors and officials accused of collusion and corruption”.
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She told the Commons: "I'm sorry to say that that unit must also investigate police officers."
Ms Lam quoted a judge from Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, who said an offender was seen with his victim “on at least three occasions by the police”, with the MP adding: “How, without a national inquiry, can we know how and why these monsters enjoyed effective immunity for so long and how can we be sure it will not happen again?"
Ms Lam also read out an “extremely graphic” case, adding in her final remarks: “This is not about me, it’s not about the minister or the Home Secretary or any of us in this chamber, it is about them – little girls, up and down our country whose brutal and repeated rapes were permitted and hidden by those in the British state whose job was to protect them.
“They deserve justice. In five towns, these children and their families may get partial answers but I have mentioned five towns in the last few minutes alone and there are at least 45 more. In those places, they will get no answers at all."
She went on: “The British people deserve to know the truth. What darker truths does the suffering of these girls reveal about this country and why won’t the Government find out?"
On Tuesday, safeguarding minister Jess Phillips confirmed that a new child protection authority would be created to address one of the central recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.
However, she also faced backlash for not providing an update on the grooming gang reviews.
Tory MP Robbie Moore said that the five local inquiries had “been kicked into the long grass.”
He added in Parliament on Tuesday: “I am completely infuriated by today’s statement. Here we are on the very last sitting day before the Easter recess and the Government have all but admitted that no real progress whatsoever has been made on their promise to launch five local rape gang inquiries before Easter.
“But it gets worse, for more than five years leaders at the very top of Bradford Council in my constituency have denied, refused and covered up the very single call that I and victims, survivors and their families have been making for a full rape gang inquiry across Keighley and the wider Bradford district.
“Yet the minister refuses to face the facts, Bradford’s leadership is simply not going to act by themselves."
He went on to ask Ms Phillips why the Government was letting local areas decide if they wanted inquiries.
Ms Phillips paid tribute to the work Mr Moore had done on the issue and offered to meet him.
She added: “There is absolutely nothing that I am saying today that suggests that Bradford wouldn’t be able to access funding from the Home Office, just as Oldham has, to undertake the work that might be needed in Bradford."
Announcing the plans, Ms Cooper said: “As we have seen, effective local inquiries can delve into far more local detail and deliver more locally relevant answers and change than a lengthy nationwide inquiry can provide.”
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Ms Cooper asked police forces to reopen so-called “cold cases” linked to grooming gangs and child sexual abuse.
In a major statement to MPs in Parliament, the Home Secretary revealed 29 police forces across the country are investigating grooming gangs in 127 “major” probes.
There were 717 cases of abuse linked to grooming gangs in 2023.