Starmer to tackle grooming gangs after sex exploitation case shakes UK

Sydney Morning Herald

9 hours ago

London: The conviction of seven men for the sexual exploitation of two teenage girls in northern England has prompted British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to announce a national inquiry into grooming gangs – a sharp policy shift after months of political pressure and growing public scrutiny.
The verdict, delivered on Friday at a Manchester court, revealed that the men – aged between 41 and 67 – groomed the girls, who were just 13 at the time, and subjected them to prolonged abuse between 2001 and 2006. The case, which occurred in Rochdale, reignited a scandal that has plagued numerous British towns for more than a decade and is now seen as the trigger for a comprehensive national response.
Speaking ahead of the G7 summit in Canada, Starmer said he had accepted a recommendation of Baroness Louise Casey, who recently completed a months-long audit into child sexual exploitation in England.
Casey's findings are reportedly expected to assert that the grooming gang issue is explicitly tied to men of Pakistani origin, claiming that white British girls who were targeted were 'institutionally ignored' because of racism concerns.
'I have read every single word of her report and I am going to accept her recommendation,' Starmer told reporters. 'That is the right thing to do on the basis of what she has put in her audit.'
The inquiry will be statutory, giving it the legal authority to compel witnesses to testify – a key demand from victims and campaigners. While Starmer did not commit to a timeline, he said details would be set out 'in an orderly way'.
The announcement marks a significant reversal for Starmer, who had repeatedly rejected calls for a new national inquiry, arguing that the focus should remain on implementing the 200 recommendations of earlier reviews. Instead, the government had backed local investigations in five towns, including Oldham and Telford.
Pressure for a national response had been building for months. While political opponents – including the Conservative Party and Reform UK – consistently criticised the government's handling of the issue, international attention intensified in January after tech billionaire Elon Musk used his platform on X to highlight concerns over institutional inaction. Musk's posts brought renewed attention to a previous decision to deny Oldham Council's request for a national inquiry, fuelling wider public debate.