Survivors say grooming gang inquiry must get answers as police launch crackdown
Keir Starmer has now committed to a nationwide statutory inquiry into the scandal of systematic sexual exploitation of young girls in a number of towns in England
Survivors of Telford's grooming gangs have said a new public inquiry could finally give victims the answers they deserve.
Keir Starmer has committed to a statutory inquiry into the scandal of sexual exploitation of young girls in a number of English towns. Local authorities and institutions that failed hundreds of victims will be held to account through a probe with the power to haul in witnesses.
The inquiry will also be able to order local deep dive investigations into historic cases. The National Crime Agency will lead a new crackdown on vile perpetrators, taking on cases that weren't properly dealt with to finally deliver justice.
It will also look at overhauling local responses to these crimes to end the culture of denial that failed so many young girls. The Prime Minister said on Saturday it was now "the right thing to do" after initially resisting pressure for a dedicated probe into the grooming gangs scandal.
His decision followed a recommendation from an independent report on child sexual exploitation by Baroness Louise Casey, which will be published on Monday.
Brave campaigner Holly Archer, who helped the Mirror expose decades of abuse in Telford, said: "I'm hopeful survivors will get the answers they need and deserve."
Holly, which is not her real name, was abused from the age of 14 and campaigned to get justice for more than a thousand others in the Shropshire town who were abused over four decades.
We campaigned for - and won - an independent inquiry in Telford and Holly went on with other survivors to help Telford Council implement a raft of changes recommended by that inquiry.
Holly said: "I think it's so important to keep the localised aspect of any inquiry. Every place is different and needs clear guidance from the survivors in those places.
"Somewhere like Telford would have been consumed by wider, larger areas, who have their own set of problems."
A second victim of child sexual exploitation in Telford called Kate, also not her real name, said: "I believe it's the only way we are going to be able to see the full scale of the issue.
"This is concerning the conduct of the authorities and their handling of grooming gangs. They're desperate to cover it up so it needs to be forced upon them."
Kate's abusers were jailed in 2015 but one was recently released from prison.
She added: "I spoke with [Safeguarding Minister] Jess Phillips in person along with another survivors earlier this month. This helped towards bringing about the national inquiry so l am really proud of all of us for pushing for this.
"I hope the work we've done in Telford can be replicated nationally and that people are finally held to account."
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: 'The vulnerable young girls who suffered unimaginable abuse at the hands of groups of adult men have now grown into brave women who are rightly demanding justice for what they went through when they were just children.
'Not enough people listened to them then. That was wrong and unforgivable. We are changing that now.
'More than 800 grooming gang cases have already been identified by police after I asked them to look again at cases which had closed too early. Now we are asking the National Crime Agency to lead a major nationwide operation to track down more perpetrators and bring them to justice.'
Chancellor Rachel Reeves on Sunday rejected calls to apologise to critics who wanted a public inquiry - and said the PM had always prioritised victims.
It comes after Mr Starmer previously hit out at opposition politicians calling for a nationwide inquiry, accusing them of "jumping on a bandwagon" and "amplifying what the far-right is saying" to gain attention.
Widespread sexual abuse of young girls in towns like Rotherham, Rochdale and Telford was uncovered over a decade ago.
The scandal hit the headlines again in January after Elon Musk seized on reports that Home Office Minister Jess Phillips had rejected calls for a public inquiry, in favour of allowing councils to launch local probes.
The tech billionaire launched an onslaught of online attacks against Keir Starmer and Ms Phillips, including reposting a call for her to be jailed.
The Government initially argued that the scandal had been looked as part of a seven-year probe into child sexual abuse by Professor Alexis Jay, which reported in 2022.
Asked if there will be an apology for people who were criticised for raising the issue, Ms Reeves said: "What is the most important thing here? It's the victims."
She added: "It's not people's hurt feelings about how they've been spoken about. The most important thing here is the victims of these evil crimes."
Prof Jay's inquiry (IICSA) looked at child sexual abuse in a number of different settings. But there has never been a public inquiry solely focused on grooming gangs.
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