Britain agrees to open child sexual grooming investigation
United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during a joint press conference with President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington DC, in February. File photo by Chris Kleponis/UPI | License Photo
June 15 (UPI) -- British officials said Sunday that they have never dismissed reports of child grooming gangs in the country, and vowed to release the results of an investigation Monday.
"These are the most important people in the discussions," chancellor Rachel Reeves said on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg program.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been criticized for ignoring reports about grooming gangs, and initially appeared to resist an independent investigation, but did agree to open an inquiry after months of pressure from conservatives.
The results of a previous report are to be released Monday, and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is scheduled to address the findings with Parliament.
When promoted, Reeves said Sunday that Starmer has long been focused on the grooming gang activity, and she shifted the blame to the Conservative party that held office prior to Starmer's election, intimating that the previous administration had not taken action to address the issue, either.
"Our prime minister has always been really focused on the victims, and not grandstanding but actually doing the practical things to ensure something like this never happens again," she said Sunday.
Maggie Oliver, a former detective with the Greater Manchester Police who resigned over the way the said grooming cases were handled in Rochdale, said both parties have been "dragged kicking and screaming to this point" to address grooming gang allegations.
"For me, I can only look at them with contempt, because I see on the ground the suffering their neglect has caused," she said on the Sunday program.
A prior report seven years in the making conclude that child sexual abuse was "epidemic" across the nation, and made 20 recommendations in 2022. Advocates said many of the victims have been waiting years for justice.
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