Today [Monday 20th October 2025], in the wake of
Fiona Goddard's resignation from the grooming gangs inquiry
liaison panel this morning, the Conservative Party is calling on
the Government to restructure their inquiry immediately to ensure
it is independent, credible, and led by a sitting or recently
retired senior judge.
The Conservatives have raised serious concerns over the Labour
Government's handling of the national grooming gangs inquiry,
warning that survivors are losing confidence in the process and
that recent appointments risk undermining the entire
investigation.
Survivors have made clear they will not trust an inquiry chaired
by a former police officer or social worker. The very
institutions accused of covering up these crimes cannot now be
allowed to investigate themselves. A senior judge, independent of
local authorities and policing, must lead the inquiry to
guarantee impartiality and restore faith in the process.
Fiona Goddard, a survivor representative, has now resigned from
the inquiry's liaison panel. Her resignation message is a warning
that victims feel ignored and betrayed.
Furthermore, the organisation contracted by the Home Office to
manage the survivor liaison group, NWG Network, has appointed
Sabah Kaiser to oversee the process. Ms Kaiser has made comments
dismissing the ethnic dimensions of the grooming gang crisis,
stating:
“The framing of childhood sexual abuse as a crime committed
overwhelmingly by gangs of brown men against young white girls is
destructive, distracting, and irresponsible, but most
importantly, it is not based on evidence.”
These remarks are an insult to the hundreds of survivors whose
cases fit that exact pattern, as confirmed in countless police
and local authority reports.
The Government must urgently launch the inquiry as a full,
statutory, judge-led investigation with the power, independence,
and integrity to deliver justice for every survivor and hold
every official who enabled these crimes to account.
MP, Shadow Home Secretary,
said:
“Victims and survivors have been betrayed over and over again.
First by the authorities who ignored them, and now by a
government that's watering down its own inquiry before it's even
begun.
“Survivors will never get justice from the same institutions that
failed them in the before. This inquiry must be led by a sitting
or recently retired senior judge, not ex-police officers or
social workers marking their own homework.
“The Conservatives are demanding a full, statutory, judge-led
inquiry into the rape gangs and the cover-ups that protected
them. Every official, police officer, and councillor who enabled
these crimes must face prosecution for misconduct in public
office. No more delays, no more excuses, no more cover up."
ENDS
Notes to editors:
· Fiona Goddard has
resigned from the grooming gang inquiry survivor panel due to
“serious concerns about their ability to get to the truth, and
treatment of survivors”. (Twitter, 20
October 2025, link).
· Sabah Kaiser,
Ethnic Minority Ambassador to the Independent Inquiry into Child
Sexual Abuse, made comments dismissing the ethnic dimensions of
the grooming gang crisis. Writing for Al Jazeera, Sabah
Kaiser said: ‘The framing of childhood sexual abuse as a crime
committed overwhelmingly by gangs of brown men against young
white girls is destructive, distracting, and irresponsible, but
most importantly, it is not based on evidence.' (Al
Jazeera, 3 May 2023, link).
· The Conservative
Party are calling for a national statutory inquiry into the rape
gangs – we will not stop fighting for justice for the victims of
these heinous crimes. The Government are letting down
the victims of the gangs. The Government have been watering down
their grooming gang inquiries plan and Labour-run areas of
Bradford and Wales are refusing to hold an inquiry. That is why
we have tabled an amendment to the Government's Crime and
Policing Bill (The Independent, 2 April 2025,
link).
· Launched the new
Grooming Gangs Taskforce, which helped police forces arrest over
550 suspects and identify and protect over 4,000 victims in its
first year. The Grooming Gangs Taskforce of specialist
officers has worked with all 43 police forces in England and
Wales to support child sexual exploitation and grooming
investigations (Home Office, News Story, 21 May 2024,
link).
