Amid outrage at the increasing chaos engulfing the government, a minister cautioned that Labour will not hurry to establish a significant new investigation into the grooming gangs crisis.
Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said finding the right chairperson for the investigation is a ‘crucial appointment to get right’, after it emerged it could take months.
In response to strong pressure, Sir Keir Starmer agreed to conduct a comprehensive nationwide investigation into group-based child sex abuse in June.
However, after four months, no one has been appointed by the Home Office to head the investigation.
Jim Gamble, a former police officer, and Annie Hudson, a former senior social worker, both withdrew from consideration for the position of chair, leaving no further contenders.
The sense of chaos has been compounded by the departure of five women from the victims liaison panel – four of whom say they would be prepared to return if safeguarding minister Jess Phillips resigns.
However, five of those still on the advisory panel have said they would only stay if Ms Phillips remained in post. There were originally about 30 survivors on the panel.
Mr Thomas-Symonds told Times Radio: ‘What we are seeking to make sure is that you have a chair who has the confidence of all the victims, and it is an absolutely crucial appointment to get right, and the experience of previous inquiries has shown the difficulty of rushing to choose someone who then doesn’t command that confidence.’
He added: ‘We are acutely conscious of how long victims have waited for justice, but the chair appointment is absolutely crucial to making sure that the inquiry commands confidence.’
He said he had confidence in Ms Phillips as a ‘powerful advocate’ in politics and before becoming an MP.
Four women on the panel – Ellie-Ann Reynolds, Fiona Goddard, Elizabeth Harper, and a woman signed only as ‘Jessica’ – resigned this week and sent a letter outlining the requirements that must be met for them to return.
Those include Ms Phillips standing down, for the inquiry to be ‘laser-focused’ on grooming gangs, and for its chair to be a former or sitting judge.
They criticised Ms Phillips for labelling some of their claims about the scope of the inquiry being widened ‘untrue’, and said they had provided evidence to the contrary.
According to the source, the government will now get back in touch with survivors to hear their worries and get their input on who should be in charge of the investigation.
Baroness Louise Casey, who was called in to assist with the investigation, will collaborate closely with the government to identify a fresh pool of potential chair candidates.
Mr Gamble said he had pulled out of the appointment process because of a ‘lack of confidence’ in him among some survivors because of his police background.
He also hit out at politicians ‘playing games’ with the inquiry and said victims had been ‘disrespected and misinformed’.
The five backing Ms Phillips said in a letter to the Prime Minister and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood that her retaining her role is one of the conditions for their continued participation.
They wrote that the minister has ‘remained impartial’ and ‘we want her to remain in position for the duration of the process for consistency’.
They said they had asked for the scope to be larger than grooming gangs because some survivors would be excluded for not fitting the ‘generalised stereotype’ of what that includes.
Sir Keir Starmer has said he ‘of course’ has faith in Ms Phillips, as other ministers also rallied around her.
‘Won’t be rushed.’ Are they having a laugh, but when Starmer became Prime Minister, it didn’t take him too long to muster his cabinet together, but they are certainly keen to let migrants and the rape of our women happen, yet everyone is turning a blind eye to it.
If it’s not a rat you can smell, it’s the overwhelming stink of corruption coming from our government.
Labour must be coerced into starting this investigation. They obviously don’t want it, or else they would have done it by now, and they appear to be doing all in their power to prevent it, proving once again that our government are a national disgrace.
They said they won’t be rushed – I’ve seen snails on Valium that move faster. It’s one massive cover-up, and Starmer knows it.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 