Statutory Grooming Gang Inquiry Launches in Three Cities

The independent inquiry was established following a report by Baroness Louise Casey that compelled the left-wing Labour government to acknowledge what victims and campaigners had warned about for years: clear evidence that Pakistani Muslim men were dramatically overrepresented among perpetrators of grooming gang sexual abuse targeting predominantly white, working-class girls, according to Breitbart News.

Casey’s report also confirmed longstanding allegations that local authorities, social workers, healthcare staff, police officers, and school officials systematically ignored victims out of fear they would be accused of racism or inflame community tensions.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had initially dismissed calls for a statutory inquiry as playing into the hands of the so-called far-right. However, mounting public pressure and the weight of evidence in the Casey report forced a reversal. Crucially, this inquiry will wield statutory powers, enabling it to compel witness testimony and force the disclosure of government documents—powers not available to earlier reviews or the recent investigation led by Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe.

The inquiry will be chaired by Baroness Anne Longfield CBE, former Children’s Commissioner for England. On Wednesday, investigators announced the three initial areas of focus and confirmed they will also examine whether reforms recommended in past inquiries in Oxford and Rotherham were properly implemented, as Breitbart News reports.

The inclusion of London is particularly significant. Khan has consistently maintained that grooming gangs are not a problem in the capital. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley initially echoed that stance, claiming Scotland Yard had not observed such criminal networks in London, before later backtracking and admitting such groups likely do operate in the city.

An investigation by the Express newspaper last year identified at least six criminal cases in London displaying hallmarks of grooming gang activity, including one in which a 15-year-old girl was given drugs and alcohol before being raped by multiple men at a London hotel.

Investigators acknowledged Wednesday that London has one of the highest rates of child sexual exploitation in Britain. The capital presents unique investigative challenges due to its sprawling metropolitan structure, multiple overlapping jurisdictions, and connections to towns and regions across the country.

A London investigation will help the inquiry understand how grooming gangs were identified and responded to across complex institutional frameworks, and where safeguarding systems failed children, the inquiry stated.

Bradford and Oldham have been linked to grooming gang activity for years. Fiona Goddard, a survivor of a Pakistani Muslim grooming gang in Bradford who resigned from the inquiry’s victims panel last year amid concerns over the appointment of police and social workers to leadership roles, said on Wednesday it had been a long road but victims had finally reached this point.

Robbie Moore, Member of Parliament for Keighley and Ilkley in Bradford, said local politicians and police had for many years repeatedly rejected calls for an inquiry. He described those refusals as mirroring the same patterns of denial seen in Rotherham and Telford, where decades of abuse remained hidden until independent inquiries forced the truth into public view.

Moore expressed frustration that local leaders only reversed their opposition once a national inquiry was recommended by Baroness Casey in June 2025 and backed by the Home Secretary. He added that while no inquiry can erase the suffering endured by victims, it can help uncover the truth and deliver the answers survivors have spent years demanding.

With information from Breitbart News