Baroness Casey hauled in to save grooming gangs inquiry after four survivors quit, Starmer announces at PMQs

Baroness Louise Casey has been appointed to “support the work” of the grooming gang inquiry, Keir Starmer told the House of Commons after the inquiry was thrown into chaos with the resignation of four survivors this week.

The Prime Minister said Baroness Casey “will now support the investigation’s work and it will get to the truth”.

Sir Keir told MPs that “injustice will have nowhere to hide” and added that “the door will always be open” to survivors who left the inquiry’s survivors panel if they wanted to return.

Responding to Kemi Badenoch on Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir said: “The investigation has never been and will not be watered down. Its scope will not change.

“We will examine the ethnicity and religion of the criminals and find the right person to lead the investigation.

“I can tell the House today, Mr Speaker, that Dame Louise Casey will now support the investigation and that the investigation will lead to the truth. Injustice will have nowhere to hide.”

A diverse peer, Baroness Casey is often asked to address complex social issues and has been appointed to lead major reviews in the past.

Sir Keir was responding to questions from the Tory leader, who said the victims had resigned because they had “lost all confidence in the government’s investigation”.

He also asked the prime minister whether it was correct to call the government’s approach a “cover-up” and said Labor had “voted against the national inquiry three times, so the victims don’t believe them”.

Earlier on Wednesday, cabinet minister Emma Reynolds apologized to victims and said she was “sorry they felt let down by the process”.

This is a breaking story; More to come…