Grooming gangs inquiry will never be watered down, home secretary says, after survivors resign from panel – UK politics live | Politics
Grooming gangs inquiry will never be watered down, home secretary says, after survivors resign from panel
Good morning. One of the reasons why Shabana Mahmood was appointed home secretary was because, as justice secretary, when the Tories came at her with a “two-tier justice” attack line that was being enthusiastically embraced by the rightwing media, she saw them off swiftly and effectively (essentially, by coopting the argument and responding). Today she is performing a similar rebuttal operation on the grooming gangs inquiry, which is another area where the Daily Mail/GB News etc are on the warpath and the government is floundering.
Here is the Mail’s splash.
‘Chaos’ might be a bit strong, but it’s not wholly unreasonable as a description of what is happening. Keir Starmer announced a national grooming gangs inquiry in June (having previously opposed the idea). Any inquiry like this will only be worth doing if it commands the trust of survivors. The government has not chosen a chair yet, or agreed terms of reference. But it has an oversight panel including around 30 survivors, and over the last three days at least three of them have resigned, complaining about the likely candidates for chair, suggestions that the inquiry will be extended to cover other child abuse, not just grooming gangs, and concerns about the ethnicity of offenders being downplayed. One of two reported candidates for the chair’s post has now pulled out, leaving Jim Gamble, a former police officer and former head the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command centre as the only person being tipped for the top job. This is problematic because some survivors are opposed to someone with a police background having that role, and the Conservatives are calling for a judge to be put in charge.
To compound the problem, Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, told MPs yesterday that claims that the scope of the inquiry might be widened were false. She said:
We are progressing as swiftly as thoroughness allows. Misinformation undermines this process. Allegations of intentional delay, lack of interest and a widening or dilution of the inquiry’s scope are false.
Fiona Goddard, one of the survivors who has left the oversight panel, last night accused Phillips of lying and said she should resign.
All this would be awkward on any day. But it’s PMQs, which means Keir Starmer will be facing Kemi Badenoch, who is personally invested in the grooming gangs story and who believes Starmer only ordered a national inquiry because of Tory pressure on this issue at the start of the year.
And that is where Mahmood comes in. In an article for the Times, she promises that the inquiry will “never be watered down on my watch”. She says:
It was with a heavy heart, in recent days, I learnt that some members have decided to step away from the group. Should they wish to return, the door will always remain open to them. But even if they do not, I owe it to them — and the country — to answer some of the concerns that they have raised.
Firstly, this inquiry is not, and will never be, watered down on my watch. Its scope will not change, and nor will its intent. It will be robust and rigorous. It will direct and oversee local investigations, with the power to compel witnesses and summon evidence.
Secondly, this inquiry will focus on grooming gangs — and that will not change.
Thirdly, it will explicitly examine the ethnicity and religion of the offenders.
She has also written for GB News.
Will this close down the issue ahead of PMQs? Probably not. But, just as with “two-tier justice”, Mahmood has shrunk the space available for the Tories on an issue they thought they could own.
Here is the agenda for the day.
Noon: Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at PMQs.
After 12.30pm: Angela Rayner is due to make a personal statement to the Commons following her resignation as deputy PM. (According to Politico, it will be a defence of her record, not an attack on the government.)
Afternoon: Starmer hosts summit with leaders from the western Balkans to discuss dealing with illegal migraton.
If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (normally between 10am and 3pm BST at the moment), or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.
I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.
Key events
UK inflation unexpectedly remains at 3.8% for third month in a row
UK inflation was unchanged last month at 3.8%, confounding expectations of a rise, in welcome news for the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, as she plans for her crucial budget next month, Heather Stewart reports.
FDA attacks No 10 over briefing undermining Chris Wormald as cabinet secretary less than year after his appointment
Another topic that is likely to come up at PMQs today is a Times report saying that Chris Wormald, the cabinet secretary, who was only appointed in December last year, is expected to be replaced within months.
In July Rowena Mason, the Guardian’s Whitehall editor, revealed that Keir Starmer regretted appointing Wormald. “Multiple sources said some people around Starmer were growing to view the choice of Wormald as “disastrous” for the prospects of radical reform of the civil service and had begun to explore options for how to work around him,” Rowena wrote.
The Times story goes further, saying that Wormald is now expected to be replaced by Louise Casey within months. In their report, Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund say:
No 10 and Whitehall sources have told The Times that Sir Chris Wormald, the cabinet secretary, is unlikely to survive beyond January as concerns about his performance increase.
Sir Keir Starmer’s inner circle are concerned that the centre of government remains underpowered despite last month’s reorganisation of the prime minister’s Downing Street team.
Starmer’s ally, Baroness Casey of Blackstock, the civil service troubleshooter, is taking an increasingly prominent role and is tipped to replace Wormald.
The report also includes this quote from a “No 10 insider”.
Chris is a parody of every civil service stereotype. He is given clear instructions on an issue and says we will be able to deliver it only after we’ve commissioned a wide-reaching review that reports sometime in the mid-2080s.
Casey has been the go-to choice for prime ministers looking for a no-nonsense, results-focused civil servant problem solver since Tony Blair was in office. Starmer has already asked her to do a grooming gangs audit and to lead a cross-party inquiry into adult social care, which presumably will need a new chair if Casey takes the No 10 job in the new year.
(Presumbly there are at least a few other brilliant fixers in the top ranks of the civil service who could take on some of these jobs. But, given how often No 10 turns to Casey, you could be forgiven for wondering.)
Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA, the union that represents top civil servants like Wormald, has condemned the briefing against the cabinet secretary. He said:
This is quite the strategy from No. 10. Undermine the Cabinet Secretary you appointed less than 12 months ago and reshuffle the two main ministers with responsibility for the civil service. I can see why you think lack of delivery is everybody else’s fault.
Grooming gangs inquiry will never be watered down, home secretary says, after survivors resign from panel
Good morning. One of the reasons why Shabana Mahmood was appointed home secretary was because, as justice secretary, when the Tories came at her with a “two-tier justice” attack line that was being enthusiastically embraced by the rightwing media, she saw them off swiftly and effectively (essentially, by coopting the argument and responding). Today she is performing a similar rebuttal operation on the grooming gangs inquiry, which is another area where the Daily Mail/GB News etc are on the warpath and the government is floundering.
Here is the Mail’s splash.
‘Chaos’ might be a bit strong, but it’s not wholly unreasonable as a description of what is happening. Keir Starmer announced a national grooming gangs inquiry in June (having previously opposed the idea). Any inquiry like this will only be worth doing if it commands the trust of survivors. The government has not chosen a chair yet, or agreed terms of reference. But it has an oversight panel including around 30 survivors, and over the last three days at least three of them have resigned, complaining about the likely candidates for chair, suggestions that the inquiry will be extended to cover other child abuse, not just grooming gangs, and concerns about the ethnicity of offenders being downplayed. One of two reported candidates for the chair’s post has now pulled out, leaving Jim Gamble, a former police officer and former head the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command centre as the only person being tipped for the top job. This is problematic because some survivors are opposed to someone with a police background having that role, and the Conservatives are calling for a judge to be put in charge.
To compound the problem, Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, told MPs yesterday that claims that the scope of the inquiry might be widened were false. She said:
We are progressing as swiftly as thoroughness allows. Misinformation undermines this process. Allegations of intentional delay, lack of interest and a widening or dilution of the inquiry’s scope are false.
Fiona Goddard, one of the survivors who has left the oversight panel, last night accused Phillips of lying and said she should resign.
All this would be awkward on any day. But it’s PMQs, which means Keir Starmer will be facing Kemi Badenoch, who is personally invested in the grooming gangs story and who believes Starmer only ordered a national inquiry because of Tory pressure on this issue at the start of the year.
And that is where Mahmood comes in. In an article for the Times, she promises that the inquiry will “never be watered down on my watch”. She says:
It was with a heavy heart, in recent days, I learnt that some members have decided to step away from the group. Should they wish to return, the door will always remain open to them. But even if they do not, I owe it to them — and the country — to answer some of the concerns that they have raised.
Firstly, this inquiry is not, and will never be, watered down on my watch. Its scope will not change, and nor will its intent. It will be robust and rigorous. It will direct and oversee local investigations, with the power to compel witnesses and summon evidence.
Secondly, this inquiry will focus on grooming gangs — and that will not change.
Thirdly, it will explicitly examine the ethnicity and religion of the offenders.
She has also written for GB News.
Will this close down the issue ahead of PMQs? Probably not. But, just as with “two-tier justice”, Mahmood has shrunk the space available for the Tories on an issue they thought they could own.
Here is the agenda for the day.
Noon: Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at PMQs.
After 12.30pm: Angela Rayner is due to make a personal statement to the Commons following her resignation as deputy PM. (According to Politico, it will be a defence of her record, not an attack on the government.)
Afternoon: Starmer hosts summit with leaders from the western Balkans to discuss dealing with illegal migraton.
If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (normally between 10am and 3pm BST at the moment), or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.
I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.
