UK to hold inquiry into ‘grooming gangs’ that sexually abused thousands of girls
The scandal involving groups of mostly Pakistani men was thrust back into the spotlight after criticism from billionaire Elon Musk
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Saturday he would accept a recommendation for a national inquiry into grooming gangs who sexually abused thousands of girls, having previously resisted calls for a statutory review.
The scandal, which revealed how gangs of mostly Pakistani men had groomed, trafficked and raped young white girls more than a decade ago, returned to the political agenda this year after billionaire Elon Musk criticised the British government.
Interior minister Yvette Cooper in January asked Louise Casey, a former senior official, to undertake a “rapid audit” of the scale and nature of gang-based exploitation in Britain.
Casey’s report is expected to say that vulnerable white British girls were “institutionally ignored” by police and local authorities fearing being accused of racism, Sky News reported on Saturday.
“[Casey’s] position when she started the audit was that there was not a real need for a national inquiry, over and above what was going on,” Starmer told reporters en route to the G7 summit in Canada on Saturday.
“She has come to the view that there should be a national inquiry on the basis of what she has seen. I have read every single word of her report and I am going to accept her recommendation,” he added.
