The Victims’ Commission has been disbanded by the government, which had previously recommended a national inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Muslim child rape gangs and local authorities’ failure to protect at-risk girls from sexual exploitation.
According to a report, several former members of the Victims’ Commission disclosed that the organization was dissolved after the government appointed Labor peer Baroness Longfield to lead the national inquiry.
Fiona Goddard, a survivor of the grooming gang in Bradford, expressed to the publication that many survivors felt “betrayed and disrespected once more” by the decision to dismantle the commission.
“Survivors were told they had a voice, and then it was taken away,” she remarked. “For investigations to be effective, the input from survivors is crucial, but they need to be respected and genuinely heard.”
Another survivor, who also left the commission in October, commented, “I think the government established the commission to silence us all… It should have remained active until the investigation was finished.”
The Home Office maintained that the victim panels were meant to be temporary and asserted that Baroness Longfield would collaborate with survivors once the inquiry commenced.
Since its inception, the inquiry has been mired in controversy, particularly with Prime Minister Keir Starmer asserting that those supporting such inquiries were aligned with the “far-right bandwagon.”
Starmer, whose Labor party has been involved in allegations of covering up grooming abuse, even directed his own backbenchers to vote against demands for a national inquiry that would possess legal powers to compel witness statements.
However, amid increasing pressure from key figures like Brexit leader Nigel Farage and X owner Elon Musk, along with the release of the Casey report, Starmer eventually made a series of politically awkward reversals and initiated an inquiry in June.
Relations with victims have reportedly deteriorated since that point, as multiple Victims’ Commission members resigned in October, claiming the government was attempting to broaden the scope of the inquiry to encompass various forms of child sexual abuse rather than maintaining the focus on specifically Pakistani Muslim grooming gangs targeting working-class white girls.
Resigned members also criticized the government for wanting to have law enforcement and social workers oversee investigations, deeming it unacceptable given their previous roles in obscuring decades of sexual abuse due to concerns about political correctness or the fear of being labeled racist.
The anticipated duration of the government’s investigation is at least three years. Meanwhile, an independent inquiry led by MP Rupert Lowe has begun hearing evidence after securing £600,000 from public donations. At the start of this investigation, Mr. Lowe stated that the ultimate goal was to initiate a civil prosecution to seek justice for the victims.
Mr. Lowe identified the “savage Muslim men” responsible for the abuse as primarily culpable, but he pointed out that the situation was exacerbated by the “thousands” who were aware of the situation yet chose to remain silent.
“Many of those still hold high positions of power today,” he remarked.
“Investigations were delayed, while victims were told they were making choices about their lifestyles, allowing perpetrators to continue their abuse, all while the system safeguarded itself to avoid undermining this twisted multicultural experiment forced upon Britain,” Mr. Lowe concluded.
