Government grooming gangs national inquiry in disarray after second potential chair withdraws after four survivors resigned from panel amid claims of being 'silenced' and 'cover up of cover up'

A SECOND candidate to chair the Government's national statutory inquiry into grooming gangs has pulled out of the running blaming "political point scoring."

Former senior police officer Jim Gamble, who later led the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) police command, withdrew after senior social worker Annie Hudson pulled out of the race to chair the inquiry, citing "media pressure" on Tuesday and four survivors resigned from a liaison panel.

There had been criticism that neither a former police officer or social worker should lead the inquiry due to failings in tackling grooming gangs from both professions.

Mr Gamble, a former Northern Irish police officer, said "vested interests... political opportunism and point-scoring" had created a "highly charged and toxic environment".

He said the inquiry needed a chair trusted by victims and while the "majority" of those on the panel supported him, it was "clear that a lack of confidence due to my previous occupation exists among some".

In a statement he said he had "hoped that my track record of fierce independence" would have "enabled me to proceed and hold the organisations and individuals who failed these young people to account whilst driving real change".

The inquiry was announced by Prime Minister Sir Keir in June after a damning report on failures in investigating grooming gangs by Baroness Casey.

Today, October 22 2025, Sir Keir Starmer tried to defend the progress of the inquiry during was forced to defend the inquiry's progress at Prime Minister's Question Time, after developments over two days.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch had earlier said the survivors who resigned believe the inquiry would "downplay the racial and religious motivations behind their abuse" and asked "aren't the victims right when they call it a cover-up?"

She accused the government of waging a "briefing war against survivors" and called for Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips to be sacked.

Starmer defended the inquiry saying "survivors have been ignored for many years" and that he wanted the inquiry to change that, adding "injustice will have no place to hide"

He said: "The inquiry is not and will never be watered down. Its scope will not change. It will examine the ethnicity and religion of the offenders and we will find the right person to chair the inquiry."

Two of the survivors of grooming gangs resigned from a liaison panel set up to support the planned national statutory inquiry on Tueaday after two others pulled out on Monday.

Rotherham survivor Elizabeth Harper said in a resignation letter on Tuesday that she was "deeply concerned" that there still "wasn't a genuine understanding of the grooming scandal".

She said: "What is happening now feels like a cover up of a cover up.

"I have seen selective narratives being promoted - ones that appear to serve particular agendas, especially around issues of rape and the narrative of 'widening the scope'. This approach risks distorting the realities of what happened and, once again, marginalising the survivors whose voices should be at the very centre of this work."

Then a fourth survivor, who has not waived their anonymity, followed suit, taking the number to four.

On Monday, October 20 2025, fellow survivors Fiona Goddard and Ellie-Ann Reynolds, who have also courageously waived their anonymities, resigned from the inquiry's victims and survivors liaison panel, over claims of secrecy and being silenced.

Ms Goddard, (above right bottom) a survivor of Bradford grooming gangs, posted her resignation letter on X.

Her letter said  "secretive conduct and conditions imposed on survivors" on the Victims/Survivor Liaison Panel had led to a "toxic, fearful environment".

She also said there was "a high risk of people feeling silenced all over again."

Ms Goddard, who was failed by police and social services after she was abused by gangs of men while living in "care," said the leaking of the names of the potential chairs of the inquiry had been the last straw after having concerns for some time and the process should have been open and public.

She was followed by Ellie-Ann Reynolds (above right top), a survivor of grooming gangs in Barrow-in-Furness, who also posted a resignation letter on X.

She wrote: "I have also made the decision to resign with immediate effect. The final turning point for me was the push to widen the remit of the National Inquiry in ways that downplay the racial and religious motivations behind our abuse."

Her damning letter lambasted the fact two of the potential chairs were a former police officer and a former social worker and said survivors had been kept in the dark.

She wrote: "The Home Office held meetings we weren't told about, made decisions we couldn't question and withheld information that directly affected our work. When I asked for clarity I was treated with contempt and ignored. I watched on as it became less about truth and more about a cover up."

It has also emerged that senior social worker Annie Hudson has pulled out of the race to chair the inquiry, citing "media pressure."

It followed criticism that people stemming from the police or social care should not lead the inquiry.

Today, Jess Phillips (above left), Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girl, who is responsible for arranging the inquiry, appeared to meltdown in Parliament as she denied any cover up and appeared to accuse survivors of spreading misinformation.

In a letter, dated October 20 2025, Ms Phillips, wrote to MPs on the Home Affairs Select Committee, denying there was any cover up in connection with the inquiry process, but she made no mention of the two resignations. 

She wrote: "There remains considerable public interest and interest from colleagues across the House in the progress we are making to deliver the commitment to establish a statutory national inquiry into these issues. 

"Baroness Casey’s report chronicled more than a decade of inaction in tackling these appalling crimes, and this Government is absolutely committed to exposing the failures that have happened across the country, and making sure that it can never happen again.

The statutory national inquiry is at the heart of our response. 

"In my update of 2 September, I was clear that the appointment of an inquiry chair was ongoing. That remains the case, and we hope to be able to confirm the appointment of a chair very shortly."

She even applauded the way the government was engaging with survivors.

She added: "Colleagues from across the House have been clear that the inquiry must be victim-centred. In practice, that means making sure that victims and survivors have meaningful opportunities to contribute their views, in a trauma-informed and sensitive way, and it cannot be rushed. That is exactly the approach we are taking. We have been engaging victims and survivors from across the country on both the appointment of the

chair and on key aspects of the terms of reference.

"We are therefore proceeding as swiftly as thoroughness allows, and we will update the House as soon as we have appointed a chair to lead this vitally important inquiry, and who we are confident will earn the trust of those who have been let down so often by figures in positions of authority."

She also claimed "misinformation" was circling around plans for the inquiry 

She added: "It has been alleged that the time it is taking and the process being followed to appoint a chair is an indication of the government seeking to ‘cover up’, or failing to prioritise, the issue. As I have described, this could not be further from the truth. The process we are following to appoint a chair is the standard process for all such inquiries, and it is by no means exceptional for an inquiry to be announced a few months before a chair is appointed, with the UK COVID-19 and Infected Blood inquiries both taking seven months until a chair was appointed. 

"It has further been reported that no judicial candidates have been willing to take on the role; this too is categorically untrue.

"It has been reported that the government is seeking to dilute the focus of the inquiry, either by instructing it to take a regional approach to investigations or by expanding the scope beyond ‘grooming gangs’. This is also untrue. The conduct and procedure of the inquiry will be a matter for the chair, but the Terms of Reference will be clear that its scope will be laser-focused, as Baroness Casey recommended.

"It has also been reported that the area of Oldham may only be subject to a survivor disclosure mechanism akin to IICSA’s ‘Truth Project’, rather than having its own local inquiry or investigation by the national inquiry. This is absolutely untrue. We need to make sure that victims and survivors in Oldham, as elsewhere in the country, get the answers they deserve after they have campaigned for so long. We have been in discussions with

Oldham Council about the right approach for Oldham, and we also intend to consult the prospective chair of the national inquiry. We therefore intend to confirm the proposed approach for Oldham alongside further details about the national inquiry in due course. These conversations must be allowed to progress in good faith."

Tonight Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood insisted the inquiry would not be watered down "on her watch."

She added that it would be "robust and rigorous" and focus on grooming gangs.

She added: "And that will not change; it will examine the ethnicity and religion of offenders."

She said the "door is open" for survivors who have resigned to return.

Two other survivors, Samantha Walker-Roberts and one called Carly, told the BBC they will stay on the panel and disagreed with those who had resigned.