In a screeching U-turn, Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced that there will be a nationwide inquiry into the crimes of so-called grooming gangs across scores of British cities.
While there is a danger that this latest development could ensnare justice under layers of delay and red tape—prompting more fears of a cover-up—its remit would allow the initiative, which became public on the night of Saturday, June 14th, to compel witnesses.
At present there is a steady trickle of convictions, predominantly of Pakistani-heritage men who posed as the ‘boyfriends’ of vulnerable white girls. The inquiry could look into the institutional failures of police, children’s homes, social workers, schools and local government, all of which made this possible.
The decision comes after months of pressure, from a growing lobby in the Labour Party (some of whom were previously derided as ‘racist’), Reform UK polling strongly, and crusading GB News reporter Charlie Peters, among others. Previous stalling and technocratic, toothless local ‘alternatives’ to a national inquiry were part of a wider pattern of official delay.
One such localised report headed by Baroness Louise Casey was promised in May 2025, but it failed to arrive on time. Starmer linked the latest announcement to having read an advanced draft, having previously dismissed calls for an investigation as “jumping on a far right bandwagon.”
I have read every single word of her report and I am going to accept her recommendation. That is the right thing to do on the basis of what she has put in her audit. I asked her to do that job to double check on this; she has done that job for me and having read her report … I shall now implement her recommendations.
Grimly, his policy flip-flop coincided with the conviction of a seven-strong gang in Rochdale, Lancashire, following years of abuse of two vulnerable girls.
