The Labour government has cancelled five planned local inquiries into grooming gangs, redirecting the £5 million initially allocated for the investigations to what officials describe as “locally-led work” shaped by feedback from local authorities.
The move comes more than three months after the Home Secretary announced the inquiries, intended to examine how grooming gangs were able to operate across various towns for years without effective intervention from local institutions. The cancellation has sparked criticism from opposition MPs, including Conservative MP Katie Lam, who has previously advocated for a national inquiry.
“In January, the Home Secretary said the government would conduct five local inquiries into the rape gangs which have terrorized so many innocent children,” Lam told Parliament. “Over three months since the government announced these local inquiries, Tom Crowther KC, a barrister invited by the Home Office to help establish them, knows almost nothing about their progress — and neither do we.”
Lam questioned why the inquiries are now being directed by government ministers rather than independent figures: “Why is the framework for local inquiries now being led by ministers rather than by independent voices such as Tom Crowther?”
She also raised concerns over the new funding model: “Why is the £5,000,000 set aside for inquiries no longer being allocated but instead delivered on an opt-in basis?”
Citing specific failures by local authorities, Lam highlighted the case of a 14-year-old girl in Bradford who reported being raped multiple times, only to later be married to her abuser in a traditional Islamic ceremony, with her social worker in attendance. She was then placed into foster care with her abuser’s parents.
“The girls we are talking about are predominantly white. The men who preyed on them were predominantly Muslim, generally either from Pakistan or of Pakistani heritage,” Lam said. “One of the victims in Redeisbury was told by her rapist, ‘We’re here to f*** all the white girls and f*** the government.’”
"The girls are predominantly white. The men who preyed on them, predominantly Muslim; from Pakistan, or of Pakistani heritage.
— Connor Tomlinson (@Con_Tomlinson) April 8, 2025
"Will the Minister accept these crimes are racially and religiously aggravated?"
Courageous from @Katie_Lam_MP Parliament today.pic.twitter.com/hDQwhj1cAt
Lam pressed ministers to acknowledge that in many cases, the crimes may have been “racially and religiously aggravated,” and questioned how a proper understanding of the motivations could be reached without a national inquiry.
She also pointed to the lack of accountability for public officials involved in institutional failures, referencing the case of the ringleader of the Rochdale grooming gang, who was employed by Oldham Council. “Yet not one person has been convicted for covering up these institutionalized rapes,” she said.
Lam called for the establishment of a dedicated National Crime Agency unit to investigate public officials, including police officers. She cited a case in Rotherham where a father was arrested by police while trying to rescue his daughter from her abusers, who continued their assaults on the same night.
“It is clear these criminals were unafraid of law enforcement,” Lam said.
She concluded by reading from a sentencing hearing in Oxford, where a judge described the brutal abuse of a 13-year-old girl, including gang rape and physical torture.
“This is not about me. It is not about the minister or the Home Secretary or any of us in this chamber. It is about them — little girls up and down our country whose brutal and repeated rapes were permitted and hidden by those in the British state whose job was to protect them,” Lam said. “The British people deserve to know the truth.”
Nigel Farage, leader of Reformed UK, condemned the government’s handling of grooming gangs, calling its recent actions “disgraceful and cowardly.”
“More individuals have been imprisoned for rioting in Rotherham following the murders of three young girls in Southport than have ever been jailed for their roles in the systematic abuse of young girls,” he said. “We’re talking about over a thousand suspects—yet only 42 have faced imprisonment.”
Farage accused the Labour Party of pandering “because it’s running scared of the extremist Muslim vote in our inner cities,” and noted that Britain now has a two-tiered justice system.
“If White people behave badly, they’re in prison. If White people actually put out really offensive posts on Facebook, they finish up in prison. This is two-tiered Britain. Different groups of people being treated differently according to their own ethnic and racial background.”
“It is disgusting beyond belief,” he added.
Today this government committed a disgraceful and cowardly act.
— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) April 8, 2025
Labour are running scared of the extremist Muslim vote in our inner cities.
Perhaps a judicial review is now the way to deal with the mass rape gang scandal.
pic.twitter.com/F7fNYZEWVq
