A candidate to lead the grooming gangs inquiry has pulled out as Labour’s scheme ‘descends into chaos’.
The departure of senior social worker Annie Hudson comes after three victims of child sexual abuse resigned from a liaison committee attached to the inquiry, citing a ‘toxic, fearful environment’.
The Daily Mail understands there are several candidates left in the race for the job, including former senior police officer Jim Gamble.
It is not known why Ms Hudson has withdrawn her application to be chair of the inquiry.
But it comes a day after abuse survivors Fiona Goddard and Ellie-Ann Reynolds resigned from the inquiry’s victims and survivors liaison panel, levelling heavy criticism at the Home Office.
Today it emerged a third woman, named only as ‘Elizabeth’ due to anonymity rules applied to sex abuse victims, also said she would no longer take part.
In her resignation letter, Elizabeth said the process felt like ‘a cover-up’ and had ‘created a toxic environment’ for survivors.
Previously Ms Goddard said the process so far had involved ‘secretive conduct’ with instances of ‘condescending and controlling language’ used towards survivors.
In her resignation letter she also cited a ‘toxic, fearful environment’ and a ‘high risk of people feeling silenced all over again’.
Ms Reynolds said the ‘final turning point’ which prompted her resignation was ‘the push to change the remit, to widen it in ways that downplay the racial and religious motivations behind our abuse’.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said the inquiry into grooming gangs was ‘descending into chaos’ and repeated his call for a judge to be brought in to chair the process.
Former senior social worker Annie Hudson is understood to have pulled out of the selection process for a chairman of the Government’s grooming gangs inquiry
Bradford grooming gang abuse victim Fiona Goddard has resigned from a panel attached to a national inquiry into the scandal – accusing the Home Office of watering it down
Mr Philp said the Government had been ‘forced’ into announcing the inquiry amid allegations that abuse by mainly Pakistani grooming gangs was covered up by local authorities, and that officials including police had failed to act.
He told MPs: ‘Perhaps that is why, months later, the Government has said nothing substantive publicly and their inquiry is descending into chaos.
‘What we have heard publicly is that victims and survivors on the liaison panel have no confidence in the Government and no confidence in the inquiry.’
He said a liaison officer with the inquiry, Sabah Kaiser, should have no further role after saying that the majority of perpetrators were of Pakistani heritage was ‘destructive’.
‘Victims and survivors have also questioned the suitability of former police officers or social workers to chair the inquiry,’ Mr Philp said in the Commons.
‘They do not believe people from professions that failed them so badly are suitable.
‘So will the minister accept this feedback and appoint a judge to lead the inquiry?
‘Will the minister confirm the scope of this inquiry will not be diluted as both Fiona (Goddard) and Ellie-Ann (Reynolds) are now saying is happening, and confirm it will focus on the cover-up of the rape gang scandal, because the majority of perpetrators were of Pakistani origin.’
Responding to Mr Philp’s urgent question in the Commons, safeguarding minister Jess Phillips said: ‘Not all victims and survivors are of the same opinion.
‘They are not one homogenous group of people, who all think the same thing, who all want the same exposure, who all want their identities known.’
She added: ‘The appointment of the chair is at a critical stage, and we hope to confirm the conclusion of this soon.’
Ms Phillips said she ‘absolutely regrets’ the two survivors had quit their roles.
The minister added: ‘I will engage with all the victims, regardless of their opinions, and I will listen to those that have been put in the media, that are put in panels, I will always listen and I will speak to all of them.
‘Allegations of intentional delay, lack of interest or widening of the inquiry scope and dilution are false.’
She added that ‘victims and survivors are meeting prospective chairs this week – today, in fact’.
Downing Street said the Government was working ‘flat out to get the right chair in place’, with survivors ‘absolutely at the heart of what we’re doing’.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman denied the inquiry was in crisis, telling reporters: ‘No. The grooming gangs scandal, as we’ve said before, was one of the greatest failures in our country’s history. Vulnerable young people let down time and time again.
‘We are working with victims from across the country, listening to their individual experiences, to finally get justice.
‘And whilst we all want to get on with setting up the inquiry, our priority is getting it right.
‘I’d point you back to the original child sexual abuse inquiry, which had three chairs withdraw before Professor Alexis Jay was appointed in 2016, two years after it started.
‘And we’re determined not to let victims down again.’
Asked about claims the inquiry’s remit could be widened from a focus on grooming gangs, the official said: ‘The terms of the inquiry will be established when we’ve appointed a chair.’
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘The abuse of children by grooming gangs is one of the most horrific crimes imaginable.
‘Any suggestion that this inquiry is being watered down is completely wrong – we are committed to delivering a robust, thorough inquiry that will get to the truth and provide the answers that survivors have so long campaigned for.’
