Why I resigned from the national grooming gang inquiry

This week I resigned from the Victims/Survivor Liaison Panel of the National Inquiry into Grooming Gangs. Victims have been fighting for an inquiry for a long time. Previous governments did not commit to a national inquiry. It’s not something Labour pushed for in opposition. As a topic, grooming gangs did not feature in any political party’s 2024 manifesto. The current government even managed to fob off a national inquiry in January and compromise on a series of local inquiries despite mounting public pressure. When it was finally announced, after undeniable supporting evidence from Baroness Casey in June, that survivors would be getting the national inquiry into the gangs that they deserve, I was optimistic. Shortly after, when I was chosen to sit on the inquiry’s Victims/Survivor Liaison