Two survivors of child sexual exploitation have resigned from the government’s national inquiry into grooming gangs, accusing ministers of mishandling the process and sidelining victims’ voices.
Fiona Goddard and Ellie Reynolds quit the Victims and Survivors Liaison Panel on Monday, raising alarm over the inquiry’s direction and the government’s choice of potential chairs.
In resignation letters, both women said they believed the process was being undermined, with Ms Reynolds warning it had become “less about the truth and more about a cover-up”.
The pair objected to the two shortlisted candidates, reportedly a former police chief and a social worker, arguing that appointing figures from institutions accused of past failings posed a “disturbing conflict of interest”.
They said only an independent judge would be truly impartial.
Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips rejected allegations of a cover-up, insisting the government remained “committed to exposing the failures” surrounding grooming gangs in England and Wales.
In a letter to MPs, Phillips said survivors would “remain at the heart of the process and that a chair would be confirmed very shortly”.
Ms Goddard and Ms Reynolds described a toxic atmosphere behind the scenes, claiming survivors were silenced, gaslit and tightly controlled during meetings.
They said panel members were restricted to submitting just two pre-approved questions for candidates and barred from discussing them with one another.
The two women also accused officials of trying to widen the inquiry’s remit to general child sexual abuse, which they argued would dilute the focus on organised grooming gangs and downplay what they see as racial and religious motivations in their own cases.
Phillips denied the scope was being watered down, saying reports of dilution were untrue and that the inquiry would remain laser-focused on grooming gangs.
The Conservatives have urged the government to appoint a senior judge to restore confidence. Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said the resignations cast a real shadow over the process, adding that victims “are being badly let down”.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced the inquiry in June, but a chair has not yet been appointed.
