Keir Starmer U-turns: UK to launch full national inquiry into grooming gangs after Casey audit

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has confirmed that the United Kingdom will launch a full statutory national inquiry into grooming gangs, marking a significant policy reversal driven by public pressure, recent court verdicts, and institutional audit findings. The decision comes days after seven men were convicted in Rochdale for child sexual exploitation and after an audit led by Baroness Louise Casey found that white British girls had been “institutionally ignored” due to fears of being perceived as racist.

Speaking from Canada en route to the G7 summit on June 14, 2025, Starmer said he had personally reviewed the Casey report in full and accepted the recommendation for a national statutory inquiry. He stated that the inquiry would be structured “in an orderly way,” signaling the use of the Inquiries Act to grant it the power to summon witnesses, compel documents, and operate independently across police and council jurisdictions.

How will the statutory national inquiry address decades of grooming gang abuse across the UK and institutional neglect?

The new inquiry will examine systemic failures that allowed grooming gangs—many composed of men of Pakistani heritage—to exploit vulnerable white British girls in towns like Rochdale, Rotherham, and Telford. It will include testimony from law enforcement, local authorities, survivor networks, and legal professionals to determine how warning signs were repeatedly missed or downplayed. According to the Casey audit, institutional reluctance to act stemmed from internal concerns about inflaming racial tensions and the reputational risk to public bodies. The inquiry’s scope is expected to go beyond individual prosecutions to reveal deep-rooted patterns of cultural bias, misjudgment, and safeguarding breakdowns.

What triggered the recent convictions in Rochdale and how did they fuel demands for national action?

On June 13, 2025, a jury at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court convicted seven men for sexually abusing two teenage girls in Rochdale between 2001 and 2006. The victims, known in court as Girl A and Girl B, were both under local authority care when the abuse occurred. The verdict followed Greater Manchester Police’s Operation Lytton—a long-running investigation launched in 2015 to re-examine previous child exploitation reports in the region. Prosecutors stated that the girls were “passed around for sex, abused, degraded and then discarded,” with one victim labeled a “prostitute” as young as ten years old.

The trial revealed that multiple complaints had been raised by care workers and social workers over the years, yet no meaningful protective action was taken. This high-profile case revived national attention on earlier scandals and exposed the persistence of institutional inertia nearly a decade after similar findings in the Rotherham report.

Why did Keir Starmer initially hesitate and what changed his stance on the inquiry?

Starmer’s government had previously resisted calls for a national inquiry, opting instead for a £10 million initiative to fund five separate local inquiries. That approach, announced in late 2024, was heavily criticized by survivors, advocacy groups, and opposition MPs as fragmented and inadequate. The tipping point came with Baroness Casey’s audit report and growing political pressure—including from billionaire Elon Musk, who accused Starmer of failing to act on grooming intelligence during his time as Director of Public Prosecutions.

Though Starmer rejected Musk’s comments as politically motivated, he acknowledged the weight of institutional evidence presented by Casey. The audit concluded that systemic failures were ongoing and could not be addressed in a piecemeal manner. Starmer’s endorsement of a full statutory inquiry now aligns with recommendations that had been gaining momentum in Parliament over the past year.

Which political figures pushed for the inquiry, and how are they framing the issue?

Senior Conservative MPs had long demanded a statutory inquiry, warning that anything less would fail survivors and the public. Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative opposition, argued that survivors deserved answers “now, not in ten years.” Reform UK leader Nigel Farage also voiced support, insisting that the inquiry must be independent and shielded from political agendas. On the Labour side, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper was reportedly instrumental in commissioning the audit and preparing the inquiry framework.

While Starmer insisted that Crown Prosecution Service data showed record levels of child sexual abuse convictions during his tenure, critics have continued to frame the issue as one of delayed justice. The new inquiry is expected to become a flashpoint in UK domestic politics as it unfolds under a newly realigned bipartisan consensus.

What will the inquiry examine in terms of police and local authority performance?

The statutory inquiry will investigate how law enforcement and child protection services responded—or failed to respond—to repeated abuse reports. In Rochdale, officers treated victims as willing participants rather than children at risk, a pattern also documented in Rotherham, Telford, Oxford, and Newcastle. The Casey audit highlighted the chilling impact of perceived political correctness, noting that some officers and social workers were afraid to act in grooming cases involving South Asian men, fearing accusations of racism.

The inquiry will review how training, cultural attitudes, risk assessments, and leadership decisions affected outcomes in cases where children could have been protected earlier. It is expected to result in policy recommendations that redefine institutional accountability in child safeguarding.

What legal authority does a statutory inquiry hold compared to previous efforts?

Unlike the local inquiries funded by the Home Office, which lacked legal teeth, a statutory inquiry under the Inquiries Act grants significant powers. These include subpoena authority, the ability to compel testimony, and access to protected internal documents. It will also require full cooperation from police forces, councils, and other public agencies. Survivors’ groups have welcomed this structure, arguing that only a national inquiry with such legal authority can fully uncover the breadth and depth of failures that spanned decades.

How are survivors and the public responding to the inquiry announcement and recent court verdicts?

The conviction of the Rochdale gang has been received as a long-awaited form of justice for the victims and their advocates. Survivor groups such as Voice4Victims and the Independent Inquiry Support Network expressed relief that the national inquiry will proceed, but stressed that reforms must prioritize survivors’ lived experiences. Many described feeling abandoned for years by systems meant to protect them and emphasized the need for trauma-informed policing, culturally sensitive outreach, and independent safeguarding audits.

Public response across affected communities has been marked by anger, vindication, and a desire to see meaningful change. However, critics have also warned against racial profiling and the dangers of politicizing child exploitation for electoral purposes, arguing that systemic misogyny, not just cultural origin, must be addressed.

What are the next steps and what outcomes are expected from the inquiry process?

The Home Office is now tasked with formally launching the inquiry’s mandate, terms of reference, and chair appointment. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is expected to present Baroness Casey’s audit in Parliament and outline the government’s plan for the inquiry’s funding and operational structure. In parallel, the seven Rochdale men await sentencing, while Greater Manchester Police continues pursuing additional suspects under Operation Lytton.

The inquiry is expected to take several years but will operate under public scrutiny from day one. It is likely to result in new statutory protections, revised CPS frameworks, mandatory audits of council child services, and potential restructuring of law enforcement protocols on child sexual exploitation cases.