Overview
- Four survivors say they will not participate unless minister Jess Phillips resigns, alleging delays and dilution of the probe’s scope; Phillips denies this and retains the prime minister’s backing.
- Social worker Annie Hudson and former deputy police chief Jim Gamble withdraw from leading the inquiry, citing politicisation and a lack of victim confidence.
- Keir Starmer tasks Louise Casey with identifying a new chair and pledges the inquiry will not dilute scrutiny of ethnicity or religion in offenders’ profiles.
- The inquiry is designed to examine whether police and state agencies failed victims, including whether fear of racism accusations or prejudices against the girls hindered action.
- Past prosecutions have yielded more than 100 convictions, with reporting of over a thousand identified victims and some estimates reaching several thousand.