The long-overdue expansion of the national Grooming Gangs Inquiry to investigate child sexual abuse atrocities in Birmingham and Wales has been hailed as a vital step towards exposing a shameful history of political denial and indifference.
For decades, highly organised networks of sexual predators were allowed to flourish across the United Kingdom, destroying the lives of countless young people while authorities including police, councils and social workers inexplicably looked the other way.
Lawyer demands state failings be laid bare
Alan Collins, a nationally recognised solicitor and Partner in the Abuse Claims team at Bolt Burdon Kemp, brings more than 30 years of experience fighting for survivors of institutional horrors, including the Jimmy Savile scandal and the Haut de la Garenne investigation.
Speaking exclusively to the Express, he says the widening of the inquiry's scope is not just welcome, but absolutely essential for a true national reckoning.
The troubled inquiry announced on Wednesday that Birmingham and Wales would join London, Oldham, Bradford and Keighley as the first towns and cities it would focus on as it looks at areas of the country where serious failures have been identified in the response to child sexual exploitation by grooming gangs.
Survivors' voices must be heard
Mr Collins said: “The expansion is welcome news. We know that grooming gangs operated across the UK, and it is fundamental that the Inquiry understands how and why they were able to exist and flourish in so many towns and cities for so long. Only then can lessons be learnt to minimise the risk of such gangs continuing to exist.
“The grim reality is that many of the children preyed upon by these ruthless gangs were already known to local authorities as deeply vulnerable. Instead of protecting them, those in power abandoned them to their fate.
“Many victims were already known to be vulnerable to the authorities, yet the State failed them in the worst possible way.”
The legal expert is highly critical of people in positions of power such as London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan and former PM Sir Keir Starmer, who were allowed for “far too long” to make denials that organised sexual exploitation was widespread and claims that an inquiry was unnecessary.
He said: “It is a national scandal compounded by a toxic culture of institutional silence. As the Baroness Casey report highlighted—a landmark review which ultimately forced the Government’s hand to establish the Inquiry—this criminality was allowed to fester amidst complex issues of culture, race, and religion.
“For too long, there were denials that organised sexual exploitation was widespread and claims that an inquiry was unnecessary. Yet the numerous successful prosecutions of grooming gang members have shown that their existence was minimised, possibly through political expediency, denial, or a misplaced understanding of what was happening. This also reinforced a false narrative that survivors were to blame and that their supporters were politically motivated.
“Survivors will now have the opportunity to give their accounts and help expose the organised sexual exploitation that took place in their communities. They, and the country, need to understand why grooming gangs emerged and were able to abuse so many young people over the last 30 years.
“It is vital that survivors are heard so the Inquiry has the fullest possible picture, enabling it to draw thorough conclusions and make meaningful recommendations.”
For the victims whose voices were ignored for decades, this expanded inquiry must represent the end of the excuses - and the beginning of true accountability.
