A second candidate to chair the grooming gang inquiry has pulled out, after four women quit the panel of survivors that is meant to be at the heart of it.
Former police deputy chief Jim Gamble, a child abuse expert who headed up the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) command, has withdrawn.
The move comes as Sir Keir Starmer was forced to defend the inquiry’s progress at Prime Minister’s Questions, as he was challenged over survivors’ concerns the inquiry is being diluted and that their voices are being silenced.
However, two more survivors, Samantha Walker-Roberts and Carly, have told the BBC they will stay on the panel and disagree with those who have quit.
The fourth survivor to quit the panel Jess, which is not her real name, joins Fiona Goddard, Ellie Reynolds and Elizabeth, also not her real name, in standing down from the survivors’ panel.
At PMQs, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch quoted the outgoing survivors’ concerns, telling Sir Keir they believe the inquiry would “downplay the racial and religious motivations behind their abuse” and asked “aren’t the victims right when they call it a cover-up?”
Sir Keir said “survivors have been ignored for many years” by the state and he wanted the inquiry to change that, adding “injustice will have no place to hide” and that Dame Louise Casey – whose report recommended a statutory inquiry – will now be working with it.
He invited those that have quit the inquiry to re-join, but added that whether they did or not “we owe it to them” to answer their concerns.
“The inquiry is not and will never be watered down. Its scope will not change. It will examine the ethnicity and religion of the offenders and we will find the right person to chair the inquiry,” he told MPs.
Badenoch went on to accuse the government of waging a “briefing war against survivors” and called for Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips to be sacked.
She said: “Yesterday, the safeguarding minister said Elizabeth was wrong. Who should we believe? The prime minister’s safeguarding minister or Elizabeth?”
Sir Keir responded: “What we’re trying to do is get this right and have an inquiry with survivors at the heart.”
He said it was not an easy process, as “they’ve all come with difficult experiences, with a wide range of views, and every survivor does bring their own painful experience to this” but he added: “I want to press on and get this right.”
The national inquiry into grooming gangs was announced by Sir Keir in June, with powers to compel witnesses and a panel of survivors set up to oversee the process.
The terms of the inquiry are still being worked out but the government says it is close to selecting someone to chair it, and has claimed there are people with legal backgrounds who are still interested.
However, Mr Gamble, who is the only other candidate to have been identified publicly, has now withdrawn his nomination, having met survivors on Tuesday.
Another potential chair, Annie Hudson, withdrew her nomination earlier this week when fears were raised that her social worker background could be a conflict of interest.
A Home Office spokesperson blamed the intensity around the process for the pair pulling out and added: “This is an extremely sensitive topic, and we have to take the time to appoint the best person suitable for the role.”
There are thought to be two panels and about 20 survivors involved in total.
Ms Goddard and Ms Reynolds quit the panels on Monday, followed by Elizabeth on Tuesday and now Jess, not her real name, who was raped between the ages of 12-17 in Kirklees, West Yorkshire.
Jess said she was “deeply shocked” when she learned two of the candidates for chair had links to the police or social services, asking “how can we expect truth and accountability when those overseeing the process are connected to the systems that enabled the cover-up?”
She detailed how police dismissed her as a “child prostitute” when she first approached them, how she waited 20 years for justice, and how she was unhappy that officials were “steering the process” toward wider issues of child sexual abuse and exploitation.
“While all forms of child abuse are abhorrent and deserve their own dedicated inquiry, this particular inquiry was meant to focus on grooming gangs,” she said.
“That issue alone is vast, deeply-rooted, and has been covered up not just for years, but for decades. It deserves to stand alone and be addressed with the seriousness it warrants.”
Another survivor, Elizabeth, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We don’t want it widening. We want it to be on grooming gangs – we want our voice.”
Watch: PM says grooming gangs inquiry will examine “ethnicity and religion of offenders”
The BBC has now spoken to two more survivors who are sticking with the panels and have criticised those who have quit.
Samantha Walker-Roberts, from Oldham, wants the scope of the inquiry to include victims of other types of sexual abuse, so they are not “silenced”.
She was the victim of a grooming gang when she was 12 – but she was also raped and abused by a man who groomed her online, and as a younger child she was raped and abused by older men who she met through friends.
Ms Walker-Roberts told the BBC: “This is a one-of-a-kind type of inquiry where survivors are in control and it’s wrong that certain survivors get special treatment to be part of this.
“It’s wrong certain survivors can’t see past their own trauma because everyone deserves to be part of this and deserves justice… Survivors like us need to be part of this, so the scope needs to be widened otherwise we’re going be silenced.”
She added she had no problem with a chair who had a background in policing or social work, as this had been “proven” to work with previous review chairs, where “one was former cop, one was former social worker.”
Another supporter of the inquiry is Carly, from Huddersfield, who said she believes “the most effective way to drive meaningful change is from within” and remains “hopeful” the concerns raised by others “will lead to constructive improvements”.
“I’m calling on the government to remember that they are dealing with real people who have suffered horrendous abuse,” she said.
“Survivors should be at the centre of this inquiry, and political debates must be left at the door.”
Watch: Abuse survivor Ellie Reynolds says a judge should lead grooming gangs inquiry
