MPs Demand Urgent Inquiry Into Child Abuse Claims on UK High Streets

Eight Conservative MPs and three London Assembly members signed a letter demanding "urgent action" from Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan after a BBC investigation exposed children being sexually exploited by organised gangs operating on British high streets. The MPs include shadow home secretary Chris Philp and former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith.

The BBC's findings were stark. The investigation revealed children as young as 11 being abused in West Midlands mini-marts, and exposed how vulnerable girls were being lured into forced sex by gangs in the capital, with survivors telling the BBC they had been raped by several men as payment for unpaid drug debts by the gangs that controlled them, while others said they had been groomed for sex.

The government's inquiry into grooming gangs "must look specifically at London as part of its local investigations," according to the group. The signatories are calling on the Metropolitan Police to "set up a specific unit to look at these cases and bring these disgusting grooming gangs to justice."

The Metropolitan Police pushed back against suggestions of inaction. A spokesperson said that such cases are already investigated by specialist officers with expertise in sexual offences and safeguarding, and that the local areas to be examined by the inquiry will be selected by the chair in due course, adding that "sexual and criminal abuse of children by gangs, whenever they occur, are among the most horrific crimes imaginable." As part of the national re-investigation recommended by Baroness Casey, the Met has a dedicated unit reviewing around 12,000 child sexual abuse and exploitation cases from a 15-year period, and is training over 11,000 frontline officers. About 2,000 child exploitation cases are reported to the Met every year.

Public attention on grooming gangs has historically centred on Rotherham and Rochdale, where high-profile cases involved groups of men, mainly of Pakistani descent, convicted of sexually abusing and raping predominantly young white girls. But the BBC's latest investigation revealed a more complex picture, with gangs from a range of ethnic backgrounds, including white, operating widely in London and frequently exploiting young women.

The inquiry itself had a turbulent path to establishment. Prime Minister Keir Starmer initially resisted calls for a new national inquiry, arguing it would delay justice for victims and that the ground had already been covered by the seven-year Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse led by Professor Alexis Jay. After a three-month audit by Baroness Louise Casey, and pressure from survivors and Elon Musk, the government launched a national statutory inquiry in June 2025. On 9 December 2025, Home Secretary Mahmood made a statement to Parliament formally announcing the Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs, with Baroness Anne Longfield as its chair, and draft terms of reference to be confirmed no later than March 2026.

Baroness Anne Longfield CBE was appointed to chair the inquiry as part of a three-person panel appointed under the Inquiries Act. Longfield works alongside Zoë Billingham CBE and Eleanor Kelly CBE as panellists, and will instigate local investigations in areas where serious failures are suspected, including Oldham. The final terms of reference are to be agreed with the Home Secretary and published by 31 March 2026, when the inquiry will be formally established.

In October 2025, the Home Office was forced to restart the process of appointing a chair after five women resigned from the victims liaison panel in protest over concerns about the inquiry's scope and engagement with survivors. The terms of reference now make clear that the inquiry will focus exclusively on grooming gangs, not other forms of sexual exploitation.

Former Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe credited Elon Musk with forcing the government's hand, writing on X that "none of this" would have happened without him: "No inquiry, no justice, nothing." Musk replied with a heart emoji. Chancellor Rachel Reeves, appearing on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, rejected the notion that the government had been dismissive: "We've never dismissed the concerns of victims. These are the most important people in those discussions."

The inquiry's final report is expected in March 2029. For the thousands of survivors who waited years to be believed, that deadline, and whether local investigations will finally reach London, will define whether the inquiry delivers on its promise.