Only a statutory inquiry will reveal the truth about the grooming gangs

The Home Secretary’s Commons statement on January 16 exposed her own, the Prime Minister’s and the Government’s failure to deal with the scale of the grooming scandal. Refusing to hold a full national inquiry under the 2005 Inquiries Act is in itself a scandal. The world has been shocked by the extent of the grooming gangs’ abuse of young people and children, and the national interest demands a full national inquiry.

The Government is ducking this for fear of losing votes in affected locations.

I have worked for many years to strengthen the protection of children. In 1977, I was the legal adviser on the Private Members’ Bill of the late Cyril Townsend MP, which became the Protection of Children Act 1978, and recently I worked with Miriam Cates in ensuring imprisonment for big-tech bosses failing to safeguard children through the Online Safety Act 2023.

In November 2014, I successfully called on the home secretary, Theresa May, to invoke a national statutory inquiry under the 2005 Inquiries Act into the Rotherham scandal, rather than the mere panel inquiry originally proposed.

Under the 2005 Act, powers were given to the appointed chairmen of such inquiries to direct procedure, including avoiding unnecessary costs, and also power to require witnesses to attend and produce necessary documents.

Under that Act, specific rules of procedure may even be made by the Lord Chancellor when, as in the present case, they become necessary. This could be invoked to achieve a more limited time frame, which itself would reduce costs.

As a Staffordshire MP, I successfully called for the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust statutory inquiry to be invoked under the 2005 Inquiries Act. This, as with the Protection of Children Act 1978, initially faced massive opposition by the Labour governments at the time. I persuaded David Cameron as leader of the opposition to back my call, and the statutory inquiry under Sir Robert Francis received public acclaim.

The current scandal is now believed to extend to as many as 50 towns, while the Government is announcing only five local inquiries. This would merely scratch the surface of this endemic national problem.

In the light of the Government’s failure to announce the necessary action on January 16, I strongly urge the relevant Select Committees to join up with the Home Affairs Committee, which is leading on this, and to maximise expertise to produce a joint report and hold the Government to account. Such a joint inquiry could include the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee and the Justice Committee.

In combination, and with the procedural powers of the Lord Chancellor, this would greatly assist in dealing with all the concerns within a comprehensive, statutory inquiry under the 2005 Act.

In turn, this would satisfy the grave national concern as indicated in the current polling, and would provide a framework meeting the challenge of the national disaster which is now so clearly apparent. We should hold a national inquiry, rather than the piecemeal local inquiries that cannot perform the task comprehensively.

Furthermore, clear and unambiguous legislation is needed, with mandatory life sentences and deportation, overriding in the national interest inappropriate human rights and equalities legislation, thereby putting the victims first.

Those who have covered up should be charged with misconduct in public office.

Sir William Cash served as a Tory MP for 40 years, first for Stafford and then for Stone