An exclusive investigation by GB News has identified 50 towns and cities where child exploitation gangs have operated, revealing that the scale of the abuse is far greater than official reports have suggested.
The bombshell revelation comes after the Government formally rejected repeated requests for a Home Office-led inquiry into historic child abuse in Oldham after the town’s council voted on the matter earlier this year.
Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips acknowledged the “strength of feeling” for an inquiry but said the decision to commission one ultimately rests with the local authorities.
“I believe it is for Oldham Council alone to decide to commission an inquiry into child sexual exploitation locally, rather than for the Government to intervene,” she said.
The backlash is in no small part to X owner Elon Musk, who has repeatedly criticised Labour’s record on handling the grooming gangs scandal, stretching back to Starmer’s tenure as Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) between 2008 and 2013.
GB News has identified over 50 different towns and cities that have endured abuse gang
GB News
How prevalent are the abuses?
There have been several local and national inquiries into grooming gang activities in various UK towns, including Rotherham, Telford, and Rochdale.
Labour has cited these existing inquiries as having already addressed the issue, suggesting that further national inquiries might not add significant new insights or solutions.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has cited the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) as evidence that the matter has been covered sufficiently at a national level.
However, our national reporter, Charlie Peters has heavily criticised the IICSA report, noting that it did not widen its focus to the national prevalence of grooming gangs, focusing instead on six case study areas where there were no significant reports of grooming gangs.
Grooming gangs were “lumped” in with other abuse networks, while other subjects like online abuse, the Catholic Church, and care homes got their own investigation, Peters points out.
Indeed, none of the Northern towns, which have featured prominently in the scandal, were chosen.
The only place the IICSA report looked at which had a grooming gangs scandal was Bristol, where girls were targeted by a Somali abuse and rape network over many years.
So, where have grooming gangs operated?
GB News has identified over 50 different towns and cities that have endured abuse gangs, almost all of which haven’t had proper inquiries (see above map).
Sifting through court records, local media reports, and gathering first-hand accounts from several victims, Peters’ analysis suggests reports from Rotherham, Rochdale and Telford are the tip of the iceberg and that a more extensive investigation is urgently needed.
Charlie Peters speaks to grooming gang victimGB NewsWhile Labour is getting most of the heat for rejecting an inquiry, this line of attack predates their incumbency.
The Tories have also come under fire for their own failure to launch a formal inquiry.
In an apparent attempt to deflect this criticism, shadow leader Kemi Badenoch said that a national probe was “long overdue”.
Reform leader Nigel Farage retorted: “Talk is cheap. The Conservatives had 14 years in Government to launch an inquiry.”