Labour's limited Terms of Reference shows their Rape Gang Enquiry is already another coverup

The draft Terms of Reference for the Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs are deliberately weak, protecting officials, police, councils, and perpetrators implicated in decades long coverup

The UK Government’s draft Terms of Reference are out and its as we all knew it would be, intentional omissions and permissive language designed to limit accountability and it will lead to another coverup from this despicable government.

Despite Jess Philips admitting in parliament there has been a coverup, she openly sponsors yet another coverup.

The 10 main failings of the draft are as follows;

1. Chair’s Discretion to Ignore Key Issues: The terms use “may” instead of “must” for examining organisational failures, missed interventions, victim reports, and the role of ethnicity/religion. This allows the Chair to skip everything without consequence.
   We must have mandatory investigations with public explanations for any exclusions.

2. Failure to Address Targeted Victimisation and Suppressed Investigations: The terms vaguely “should examine” how ethnicity/religion influenced responses, but don’t require establishing if Pakistani Muslim men deliberately targeted white girls or if police/councils suppressed probes to avoid racism accusations and protect “community cohesion.” We already know this is true from the testimonies of the victims with Rupert Lowe’s independent rape gang enquiry.
   Internal communications proving this must be fully disclosed and attributed.

3. No Criminal Accountability: Referrals go to professional bodies for confidential hearings, not the National Crime Agency for crimes like Misconduct in Public Office (punishable by life imprisonment).
   Mandatory, immediate NCA referrals where evidence exists must occur.

4. Ignoring Lenient Sentencing: No mandate to review court cases where judges reduced sentences for rapists based on their “community importance,” allowing some to walk free.
   The terms must require examining named cases to assess if sentences failed victims.

5. Arbitrary Time Limit Excludes Origins: Inquiry limited to post-2000 events, ignoring pre-2000 evidence of network formation and early coverups (e.g., 1980s Rotherham).
   Should include all relevant prior evidence, its been a scandal for 45 years, not 25.

6. Selective Town Investigations Without Oversight: No guaranteed list of areas; selection criteria agreed privately post-start between Government and Chair, with no appeal or parliamentary approval.
   All areas with evidence should be investigated, criteria published upfront, and no vetoes by implicated bodies. It is understood that the areas could be over 100 towns and cities across the UK and again from testimonies within Rupert Lowe’s enquiry, girls were trafficked all over the UK and some to Pakistan.

7. Government Can Rewrite Terms Annually: Home Secretary and Chair review/amend terms yearly in private, without parliamentary input or interim public reports.
   Terms should be fixed at outset, with mandatory six-month parliamentary updates and NOT be modified as required in secret.

8. Gaps from Ongoing Criminal Probes: Inquiry must defer to live police investigations (e.g., South Yorkshire Police self-investigating officer rapes), noting “gaps” without resolution.
   Should be coordinated with independent forces like NCA to avoid designed loopholes.

9. Ignoring National/International Networks: Terms focus on isolated towns, overlooking cross-boundary trafficking, shared finances/personnel, and links to organised crime (e.g., Pakistan/Albania).
   Must investigate these connections, as local framing has protected networks for over 30 years.

10. Vague Victim Protections: Promises a “charter” for survivor participation but no upfront guarantees, independent advocates, or mandatory NCA referrals for testimony meeting criminal thresholds.
    Survivors need enforceable safeguards, not more unimplemented recommendations.

All these points show a clear and deliberate choice made by Government to protect the guilty, echoing the original coverups by implicated governments and institutions. A public consultation is open, with a cross-party campaign at groominggangjustice.uk pushing for stronger terms.

Please sign here.

Also please support Raja Miah who has campaigned for years on this and risked his life on many occasions to expose this evil.