Kemi Badenoch pushes UK to fast-track child grooming inquiry amid stalled government efforts and survivor-led reforms.

Kemi Badenoch is pushing the UK government to fast-track a national inquiry into child grooming gangs, releasing draft terms developed with survivors that would examine non-familial abuse and whether perpetrators’ religious, ethnic, or national backgrounds influenced institutional failures. The government’s effort has stalled since June, with two chair candidates withdrawing and a group of women resigning from the victim liaison panel over concerns about the inquiry’s scope. Badenoch’s proposals have gained support from survivor Fiona Goddard, who said they better reflect survivors’ needs than the government’s stalled process. Labour criticized the government’s inaction and pledged a statutory, robust inquiry with legal powers to compel evidence and focus exclusively on grooming gangs.