Kemi Badenoch to unveil ‘alternative rape gangs inquiry’ with focus on groomers’ religion and ethnicity

Mrs Badenoch will be presenting the proposals on Monday, developed alongside abuse survivors.

In a statement ahead of her conference, she said: “This is about survivors and what they want. We must give a voice to the voiceless.”

She added: “They have told us what an inquiry must include in order to obtain justice. This is what the terms of reference sets out.”

Mrs Badenoch urged the Government to establish a national statutory inquiry examining both state institutional failures and “any ethnic and religious links that caused these crimes”.

Labour’s inquiry has been plagued by controversy since its announcement six months ago.

The Government has still not published its terms of reference or named a chairman for the investigation.

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Sir Keir Starmer only agreed to hold a national inquiry earlier this year after a major U-turn.

The PM had in January described those wanting a probe as “jumping on the bandwagon of the far-right” after renewed outrage at the rape gangs following GB News’ coverage.

The probe suffered a significant setback in October when two victims resigned from a liaison panel, claiming officials were attempting to silence them.

One said the Government wanted to downplay the ethnic and religious backgrounds of perpetrators.

Labour has faced accusations of deliberately stalling the process to avoid damaging revelations before the next General Election.

Critics are now demanding the Prime Minister abandon the current investigation and launch a fresh judge-led inquiry instead.

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The Tory draft proposes examining whether grooming gang members displayed “particular religious, ethnic, or national characteristics, including family or clan networks”.

If such evidence emerges, the inquiry would investigate whether state bodies failed to act due to concerns about the religious, ethnic or national backgrounds of suspects or victims.

The Conservative proposals would also see the inquiry made fully independent from Government.

It would have powers to compel evidence, summon witnesses and establish findings of fact.

The investigation would cover England and Wales, examining both historical and current cases.

A report by Baroness Casey previously found Asian men were disproportionately involved in the scandal.

Police forces failed to investigate cases for fear of appearing racist, the report concluded.

Fiona Goddard, who resigned from the liaison panel in October, has endorsed the Conservative proposals.

She said: “I have lost faith in the ability of the Government to make meaningful progress.

“I have more confidence that the terms of reference released today by the Conservatives reflect the real thoughts and feelings of survivors.”

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp argued that any inquiry which failed to look into ethnicity would not uncover the truth.

He said that groups of men – predominantly of Pakistani origin – targeted vulnerable girls across multiple towns.

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Mr Philp added that investigators must examine whether police and councils avoided action because identifying ethnic dynamics was considered too politically risky.

A Labour spokesman, meanwhile, accused the Tories of failing to take action against the rape gangs in the party’s 14 years in power.

“Their record on this issue is clear: they had years to take action on this appalling scandal, yet time and time again they failed to do so,” he said.

“This Labour Government accepted all the recommendations from Baroness Casey’s report and we are committed to a full, statutory, national inquiry to uncover the truth.

“It will be robust, rigorous and laser focused on grooming gangs, and its scope will not change.

“The inquiry will direct and oversee local investigations, with the power to compel witnesses and summon evidence. And it will explicitly examine the background, ethnicity and culture of offenders.”