A grooming gang survivor who quit the inquiry into child sexual exploitation has accused Sir Keir Starmer of sabotaging the investigation to protect Labour councils.
Elizabeth Harper, who was abused in Rotherham aged 14, said the Prime Minister wanted the inquiry to fail as it would damage his party.
The 38-year-old left the panel last Tuesday after a chaotic meeting with possible chairmen.
She said survivors had been allowed to attend the Zoom call only on a first-come, first-served basis and that they were told only after it began that candidate Annie Hudson had withdrawn.
A total of five survivors have called for safeguarding minister Jess Phillips to resign over how the inquiry has been handled.
Ms Harper has vowed not to return unless Ms Phillips steps down. And she claimed Sir Keir was behind efforts to ‘water down’ the investigation and create a ‘toxic environment’ for survivors. The campaigner said last night: ‘I believe he’s having a huge, huge influence on what’s being done and what’s not. I believe he’s not on our side. I don’t think he wants to face up to what reality is.
‘I don’t think he’s ready for the answers that the majority of councils were Labour which covered up the abuse of thousands of children. These councils were complicit. I think he knows that it’ll cause damage to the party.
‘What he doesn’t realise is by him not doing what’s right, he’s damaging his party anyway.’
Ms Harper also suggested Sir Keir and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood were behind efforts to broaden the inquiry’s scope away from a sole focus on grooming gangs. But the Government says the process is being managed by charity NWG Network, not the Home Office.
Ms Phillips last week told MPs ‘allegations of intentional delay, lack of interest or widening of the inquiry scope or dilution are false’.
This prompted survivor Fiona Goddard – who has also quit the panel – to disprove the minister’s claim by revealing an email sent from NWG, which asked: ‘Should the inquiry have an explicit focus on ‘grooming gangs’ or ‘group-based CSEA [child sexual exploitation and abuse]’, or take a broader approach?’
Ms Phillips also said she would be meeting survivors, but Ms Harper was told she would only have half an hour with her – something she saw as ‘just another kick’. She was then invited to join a meeting between survivors and candidates to chair the inquiry on Tuesday, which was scheduled for the same time.
The campaigner thought this was ‘suspicious and a bit strange’.
Survivors were told they would not be able to attend the meeting because of ‘time and technical limitations’. Instead, they were told places would be granted on a first-come, first-serve basis.
A Government spokesman said: ‘This Government is committed to a full, statutory, national inquiry to uncover the truth. It is the very least that the victims of these hideous crimes deserve.’
