Home Office minister Jess Phillips has signalled her willingness to co-operate with Independent MP Rupert Lowe’s privately launched inquiry into grooming gangs, declaring in the House of Commons that she is “more than happy” to meet with Mr Lowe and discuss “any level of co-operation”.
Her comments came in response to an urgent question raised in Parliament on Monday. Mr Lowe, formerly of Reform UK and now sitting as an Independent MP, has initiated a privately funded inquiry into the UK’s handling of group-based child sexual exploitation — often referred to as grooming gang scandals.
The controversial inquiry has already raised more than £600,000 via a Crowdfunder campaign launched just last month. Mr Lowe has described the inquiry as a necessary response to what he sees as a lack of willpower within Westminster to address the scandal at a national level.
He told MPs: “Despite multiple promises of inquiries from political parties across this House, it seems that the only operational investigation will be the rape gang inquiry, which I have privately launched. It has garnered cross-party support, and I implore MPs from any political persuasion to align with our cause.”
In a notable gesture of goodwill, he asked the Government to engage constructively with his initiative. “Will the minister today commit to engaging in a co-operative manner with the investigation and make herself available to answer questions from our expert panel?” he asked.
Ms Phillips, who took up her role as a Home Office minister earlier this year, responded with what appeared to be genuine enthusiasm: “What I would say to (Mr Lowe) is that I delight in his interest in this, and what I would say to every single member in this House is that I will work with absolutely anybody to make this better. And I’m more than happy to meet with him and talk about any level of co-operation, because if people are genuinely here to try and stop the grooming gangs in this country, I am genuinely here to help.”
Mr Lowe’s comments follow recent scrutiny of the UK’s record on child grooming from high-profile international figures, including billionaire Elon Musk, who criticised both Ms Phillips and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on the social media platform X for the government’s perceived inaction.
Writing in The Telegraph earlier this month, Mr Lowe accused the political class of cowardice: “Our gutless political class is too cowardly to even start to process what has truly happened. Of course, we won’t have statutory powers, but only the state can authorise such an inquiry — and evidently, that is not happening. If individuals have nothing to hide, then they will show and make their case.”
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Despite these tensions, the Government has moved ahead with some official investigations. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper previously confirmed that five local inquiries into grooming gangs will proceed, despite persistent calls for a nationwide public inquiry.
Additionally, a broader national audit is now underway, led by Baroness Louise Casey. Her work will examine the scale and nature of group-based child sexual exploitation, profiling both offenders and victims. However, critics argue that such reviews, while helpful, fall short of the full public reckoning needed.
Mr Lowe insists his independent initiative will fill the gap, and with growing financial support and apparent openness from ministers such as Jess Phillips, momentum behind the inquiry continues to build.
Whether this marks the start of greater political consensus on such a sensitive and tragic issue remains to be seen — but cooperation, it seems, is finally on the table.
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