‘Immoral Cover-Up’: MP Chris Philp Demands Judge-Led Inquiry into Grooming Gang Failures

ByDelhi Magazine Team

Oct 23, 2025 #Bradford Police, #Child Sexual Exploitation, #Chris Philp, #Grooming Gangs, #Institutional Cover-up, #National Statutory Inquiry, #Pakistani Heritage Offenders, #UK Parliament, #UK Politics

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Westminster, UK – Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp MP has intensified calls for a full statutory national inquiry into the child grooming gangs scandal in the UK Parliament, alleging an “immoral cover-up” by authorities who prioritized ‘community relations’ over protecting vulnerable girls.

Philp’s powerful intervention in the Commons highlighted alleged institutional failures across police, councils, and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) that enabled group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse to continue unchecked for years.

The Bradford Cover-Up Claim

The MP cited a damning claim concerning Bradford police, where a retired detective chief inspector reportedly witnessed a senior officer instruct colleagues to drop a case involving offenders, primarily of Pakistani heritage, to avoid “offending the Muslim community.”

Victims Failed: Philp stressed that victims, young girls systematically raped by organised gangs, were not only failed but in some cases, were arrested while their abusers walked free.
Institutional Accountability: He declared the inaction a disgrace, arguing that not a single person has been held accountable for these cover-ups. He specifically demanded that the new inquiry must look at those in authority who deliberately covered this up and consider prosecution for misconduct in public office.

Philp declared the inaction a disgrace, arguing that not a single person has been held accountable for these cover-ups. This is why the inquiry must look at those in authority—the police, the CPS and local councils—who deliberately covered this up. The national argument over institutional integrity echoes local controversies across the UK, including Sarah Pochin’s concerns over local authority dismissal of crime reports in Runcorn.

National Inquiry ‘Descending into Chaos’

Mr. Philp’s speech comes amid growing controversy and the resignation of multiple survivors from the government’s victim liaison panel for the recently announced National Statutory Inquiry into the scandal.

Accusing the government of letting the process descend into “chaos,” Philp stressed the need for an inquiry with:

Full Statutory Powers to compel evidence.
Leadership by a senior judge, not former police or social workers who are seen by survivors as part of the failed establishment.
A laser-focus on the cover-up of the rape gangs and the reason this was allowed to happen.

The fate of thousands of survivors and the integrity of Britain’s child safeguarding system now hang on the scope and leadership of this long-overdue national investigation.

The video below provides a full look at the debate surrounding the urgent question on this topic in the House of Commons.