By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-09-30 13:26:08 | Updated at 2026-09-30 14:31:32
1 hour ago
Wales and Birmingham have been selected for investigation by the national inquiry into grooming gangs.
This comes after Oldham, Bradford and Keighley, and London were confirmed as the first locations selected for local investigation in June.
The inquiry has confirmed that its three-part hearings will investigate Central Government departments and politicians alongside local councils, the NHS and national police institutions.
Led by Baroness Anne Longfield, the probe will then assess efforts made in towns and cities that have already had reviews, such as Rotherham, Rochdale, Telford and Newcastle, to assess what has been learned from that process.
Gangs victim Emily Vaughn told GB News that she was "extremely happy" to see Wales included.
The brave survivor said "it’s really important to be included and to allow Welsh survivors the same opportunity for truth, accountability and answers as victims anywhere else."
She added: "For too long, there has been an assumption that these crimes somehow stopped at the border. They didn’t.
Grooming doesn’t stop at borders, abuse doesn’t stop at borders, and victims certainly don’t stop at borders."
One victim told GB News that she was 'extremely happy' to see Wales included
GB NEWS
Emily has previously told GB News about her experiences of being groomed from the age of 11 in South Wales and then trafficked for abuse within Wales and to Telford and Blackpool.
Earlier this month, four men and a woman who abused teenage girls in north Wales were jailed for their grooming gang offences.
Three teenage girls were targeted at the seaside town of Rhyl in Denbighshire.
Mustafa Iqbal, the ringleader of the abuse gang, was jailed for 35 years.
The independent inquiry will target Birmingham and Wales
GROOMING GANGS INQUIRY
He was convicted of 21 offences, which included four rapes and three of sexual assault against all three victims.
Emily said: "Welsh survivors deserve the same opportunity for truth, accountability and answers as victims anywhere else.
Inclusion needs to mean that Welsh cases are properly heard, Welsh victims have the opportunity to come forward, and what happened in Wales is given the scrutiny it deserves.
"I will always be grateful to everyone who has continued to stand up and fight for Welsh survivors to be heard."
Isabelle, a gangs victim from Birmingham, told GB News that the selection of Britain's second city had brought up "a lot of emotions."
"For years, I have lived with the impact of what happened while feeling that those who should have protected me failed to properly recognise or respond to what was happening.
"I feel a mixture of relief, sadness and anger that Birmingham is finally going to face this scrutiny. Nothing can change what happened to me, but I hope this inquiry listens to survivors, properly examines where services failed, and ensures that children in the future are better protected.
"For me, this is about more than an inquiry. It is about survivors finally being heard and the failures that affected our lives being acknowledged."
The selection of Birmingham comes after a report from Birmingham Children's Trust revealed some of the child sexual exploitation and grooming gang challenges facing the city.
It confirmed that West Midlands Police are looking at 98 live cases, of which six involved "multiple perpetrators."
The report revealed that two taxi drivers lost their licences earlier this year after police investigated their potential involvement in child abuse.
In 2015, a redacted report from 2010 revealed that police in Birmingham had identified up to 139 victims of grooming gangs, the majority of whom were white. The force was also said to have identified 75 grooming gang suspects, of which a large proportion were Pakistani or Muslim.
The police never made the information public, despite the risk to children. The report found that coppers were concerned about "community tensions" if details about the abuse and the background of the alleged gang rapists were released.
The report said said: “The predominant offender profile of Pakistani Muslim males... combined with the predominant victim profile of white females has the potential to cause significant community tensions.”
It added: “There is a potential for a backlash against the vast majority of law abiding citizens from Asian/Pakistani communities from other members of the community believing their children have been exploited.
The gangs were said to have been highly organised and used intimidation to shut down their victims.
“A high level of organised criminality has now been evidenced both across the force area and regionally, with multiple offenders working together to identify, groom and abuse victims," the report said.
Despite these findings, there have been no major grooming gang prosecutions in Birmingham and no local inquiry into the failures to investigate offenders.
