The UK government has announced a national inquiry into the existence of Asian grooming gangs that have targeted thousands of young White British girls, following a bombshell audit report conducted by Baroness Louise Casey.
The review, which was launched after public pressure, including a post by Elon Musk, found that police and local councils deliberately avoided recording or disclosing the race of offenders to avoid being labeled “racist.”
After the report’s publication on June 16, 2026, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper called the findings “deeply disturbing” and issued an “unequivocal apology” over the failure of the administration to protect young girls from predatory grooming gangs.
She admitted that the state had repeatedly failed victims. Cooper confirmed that all 12 audit recommendations would be accepted and implemented.
These include launching a new national criminal operation under the National Crime Agency (NCA), creating an independent commission with legal power to summon witnesses, and introducing a national inquiry into grooming gang crimes.
Earlier, Prime Minister Starmer had accused politicians and activists of “spreading lies and misinformation over grooming gangs.”
Baroness Louise Casey’s report found widespread failures to protect girls from rape, abuse, and violence. It stated that many grooming cases had been downgraded or dropped. Often, victims aged 13 to 15 were wrongly seen as having “consented” or been “in love” with their abusers.
The report, titled National Audit on Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, said that the “ethnicity of perpetrators is shied away from and is still not recorded for two-thirds of perpetrators . . . Despite reviews, reports and inquiries raising questions about men from Asian or Pakistani backgrounds grooming and sexually exploiting young White girls, the system has consistently failed to fully acknowledge this or collect accurate data so it can be examined effectively.”
