Keir Starmer may be summoned to testify in national grooming gangs inquiry

Sir Keir Starmer has been named a core participant in the national grooming gangs inquiry, a designation that provides him with enhanced access to the investigation’s materials and may lead to his testimony when the hearings commence in December. The inquiry, a statutory body chaired by former Children’s Commissioner Baroness Anne Longfield, was created after months of public debate and criticism of the government’s earlier reluctance to launch a full probe.

It is allocated £65 million over three years and possesses powers to summon witnesses and demand documents. Investigators will review the responses of police forces, councils and other agencies to evidence of organised child sexual exploitation in areas such as London, Birmingham, Bradford, Keighley, Oldham and parts of Wales. Although core participant status does not automatically require attendance, many individuals with this label are eventually called to give evidence.