‘I’ve waited 20 years’: Grooming gangs survivor ‘speechless’ in snap reaction to GB News after national inquiry bombshell

The survivor, who has waited two decades for justice, struggled to process the unexpected development. "I've been waiting 20 years for this," she told the broadcaster.

Elizabeth emphasised that whilst the decision was welcome, it was long overdue. "It should have been done a long time ago," she said.

Keir Starmer announced the decision whilst travelling to the G7 summit in Canada, telling reporters he would commission the inquiry on Baroness Casey's recommendation. The prime minister had previously argued against a national inquiry but changed his position after reviewing her audit into group-based child sexual abuse.

"[Baroness Casey's] position when she started the audit was that there was not a real need for a national inquiry over and above what was going on," he said. "She has looked at the material... and she has come to the view that there should be a national inquiry on the basis of what she has seen."

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Starmer confirmed he had read "every single word" of her report and would accept her recommendation.

Elizabeth expressed deep concerns about the scale of abuse that remains hidden. "We don't know the true number of how many victims there are," she said.

The survivor criticised how victims have been treated, stating: "We've had it up to a certain point where the treatment for victims has been absolutely diabolical."

Baroness Casey's near 200-page report, due for publication next week, is expected to warn that white British girls were "institutionally ignored for fear of racism".

Sources familiar with the report say it details institutional failures in treating young girls and cites a decade of lost action from the 2014 Jay Review into Rotherham grooming gangs.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch criticised the prime minister's delay in reaching this decision. "Keir Starmer doesn't know what he thinks unless an official report has told him so," she said.

"I've been repeatedly calling for a full national inquiry since January. It's about time he recognised he made a mistake and apologise for six wasted months."

The government had initially resisted calls for a new inquiry, preferring to implement recommendations from previous investigations.

The decision to commission Baroness Casey's audit came after Elon Musk attacked Starmer and safeguarding minister Jess Phillips in January for allegedly failing children.