Nearly 1,000 closed grooming cases REOPENED as Yvette Cooper sets out inquiry details

She was asked by GB News Political Editor Christopher Hope when we can expect a timescale and details on who will be leading the inquiry.

“We will set out the details as soon as we can. This is obviously an issue we are taking immensely seriously”, Cooper told the People’s Channel.

“What I can tell you is we now have nearly 1,000 cases that had previously been closed by the police with no further action where there had been allegations around grooming, around the most vile child sexual exploitation and the rape of children.

“Those cases are now being reviewed to look for new evidence. Alongside the national inquiry that we set out in response to Louise Casey’s review, we crucially have these police cases being reviewed.

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“Frankly, when you’re being faced with these appalling crimes, the most important thing is getting the perpetrators behind bars.”

Cooper was then asked by Dawn Neesom about the rising number of migrant crossings, with a staggering total logged on the day Keir Starmer announced a new returns deal with France.

Neesom said the rise of grooming gangs is one of the many issues sparked by young, fighting age men making their way across the Channel in their droves.

The Home Secretary said: “We are bringing in changes to prevent any sex offenders being able to claim asylum in the UK.

“That had not happened before and I think we should have that stronger law in our country.

“That new law going through has been opposed by both the Conservatives and Reform UK, I think we should have that stronger law in place.

“We shouldn’t have these dangerous boat crossings in the first place. We are taking action across the board to build the foundations of a stronger approach.”

Sir Keir Starmer bowed to pressure to launch a grooming gangs inquiry in June after insisting it was not needed.

He told the BBC his decision to follow Dame Louise Casey’s recommendation was a “practical, common sense way of doing politics”.

The Prime Minister commissioned Casey to write a report to “double check” the issue.

Baroness Casey said she wanted the inquiry to create a “national reset” on the grooming gangs issue and called on officials to be “open” to scrutiny and change.

Casey’s review found significant data collection problems, with a "mismatch" between how the Metropolitan Police and local authorities record child abuse cases.

The investigations have been hampered by serious administrative failures. Manchester City Council caused "significant delays" to police attempts to investigate suspected child abusers by heavily redacting evidence pages, leaving only a few words visible.

His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services found this "made it impossible to assess the evidential value of the information".

The Labour-run authority claimed "complex" rules about sharing personal data meant prosecutions could have been jeopardised.

In London, the Met logged 2.77 contact child sexual abuse cases per 1,000 children, whilst London boroughs recorded just 1.3 child-in-need assessments for child sexual exploitation.