In a concerning development, a second victim of a grooming gang has resigned from a national inquiry panel addressing the scandal. This comes amid accusations that government officials are avoiding addressing the racial or religious motivations behind the sexual abuse cases.

Fiona Goddard, one of the initial survivors to publicly discuss the abuse she suffered in Bradford, has openly criticized the Home Office for diluting the scope of the inquiry. She believes the government is fostering a ‘toxic environment’ for survivors like herself.

Adding to the controversy, Ellie-Ann Reynolds has also stepped down from her position, expressing her dissatisfaction with the inquiry process. She described it as a ‘cover-up,’ stating that she felt ‘kept in the dark’ about the proceedings.

In a letter outlining her decision, Ms. Goddard expressed her desire to leave her role on the victims’ panel, which was part of a UK-wide inquiry initiated by ministers earlier this year following a policy reversal. Her departure highlights her concerns about the management of the inquiry, specifically pointing to perceived conflicts of interest among those involved.

Ms. Goddard’s decision to leave the Home Office-supervised Victims/Survivor Liaison Panel underscores her view of it as a ‘toxic, fearful environment,’ raising questions about the inquiry’s transparency and effectiveness in addressing the needs of survivors.

Ms Goddard walked away from the Home Office-overseen Victims/Survivor Liaison Panel, describing it as a ‘toxic, fearful environment’.

She warned the inquiry was being expanded too far beyond the original remit of child sexual abuse by grooming gangs – and said she could ‘no longer stay silent’.

Ms Reynolds said: ‘I cannot take part in a process that manipulates survivors, censors our voices, and tries to dilute what happened.’

Bradford grooming gang abuse victim Fiona Goddard has resigned from a panel attached to a national inquiry into the scandal – accusing the Home Office of watering it down

She later denied her reported claims ministers would ‘shy away’ from reporting racial or religious motives behind grooming gangs. 

The resignations came a day before two leading candidates to chair the inquiry are expected to meet survivors today.

Reports over the weekend suggested one of the contenders is likely to be Jim Gamble, a former police chief and ex-head of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre tackling child abuse carried out via the internet.

The other is tipped to be Anne Hudson, whose previous roles have included director of children’s services at Lambeth council in south London and at Bristol City Council as well as chief executive of the College of Social Work.

Survivors including Ms Goddard have said the inquiry should be chaired by a judge and raised concerns about ex-police or social worker figures being in charge. 

She said: ‘Having a police officer or social worker leading the inquiry would once again be letting services mark their own homework.

‘Staying silent with my concerns would make me no different to the services that remained silent to the horrendous abuse we experienced for years.’

In her letter to the Home Office, which she also posted on her X account, Ms Goddard said: ‘The dynamics of this inquiry, including potential chairs and progress, should have been conducted openly and honestly by the Government, and survivors should have had the choice to voice their opinions if they decided to.

‘Instead, the secretive conduct and conditions imposed on survivors has led to a toxic, fearful environment, and there is a high risk of people feeling silenced all over again. 

‘As such, I have made the difficult decision to leave the Victims/Survivor Liaison Panel, and not continue with the meetings this week.’

The inquiry was ordered in June following Baroness Casey’s rapid audit into grooming gangs recommended an independent commission with ‘full statutory inquiry powers’ to review failures by statutory services.

But Ms Goddard says officials have used ‘condescending and controlling language’ language towards survivors – while shutting them out of discussions on who would be the inquiry’s independent chair.

She wrote: ‘One of my main issues was being told in the beginning that the survivors on the panel were to be consulted on the independent chair, and yet when the time came we were told it was ‘first come first served’, and many did not make it into the meeting.

‘Each survivor has valuable experience to bring to the table after years of being ignored, derided and silenced.

‘To tell them their voices mattered, and then once again shut them out no doubt left some survivors feeling like they did before: unheard and unimportant.

‘I hope that in leaving the panel, someone else will be given the opportunity to make sure their voice is heard.

‘My final hope is that the Home Office and Government also start to consider the survivors and the potential impact of their treatment, and approach the process going forward in a more open, honest, and respectful manner.’

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in June bowed to intense pressure to implement a full national inquiry into grooming gangs, in a Government U-turn.

And Home Office minister Jess Phillips last month told MPs that the appointment process for an inquiry chair was in its ‘final stages’.

She said she and the Home Secretary had met prospective candidates over the summer and that a panel of survivors and victims would be part of the final approval.

But reports last week suggested progress had ‘stalled’, with judges and lawyers said to be reluctant to head the investigation.

There were also said to be disagreements over whether to include cases of child sexual exploitation and abuse committed by those other than street-based gangs.

It comes amid worries the new inquiry could end up ‘sprawling’ in nature and ‘too vague’ like the earlier seven-year Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

These fears were reflected by Ms Goddard in her new letter, in which she wrote: ‘Grooming gangs or ‘gang based sexual exploitation’ is a unique crime with its own markers.

‘It also often differs from other areas of CSA [child sexual abuse] or CSE [child sexual exploitation] in that victims have experienced decades of failure from statutory services.

‘Expanding the scope of this inquiry risks it being watered down and once again, failing to get to the truth. 

‘We have repeatedly faced suggestions from officials to expand this inquiry, and there is real fear from survivors, including myself, that it will turn into another IICSA, with grooming gang victims forgotten.’

The Daily Mail has approached the Home Office for comment.

The department previously said in response to weekend reports about potential contenders to chair the inquiry: ‘The abuse of children by grooming gangs is one of the most horrific crimes imaginable. We will do everything in our power to ensure these crimes never happen again.

‘We are working urgently to appoint the best chair to take forward this work, to get to the truth and deliver justice to the survivors. It would be wrong to provide a running commentary on that process while it is still under way.’

The Prime Minister’s spokesman said on Monday they would not give a ‘running commentary’ on who might chair the inquiry or when it would be up and running

The spokesman added: ‘We will get the right chair. Victims and survivors are at the heart of this process.

‘We are working flat out to get the make-up and structure of the inquiry right.’

Ms Goddard was raped and abused by at least 50 men in Bradford from the age of 14.

She had been groomed by a gang of Asian men in 2008 when she and another girl ran away from her care home.

She had asked a man for a lighter, and what followed was months of them targeting her vulnerabilities and ‘trying to make me feel like I had somewhere to belong’.

She previously revealed how she was trafficked to Blackburn, Rotherham, Rochdale, Birmingham, Edinburgh, and Oldham.

By the age of 15 Fiona became pregnant by one of her rapists and gave birth days after her 16th birthday.

But the newborn was soon taken from her arms and given up for adoption as she was told she could not keep her daughter.

Yet the abuse carried on for another two years, with police laying the blame on her, and it would not be until 2019 that the nine grooming gang members faced justice when they were jailed for more than 130 years.

Ms Goddard waived her right to anonymity following the case as she ‘didn’t want people to think this was a reason to be ashamed anymore’, adding: ‘I didn’t do anything wrong.’

She told ITV’s Good Morning Britain in June this year that at times the abuse had left her feeling ‘subhuman’ on being shunned by society.

She said: ‘Over the years from 2008 and 2013 I was found in cars with men and they [police] said I was the reason society was going downhill by putting working class men in danger.

‘I was called a child prostitute. I was accused of exchanging sex in return for gifts by 14. And described as running a brothel by 17.

‘Repeatedly they said I was streetwise and knew how to look after myself that even though I was a missing person it wasn’t a concern and they downgraded it.’