Sir Keir Starmer is facing fresh pressure to apologise over grooming gang failures after a bombshell letter raised serious questions about his time as Director of Public Prosecutions.Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp wrote to Shabana Mahmood and inquiry chair Baroness Longfield, urging that the Prime Minister be held to account.
Mr Philp said findings from an Express investigation into Sir Keir’s leadership of the Crown Prosecution Service were “deeply concerning” and raised “very serious” questions.“Perhaps Keir Starmer’s personal involvement in these failures is why he resisted a proper inquiry for so long,” he wrote.
The Conservative MP called for Sir Keir to apologise to victims and insisted he should not be involved in decisions relating to the ongoing inquiry.“These victims were badly let down. They deserve answers, and there must be accountability,” Mr Philp said.The Express investigation reported CPS lawyers, during Sir Keir’s tenure between 2008 and 2013, described a victim who had been raped hundreds of times as a “teenage pimp” for “tactical reasons” to secure convictions.Mr Philp also highlighted the case of Rochdale gang member Adil Khan, where prosecutors pursued lesser charges despite DNA evidence showing he had impregnated a 13-year-old girl.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp wrote to Shabana Mahmood and inquiry chair Baroness Longfield | PA
Khan served three years of an eight-year sentence for conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child, rather than facing rape charges.Former detective Maggie Oliver, who exposed the Rochdale scandal, has also called for the Prime Minister to give evidence under oath.“I have always demanded criminal accountability for those who so horrifically failed the Rochdale victims,” she said.“That includes the person claiming credit for those decisions, which in this case is Sir Keir Starmer.”
THE GROOMING GANGS SCANDAL – BRITAIN’S SHAME:
Former detective Maggie Oliver has also called for the Prime Minister to give evidence under oath | GETTY
Ms Oliver said she resigned from Greater Manchester Police in 2012 over CPS charging decisions.“These were not mistakes. They were catastrophic decisions which failed to recognise the magnitude of the abuse these children endured,” she said.“Keir Starmer has claimed these catastrophic charging decisions as his, so he must answer for them – under oath.”A Home Office spokesman said: “We have established the Independent Inquiry into grooming gangs to get the answers that victims and survivors of these horrendous crimes deserve.
Ms Oliver said she resigned from Greater Manchester Police in 2012 over CPS charging decisions | PA
“The Inquiry has full statutory powers to compel evidence as it sees fit, and to get to the truth of what happened.“Victims and survivors will be at the heart of this Inquiry, with their voices shaping its work from the outset.”Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Statutory Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs said: “As an independent Inquiry, we approach all matters in an impartial and evidence‑led way.”For that reason, we do not comment on individual cases or on specific policing or prosecutorial decisions.“The Inquiry will examine any factor that contributed to patterns of abuse, or to how and why authorities failed victims and survivors.”We will be guided by the evidence. Victims and survivors deserve the truth.”