A THIRD survivor has quit the grooming gangs inquiry amid claims it is “descending into chaos” before it has even begun.
Elizabeth — a pseudonym to protect her right to anonymity — walked away saying it felt like there had been a cover-up which had “created a toxic environment for survivors”.
She said she feared the panel lacked a “genuine understanding of the grooming gangs scandal”.
Meanwhile, former social worker Annie Hudson withdrew as a candidate to chair the inquiry following intense media coverage.
It came a day after two other abuse survivors — Fiona Goddard and Ellie-Ann Reynolds — quit the inquiry.
Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips has denied claims that the investigation is being diluted or being intentionally delayed.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp had accused the inquiry of “descending into chaos” and repeated calls for a judge to be brought in to chair the process.
But Ms Phillips said Baroness Louise Casey, in recommending a national inquiry, had insisted that she did not want a judicial-led process.
Ms Phillips said: “She was explicit, and if anyone in this House can find me an institution that didn’t fail these girls over the years, including our courts who took the children away from grooming gang victims, who criminalised some of them.
“There is no institution in our country that hasn’t failed.”
