Fresh turmoil as candidate for chair quits 'toxic' grooming gang inquiry

Keir Starmer's inquiry into grooming gangs descended into fresh turmoil yesterdayaftertheonlyremainingcandidate as chair blamed "political opportunism" and a lack of trust for his withdrawal as an applicant.

- Rajeev Syal Home affairs editor

As a key survivor called for a face-to-face meeting with the prime minister to save the inquiry, Jim Gamble, a former deputy chief constable, said the process to appoint a committee head was "toxic" and defined by "vested interests".

The loss of another candidate risked eclipsing attempts by Starmer yesterday to get to grips with the inquiry by announcing that the civil service troubleshooter Louise Casey would be brought in as an adviser.

Four survivors invited on to an inquiry panel resigned over two days and accused the UK government of attempting to manipulate them into broadening it to include other forms of sexual abuse.

One of those survivors, Fiona Goddard, told the Guardian she wanted face-to-face talks with Starmer so he could understand abuse victims' experiences and their demands for a judge-led inquiry.

Gamble, a former head of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre and ex-head of the RUC special branch in Belfast, was one of two known leading candidates for the role. The other, Annie Hudson, who was once head of children's services at Lambeth council in London, said on Tuesday she no longer wanted to be considered.

Survivors had complained that senior police officers and social workers should not be chosen for the role because both professions had been accused of participating in a cover-up of abuse. In his withdrawal letter, Gamble said he had pulled out of the appointment process because of a "lack of confidence" in him among some survivors of grooming gangs "due to my previous occupation".

The letter said: "I made a commitment that if this consensus of trust was not present, I would not proceed, and I must now be true to my word.