Eleven Signatures That Shame Westminster

MPs Refuse to Back Motion Demanding Progress on Stalled Grooming Gang Inquiry

Independent MP Rupert Lowe has tabled an Early Day Motion in Parliament demanding answers on Labour's stalled National Inquiry into Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, the inquiry Keir Starmer announced in June 2025 amid public outrage and mounting pressure from survivors.

Four months on, there is still no Chair, no Terms of Reference, no hearings, and no local investigations. Lowe's motion accuses the Government of inaction and evasion. Survivors who have waited decades for justice are being failed yet again.

The Parliamentary Mechanism

An Early Day Motion is a formal statement submitted to Parliament. MPs use it to record their position and demand government action. It rarely leads directly to a vote, but it functions as a public test.

Each signature is a statement of intent. When enough MPs sign, ministers are forced to respond. When they don't sign, they reveal themselves.

What the Motion Demands

Lowe's motion calls on the Home Secretary to;

• publish the appointment process for the inquiry's Chair, along with its budget, staffing arrangements and timeline.
• insists the inquiry must be established under the Inquiries Act 2005, granting it full legal powers to compel evidence from police forces, local authorities and civil servants.

Without that statutory foundation, the inquiry risks becoming another exercise in managed delay.

Eleven Signatures from Six Hundred MPs

Just eleven MPs have signed the motion: Rupert Lowe, Marie Rimmer, Peter Bedford, Jack Rankin, Robbie Moore, Sir Edward Leigh, Sir Gavin Williamson, Jim Shannon, Alex Easton, Jim Allister and James McMurdock.

Eleven Members of Parliament. In a House of more than six hundred.

Silence from the Affected Constituencies

Not one MP from the towns and cities most devastated by grooming scandals has signed. Oldham, Rochdale, Manchester, Telford, Kirklees, Bradford and Oxford are all absent.

In Oldham, Jim McMahon and Debbie Abrahams have not signed. Parts of Failsworth now fall under Manchester Central, represented by Lucy Powell, who is currently running for Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. She has not signed.

In Rochdale, Paul Waugh has not signed. In Bradford, Naz Shah, Imran Hussain and Judith Cummins have not signed. In Kirklees, Kim Leadbeater, Harpreet Uppal, Iqbal Mohamed and Paul Davies have not signed. In Telford, Shaun Davies has not signed.

These are only some of the MPs who have refused to support the motion, despite representing communities where grooming scandals shattered lives and public trust. Many have spoken of compassion and accountability. When presented with a formal mechanism to demand both, they chose silence.

The Threshold for Political Impact

An Early Day Motion needs at least twenty to thirty signatures to gain traction. Fifty signatures attract ministerial and media attention. One hundred signatures make an issue impossible to ignore.

MPs can request a formal debate through the Backbench Business Committee or raise the issue during an Adjournment Debate. When pressure builds, ministers often act pre-emptively, issuing statements to forestall debate. Parliamentary momentum forces government action.

Unfortunately, support from just 11 MPs will achieve nothing

A Reckoning for Representatives of Affected Communities

This motion is not procedure. It is a test. If MPs from Oldham, Rochdale, Bradford, Manchester and Telford cannot sign their names to a demand for progress on an inquiry affecting their constituents, their public expressions of concern mean nothing.

Survivors in these towns have waited decades for accountability. They have watched inquiries announced and forgotten. They have heard promises from politicians who then disappear when action is required.

Rupert Lowe has made his position clear. The question is which of his colleagues will join him, and which will continue hiding?

Where Does Your MP Stand?

Constituents can verify whether their MP is among the eleven signatories by checking on the Parliament website.

https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/64434

For those whose representatives have not signed, the question is unavoidable: why not? Are they satisfied with four months of government silence after promises of action? Do they believe their constituents deserve an explanation for their refusal to press for transparency on an inquiry affecting over one hundred thousand of victims?

When MPs offer sympathy in public statements but refuse to support parliamentary mechanisms designed to compel government accountability, voters are entitled to ask whether they are witnessing genuine concern or calculated avoidance.

The motion remains open for signatures. History will record who signed their names when justice demanded it, and who looked the other way. Silence, too, is a choice. The country is watching.

My name is Raja Miah. I am equally hated by Labour Party politicians, Pakistani gangsters and their Islamist bed fellows. I leave it to you to decide if I am worth standing alongside.

It is now seven years since I first started to expose how politicians protected the rape gangs. During this time, the police have attempted and failed to prosecute me, politicians have tried and failed to sue me, the mainstream media has smeared and then blacklisted me and Pakistani gangsters and Islamists have openly encouraged my murder.

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