Welsh survivor at heart of call for transparency and justice

TWO prominent Welsh Conservatives have welcomed the announcement of a long-awaited UK-wide public inquiry into the handling of grooming gangs — and are calling on the Welsh Government to cooperate fully and transparently.

Both Samuel Kurtz MS, who represents Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, and Paul Davies MS, who represents Preseli Pembrokeshire, have issued strong statements in support of the inquiry and urged Labour Ministers in Cardiff Bay to meet with a Welsh survivor of grooming and abuse who has become a key voice in the campaign for justice.

The developments follow pressure in the Senedd from Welsh Conservative Leader Darren Millar MS, who earlier this week challenged First Minister Vaughan Gething over his government’s refusal to back a Wales-specific inquiry earlier this year.

Mr Millar has led calls for a comprehensive investigation into how devolved public bodies — including local councils, social services, the NHS, and the Children’s Commissioner — responded to organised sexual exploitation across Wales. He also urged the First Minister to release all relevant correspondence and documentation, and to meet with “Emily,” a Welsh woman who was groomed as a child, trafficked across the UK, and raped more than a thousand times by gangs of men.

Emily’s story, which has already been raised in both the Senedd and Westminster, has prompted renewed scrutiny of safeguarding failures within devolved Welsh services, and calls from survivors and campaigners for a dedicated inquiry focusing on Wales.

Welcoming the UK-wide inquiry, Paul Davies MS said: “Now that an inquiry into grooming gangs has been confirmed, the Welsh Government must cooperate fully by ensuring that all relevant correspondence with police, councils, and social services is published.
Brave victims and survivors like Emily must be heard, and I hope that the First Minister will at least meet with her to listen to her experience.
We must now make sure this inquiry delivers justice for every survivor. There is no room for delay.”

Samuel Kurtz MS added: “This inquiry is long overdue. It should have commenced six months ago, and it is deeply disappointing that the Welsh Government voted against establishing a Welsh inquiry at the time.
Equally concerning was the decision by Pembrokeshire’s Labour MP to oppose a national inquiry during a vote in Westminster.
With a UK-wide inquiry now confirmed, the Welsh Government must demonstrate transparency by publishing all relevant correspondence with the police, local authorities, and social services.
Most importantly, the First Minister should meet with Emily — a courageous Welsh survivor who has spent years campaigning to protect other children. Listening to her story is the very least she deserves.”

The Welsh Government has not yet confirmed whether it will publish the relevant documents or agree to a meeting with Emily. However, support for her campaign is growing across party lines, with several Members of the Senedd now backing a motion calling for full transparency and a direct meeting with survivors.

Earlier this year, Labour Ministers in Cardiff Bay were criticised for voting down a motion to hold a Wales-specific inquiry into the handling of grooming and child sexual exploitation cases, despite mounting evidence that the issue is not confined to English towns and cities.

Campaigners argue that many of the same institutional failings identified in previous high-profile English cases — such as Rotherham, Rochdale, and Telford — may also be present in Wales, but have been overlooked or under-reported.

The UK-wide inquiry, announced after months of pressure and a high-profile campaign, marks a significant U-turn by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, whose party previously voted against a similar proposal in the House of Commons. The new inquiry is expected to examine patterns of grooming, failures in police and council responses, and the extent to which public bodies were aware of the abuse but failed to act.