The Trump administration delivered strong criticism to the United Kingdom regarding its management of extensive immigration and the ongoing scandal involving rape gangs that have preyed on white girls across the nation.
In a statement published on X, the U.S. instructed its Europe-based diplomatic staff to monitor the repercussions of widespread immigration. While the statement primarily focused on the U.K., it also highlighted similar concerns in Germany and Sweden.
“The State Department directed U.S. embassies to report on the human rights implications and public safety consequences of mass migration,” the statement declared. “Officials will also document policies that penalize citizens who express opposition to continued mass migration and record crimes and human rights abuses committed by individuals with a migration background.”
The statement referred to the so-called “grooming gangs,” predominantly comprised of Pakistani men, who have victimized young girls for decades, with minimal governmental intervention.
“In the, thousands of girls have been victimized in Rotherham, Oxford, and Newcastle by grooming gangs involving migrant men,” the State Department noted. “Many girls were left to endure unspeakable abuse for years before authorities finally stepped in.”
A day after this statement, GB News reported that assurances were given to reporters at the G20 summit in South Africa that the national inquiry would “leave no stone unturned.”
The State Department’s admonition comes weeks after several victims—who had been members of the independent inquiry—resigned, citing what they perceived as the ongoing concealment of facts.
Ellie Reynolds, an abuse survivor, informed cable channel GMB that the existence of grooming gangs had been “brushed under the carpet” and that “our voices have been silenced.”
She received support from fellow survivor Fiona Goddard, who was groomed from the age of 14, and recounted that when she sought assistance, authorities dismissed her as a “child prostitute.”
Goddard resigned in protest against the alleged cover-up, stating that the perpetrators were in the “vast majority … Pakistani men.”
For years, successive governments—both Conservative and Labour—have been grappling with revelations that numerous grooming gangs, often largely composed of men of South Asian or Pakistani heritage, have sexually exploited girls for decades across northern England.
Prior to the inquiry, Starmer had commissioned a national audit led by Baroness Louise Casey earlier this year.
On the sensitive issue of the offenders’ backgrounds, the Casey report partially stated, “We found that the ethnicity of perpetrators is shied away from and is still not recorded for two-thirds of perpetrators, so we are unable to provide any accurate assessment from the nationally collected data.”
It continued: “Despite the lack of a comprehensive picture in the national data sets, there is sufficient evidence available in local police data in three police force areas which we examined that demonstrates disproportionate numbers of men from Asian ethnic backgrounds amongst suspects for group-based child sexual exploitation, as well as in the significant number of perpetrators of Asian ethnicity identified in local reviews and high-profile child sexual exploitation prosecutions across the country, to at least warrant further examination.”
Her audit also identified other individuals involved, including White British, European, African, or Middle Eastern perpetrators.
The results of the audit produced outcomes for the government, which have been implemented, including a national inquiry designed to “direct local investigations and hold institutions to account for past failures.”
However, the Starmer government has faced setbacks due to its failure to appoint a chair for the inquiry, and it has experienced resignations as critics accuse the Labour government of concealing facts for political reasons.
Alan Mendoza, founder of the Henry Jackson Society, told Digital that “successive governments” have permitted “gangs of largely South Asian Muslims to target white British girls,” asserting, “the Labour government does not wish to be perceived as stigmatizing demographics or potentially losing votes.”
“I hope that the inquiry will concentrate more specifically on the real issue afflicting the U.K. over the last 20 years,” Mendoza added.
The key contact for the government’s inquiry is Labour Member of Parliament Jess Phillips, who has served as the parliamentary undersecretary of state for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls since July 2024.
Nevertheless, Phillips is currently facing intense scrutiny over her handling of the inquiry’s establishment.
Asked in Parliament about the nature of the inquiry and whether it would address the ethnicity of the perpetrators, she pledged transparency.
“There is absolutely no indication that ethnicity will be suppressed,” Phillips stated. “Every single time there is an apparently unnecessary delay—even though it took seven months to appoint chairs for both the COVID inquiry and the blood inquiry, and no one complained about that—it is used to suggest we want to cover something up. That is the misinformation I am referring to. It will not cover things up. We are taking time to ensure that such a situation can never arise.”
An individual commented on the matter in a series of X statements earlier this year, claiming that Phillips was a “rape genocide apologist” and that the world was witnessing “the worst mass crime against the people of Britain ever.”
Phillips responded that these remarks constituted “disinformation” and were “endangering” her, but emphasized that it was insignificant compared to what the victims of the abuse had endured.
Commentators suggest that the current challenge for the government is to identify credible and willing individuals to deliver justice and lasting change to prevent a recurrence.
Digital reached out to Phillips’ office but received no response.