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Maggie Oliver has voiced ongoing concerns about the scope of the newly published rape gang inquiry, despite acknowledging improvements from earlier drafts. Speaking to GB News, the Grooming gang whistleblower described having "a massive trust deficit, as do most survivors and victims of rape gangs". The grooming gangs inquiry has published its terms of reference with confirmation that it will probe whether "ethnicity, culture or religion" played a part in the nationwide scandal. The terms of reference will be laid before Parliament when it returns from recess on April 13, after which the full investigation will formally begin. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say The former detective, who has facilitated meetings between more than two dozen victims and inquiry chair Anne Longfield, recognised that the final Terms of Reference represent progress. "I do think that the published Terms of Reference today are a big improvement on the draft ones, and they have listened to some of the things that we said," Ms Oliver stated. However, she cautioned that "the devil will always be in the detail," signalling that significant issues with the inquiry's framework persist. A central criticism from Ms Oliver centres on the terminology employed throughout the document. Survivors who participated in consultation meetings had been emphatic that the phrase "grooming gangs" should be replaced with "rape gangs," yet the language remains what she considers overly sanitised. "We're talking in these terms of reference about exploitation when it was rape, it was violence, it was torture, it was degradation," Ms Oliver explained. She argued that such linguistic choices diminish the severity of what victims endured. "So by sanitising the language, you are downplaying the magnitude of the abuse," she said. The whistleblower emphasised that examining ethnicity, culture and religion remains essential to understanding the full picture of these crimes. LATEST DEVELOPMENTS Father of grooming gang victim casts doubt over inquiry as ethnicity and religion 'will be examined' Full extent of grooming gangs inquiry finally unveiled - and it WILL examine ethnicity and religion Vital grooming gangs evidence may have been destroyed thanks to bungling civil servants Ms Oliver expressed deep frustration with the framing of these failures as belonging to the past. She noted that the Home Secretary had again referred to "historic failure" when addressing the inquiry. "Every single victim, survivor that was in that room is not an historic victim, they are still being failed today," she stated. The whistleblower also highlighted a glaring omission regarding government responsibility, arguing that the Home Office had been "pulling the strings in these failures." Her charity has launched a judicial review against the government for not implementing recommendations from the previous IICSA inquiry. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: "The grooming gangs scandal is one of the darkest moments in our country's history – where the most vulnerable people were abused and exploited at the hands of evil child rapists. "The independent national inquiry will now begin its crucial work to uncover how these crimes were allowed to happen and root out failure wherever it occurred. "The chair and I have agreed that the inquiry will be laser focused on grooming gangs and will explicitly examine the role of ethnicity, religion and culture of the offenders and in the response of institutions. "There will be no hiding place for the predatory monsters who committed these vile crimes." Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter
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