A project leader involved in an investigation into grooming gangs set up by ex-Reform MP Rupert Lowe has launched a stinging attack on its work.
Donna Rachel Edmunds, the founder of the National Archive for the Survivors of Grooming Gangs, claimed she has been dropped from the panel and described the operation as an “utter shambles” in a strongly-worded statement posted on social media.
Mr Lowe launched the Rape Gang Inquiry in March and has crowdfunded over £600,000 to fund its work.
In a lengthy post on X, Ms Edmunds said she had been dropped from the inquiry “without anyone telling me”.
She claimed Mr Lowe’s team “had no idea what they were doing” and that they had “dumped the whole thing” on campaigner Sammy Woodhouse, who was a victim of the Rotherham grooming scandal.
Ms Edmunds said she spent two weeks putting together a proposal to outsource some of the inquiry’s work to her team at the Survivors Archive.
She wrote: “We have a team of experienced people already working on ethics and safeguarding policies for gathering testimonies.
“I explained that we could make sure the work was done ethically, with a methodology that would ensure robust results.
“Lowe and his team could get on with their day job of politics and take all the credit at the end.
“Win-win, right? BUT, my team (not unreasonably, given how much time it would take) would need to be paid.
“I didn’t give a figure, hoping we could have an adult conversation about it. The answer I got back was laughable.”
Ms Edmunds also claimed there had only been one meeting attended by herself, Sammy Woodhouse, former Reform MP Rupert Lowe and Conservative MP Esther McVey.
In response, Mr Lowe launched a scathing attack on the former panel member, claiming the majority of what she posted was false.
The MP told the Standard that Ms Edmunds had been involved at the preliminary and planning stage of the inquiry before the main body of work had started and thanked her for her contribution.
He said: “She asked for a payment to her separate organisation and separate team to conduct work for the inquiry.
“That was not something I could commit to, as funds are incredibly tight and we already have two qualified members of the team for that part of our work.
“Following that, Donna made it clear that it was either a paid arrangement or no arrangement.
“I fully respect that, and understand that her separate team need to get paid but we simply couldn’t afford it.
“No commitment to any financial payment was ever made. Since her ultimatum, there has been no contact and a huge amount of work has gone on behind the scenes.”
The MP said that the other claims in her statement were false.
He continued: “Everything has been done professionally, with the wellbeing of the survivors at the absolute top of our agenda for every step of the way. That is our sole priority.
“We have spoken with hundreds of survivors, bringing 60 to Westminster earlier this summer to give them a voice.
“We have made real progress, and will continue to do so. Mapping over 80 local authorities with rape gang activity - including in London, uncovered a taxi licence scandal, holding NHS trusts to account and raising the profile of this scandal right across the country.”
Mr Lowe said the Rape Gang Inquiry will be holding hearings in the autumn and winter and will be publishing a full report.
He added: “Our qualified legal team is preparing for the next phase. As promised, we will publish a full transparency report at the end of the process.”
The row comes after Mr Lowe was cleared of breaching parliamentary rules over donations to the grooming gang inquiry.
An investigation was opened into the independent MP after a member of the public raised concerns about the donations he had received through the crowdfunder.
Writing on social media site X after the conclusion of the investigation, Mr Lowe said: “This complaint was a malicious attempt to shut me down and undermine our inquiry.”
The Rape Gang inquiry, entirely funded by the public, says it aims to investigate the “systematic abuse of young girls, the failures of public institutions, and the political and cultural factors that enabled these crimes to often go unpunished for years”.
Mr Lowe previously said he was inspired to set up the inquiry in response “to years of inaction by successive governments and the recent rejection of calls for a formal statutory inquiry in Parliament”.
He was elected as a Reform UK MP, but was suspended by the party in March amid claims he had threatened then-party chairman Zia Yusuf.
He denied the allegations, and the Crown Prosecution Service said no criminal charges would be brought against him in relation to alleged threats towards Mr Yusuf.
Mr Lowe has since accused his ex-colleagues of engaging in a “sinister” attempt to use the police to silence him, and called Reform’s leader Nigel Farage a “coward and a viper”.
Not long after he was suspended, Mr Lowe launched his private investigation into the grooming gang scandal, amid pressure from the Government’s opponents for a new inquiry.
An official grooming gangs inquiry was set up by the Government in June.
