John Swinney under increasing pressure to launch grooming gangs inquiry

Scotland's First Minister has been under increasing pressure to launch a nationwide probe, but so far has only said he is waiting a recommendation from a sexual exploitation taskforce.

At First Minister's Questions today, he admitted he'd received a letter from a young woman who alleges she was the victim of a Glasgow grooming gang when she was just 13, and lauded her "courage".

The case of Taylor was raised by Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay who urged Mr Swinney to open a national inquiry.

In her letter, Taylor, who is now in her 20s, said she was targeted by a "Pakistani grooming gang" operating from flats in Govanhill and Rutherglen, and that it is "clear" such abuse is still ongoing.

She said she had contacted Mr Swinney and Police Scotland directly after finding "upsetting information" within her care records. She had initially believed the care home, police and social services "knew nothing" about the alleged abuse she suffered "but my records say different".

Taylor said she had chosen to "make sure my voice is heard" after receiving "dismissive replies" from the First Minister and Police Scotland.

She added: "I realised that following the child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation I experienced at the hands of grooming gangs in Scotland almost two decades ago, nothing has been done to protect vulnerable children in Scotland. It is clear that it is still happening."

She went on: "A full inquiry into grooming gangs in Scotland must follow any audit in order to protect children suffering now, and any potential victims in the future."

The case of grooming gang victim-turned-campaigner Fiona Goddard was also raised at FMQs.

She has said the UK inquiry must be extended to Scotland, as she was trafficked from England to Glasgow as a child and raped by groups of men.

Russell Findlay said that while Taylor and Fiona’s abusers were groups of Pakistani men, the scandal was "not exclusive to any one community."

He pointed to the conviction last month of a Romanian grooming gang in Dundee who had sexually abused 10 women, and earlier this year, a gang of seven white men and women were convicted in Glasgow of 49 charges including horrific abuse and violence towards children.

Mr Findlay said: “Taylor and other victims say there must be a grooming gangs inquiry in Scotland to uncover the scale of the abuse, why it was allowed to go unchecked and to ensure that it cannot continue.

“Victims do not trust that what happened to them will be fully investigated by organisations they believe turned a blind eye or even engaged in covering up what happened.

“John Swinney must not bury his head in the sand. He must agree to the inquiry being asked for by Taylor and other surviving victims."

He also highlighted that the government’s National Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Strategic Group met in July and discussed Baroness Casey’s audit of child sexual exploitation across the UK, but the minutes of the meeting said they had agreed “there is no current evidence that the issues identified in Casey are presenting in the same way in Scotland”.

Mr Swinney confirmed he had received the letter and said: "I want to express here to Parliament my admiration for her courage to speak out on such an important and very difficult subject, and I am deeply saddened to hear of any cases of sexual abuse and, as Parliament knows, I have taken significant action during my term in office as a minister to ensure that this issue has been addressed."

He said the government is already undertaking work through the National Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Strategic Group which will look at previous inquiries and recommend what action is needed in Scotland, while the national police force is also reviewing current and historical child abuse investigations.

Pressed by Mr Findlay to launch an inquiry, Mr Swinney said: "I reiterate that we remain open to the question of an inquiry on grooming gangs but what I am satisfied about is that the police will address these issues and that our judicial system will address them too, and we will reflect on whether there is any further scrutiny that is required in the light of those investigations."

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "A complaint about the police was received in September 2025. The complainer was spoken to and we confirmed information had been passed to us, but since no report was made to police in reference to any crime, this complaint did not fit the criteria as a complaint about the police.

"The complainer was advised she should make a report to police if she had been a victim of a crime. The complainer confirmed she was happy to have the complaint closed with this advice."

Detective Superintendent Nicky McGovern said: "We take a multi-agency approach when dealing with child sexual exploitation.

"Information is shared between partners but this would not necessarily instigate an immediate investigation, as we would require the express consent of the potential victim before proceeding.

"We would urge anyone who has been a victim of child sexual exploitation to contact us, and they can be assured we will take their report seriously and they will be supported by specialist officers."