Eurostar to operate double-decker trains in the UK for the first time

Eurostar has announced its plans to operate double-decker trains in the UK for the first time.

The rail operator will purchase up to 50 two-storey trains for use across its entire network, connecting London St Pancras with Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam via the Channel Tunnel.

A €2bn (£1.7bn) agreement has been reached with French manufacturer Alstom to build the trains in factories in France, where the manufacturer has its headquarters.

Eurostar has placed an initial order for 30 trains and has an option for an additional 20.

The fully electric fleet will be named Eurostar Celestia, which is derived from the Latin word caelestis, meaning “heavenly”.

Compared with the operator’s existing fleet of 17 single-decker Siemens-built e320s, the new trains will have 20 per cent more seats, a lower floor and be 16cm taller.

Double-decker trains do not have twice as many seats as single-deckers because space is needed for interior steps.

They will operate in addition to the e320s, meaning Eurostar will have up to 67 trains.

Eurostar has also announced plans to add services from St Pancras to both Frankfurt and Geneva in the coming years.

It is scheduled to receive Celestia trains in January 2031, with commercial services launching in the following May.

The trains will be the first major fleet of double-deckers on the UK’s railways.

A limited trial of two double-decker SR Class 4DD trains was conducted for services in London between Dartford and Charing Cross in the 1950s and 1960s, but they were withdrawn in 1971 because they were considered too cramped and expensive to maintain.

Double-decker trains are a common sight on the continent, but the vast majority of the UK’s rail network is unable to accommodate them because of issues such as bridges not being high enough and the distance between rails.

But the high-speed line between St Pancras and the Channel Tunnel was built to European standards, enabling it to be used by higher trains.

Eurostar chief executive Gwendoline Cazenave told PA that the company awarded the contract to Alstom as it wanted to receive “bespoke trains as soon as possible”, ensuring it is “leading the race” to meet the growing demand for international train travel.

The “milestone order” is part of Eurostar’s “ambitious growth strategy” to reach 30 million passengers per year, up from 19.5 million in 2024, she said.

Ms Cazenave said passengers will enjoy a “special experience”, with enhancements such as more legroom and additional areas for bikes and wheelchair users.

She added that there will also be “surprise spaces”, which she did not provide further details about.

Passengers in all classes of travel will be able to choose between a seat on the upper deck or lower deck, with no price difference.

Alstom chief executive Henri Poupart-Lafarge said the announcement demonstrates Eurostar’s desire to “combine technological performance, energy efficiency and passenger comfort”.

He added: “This new-generation train, designed to meet the demands of international very high-speed traffic, embodies our vision of sustainable and competitive European mobility.”

Eurostar plans to maintain the fleet – and its existing trains – at its Temple Mills depot in east London, which would be developed at a cost of approximately €80m (£70m).

The operator is expected to face competition in running passenger trains through the Channel Tunnel for the first time in its history.

The Office of Rail and Road is expected to announce a decision in the coming weeks on which company should be given access to the Temple Mills depot, which is critical to running services.

Companies developing plans to launch rival cross-Channel services include billionaire entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, Italy’s state-owned railway company FS Italiane Group, and Gemini Trains, which is chaired by Labour peer Lord Berkeley.

Eurostar is majority-owned by French state railway company SNCF.

The UK sold its stake in the operator to private companies for £757m in 2015.

Jaguar Land Rover cyber attack the costliest in UK history

The recent cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has been identified as the UK’s most economically damaging hack.

The hack is estimated to have cost the country £1.9bn.

Research from the Cyber Monitoring Centre (CMC) indicates that around 5,000 businesses nationwide have been hit by the fallout.

Its experts analysed the incident’s broad impact across the economy and supply chain.

JLR halted production at its UK factories for five weeks from 1 September after being targeted the previous day.

This disruption led to warnings from suppliers that many faced collapse without rapid trading resumption or financial aid.

Ciaran Martin, chair of the CMC’s technical committee, said: “With a cost of nearly £2bn, this incident looks to have been by some distance, the single most financially damaging cyber event ever to hit the UK.

“That should make us all pause and think, and then – as the National Cyber Security Centre said so forcefully last week – it’s time to act.

“Every organisation needs to identify the networks that matter to them, and how to protect them better, and then plan for how they’d cope if the network gets disrupted.”

The CMC predicted that more than half of the cost will be shouldered by JLR itself due to lost earnings and money spent on its recovery.

The organisation added that it does not expect a full recovery from the incident until January 2026.

It said it categorised the hack as a category 3 incident, based on its scale where a category 5 is the most severe.

Recent cyber attacks on UK retailers, such as M&S and the Co-op, were deemed category 2 incidents.

JLR has the largest supply chain in the UK automotive sector, which employs around 120,000 people and is largely made up of small and medium-sized businesses.

In the aftermath of the attack on 31 August, ministers have been in contact daily with JLR and cyber experts.

Production restarted at the company’s Wolverhampton site earlier in October.

British troops sent to Israel to monitor Gaza ceasefire

The British army will send a senior commander and a small number of troops to support Gaza ceasefire enforcement efforts led by the US, the defence ministry has said.

Attempts to stabilise a fragile ceasefire have been stepped up by mediators, including the US, Egypt and Qatar, as they look to push forward US president Donald Trump’s 20-point plan.

A “small number of UK planning officers” have joined the Civil-Military Coordination Centre, or CMCC, including a two-star officer who will assume the role of deputy commander, Mr Healey told business leaders at an event in London, according to Sky News.

The UK defence ministry said in a statement that the deployment would ensure the UK remained involved in US-led plans for a post-conflict settlement in Gaza.

Mr Healey said the UK has “specialist experience and skills that we have offered to contribute”, and that while the UK will contribute, efforts will be “led by others”.

“We have also, in response to the American request, put a first-rate two-star officer into a civilian-military command, as the deputy commander,” he added.

“So Britain will play an anchor role, contribute the specialist experience and skills where we can. We don’t expect to be leading… but we will play our part.”

The US has said it will provide up to 200 troops to support CMCC, but they will not be actively deployed into Gaza itself.

The CMCC will be introduced to ensure security in Gaza, although its composition and legal status are yet to be agreed. US officials have said they are also speaking to Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and Azerbaijan to contribute.

There are growing concerns about the ceasefire , which over the weekend appeared at risk of collapse when the Israeli military unleashed a wave of military strikes across Gaza, killing dozens, as both sides accused each other of breaching the terms of the truce.

Washington has sent US officials to Gaza as they look to progress the ceasefire deal, which Israel and Mr Trump said had been resumed on Sunday evening.

On Tuesday, the US president again warned Hamas to “do what is right” and thanked the countries that are assisting with ceasefire enforcement.

He said in a post on Truth Social: “If they do not, an end to Hamas will be FAST, FURIOUS, & BRUTAL! I would like to thank all of those countries that called to help.”

US vice-president JD Vance landed in Israel for a two-day visit. In a press conference on Tuesday, he reiterated Mr Trump’s warning a day earlier that Hamas needs to “behave” or face “severe repercussions”.

He also claimed the implementation of the ceasefire was going “better than expected” and that the Israeli government had been “remarkably helpful”.

The vice-president urged a “little bit of patience” over Hamas’s return of the remaining dead hostages’ bodies in Gaza, adding that the bodies have proven “difficult” to locate.

Hamas handed over the bodies of two more deceased hostages on Tuesday evening, and they have now crossed the border back into Israel.

Israel said the two were Aryeh Zalmanovich, who was 85 at the time of his 2023 death and abducted from his home in kibbutz Nir Oz before being killed in captivity, and Master Sergeant Tamir Adar, a member of Nir Oz’s security team who was killed during the 7 October attack at the age of 38.

Their return means Hamas has handed back 15 of the 28 deceased captives and hostages, bringing the number remaining in Gaza down to 13.

Mr Vance downplayed suggestions that he had rushed to Israel in order to keep the ceasefire in place, adding that he feels “confident that we’re going to be in a place where this peace lasts”.

He is expected to stay in the region until Thursday and meet with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials.

Jared Kushner, Mr Trump’s son-in-law and one of the architects of the ceasefire agreement, who is also in Israel, noted the complexity of the agreement.

“Both sides are transitioning from two years of very intense warfare to now a peacetime posture,” he said in the press conference.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio plans to travel to Israel later this week or over the weekend, Axios reported on Tuesday, citing US and Israeli officials.

Sarkozy under police protection in prison after inmate threatens to kill him on first night

Two police officers have moved into the prison cell next door to former French president Nicolas Sarkozy follow threats to kill him, it has emerged.

The dramatic development followed the 70-year-old spending a “frightening” first night in La Santé, the high-security jail in Paris.

He was incarcerated on Tuesday, following a five-year sentence for conspiring to accept laundered cash from the late Libyan dictator, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

Within hours, a video appeared online in which a fellow inmate shouts: “We’re going to avenge Gaddafi, We know everything, Sarko … we know everything. Give back the billions of dollars.”

On Wednesday, a source at France’s Interior Ministry confirmed they had ordered two officers from the VIP Protection Service, the SDLP, to occupy the “cell next door to the former president’s for 24 hours a day.”

This led to Éric Ciotti, president of Sarkozy’s conservative party, The Republicans, expressing his concerns about death threats.

Mr Ciotti said: “It is completely legitimate that the security of a former President of the Republic be ensured everywhere, at all times, in all locations.

“Especially since the threats against him will be much greater in the circles he finds himself in.

“I saw images of him being threatened with death upon his arrival. His security must be guaranteed.

“This incarceration is a terrible ordeal for his family. I think of the ordeal they are going through.”

Carla Bruni, Sarkozy’s third wife, has already spoken to him in prison, via a cell landline, lawyers for Sarkozy confirmed, saying his first night was “frightening”.

One of them, Jean-Michel Darrois, explained: “I saw him in the visiting room, we stayed together for a long time.

“He is the man everyone knows – strong, dynamic, a fighter. He has brought two books to read: The Count of Monte Cristo (the novel by Alexandre Dumas) about revenge, and The Life of Jesus Christ, about the resurrection.”

The video posted online refers to Sarkozy, and also to Ziad Takieddine, a former Lebanese arms dealer who died in mysterious circumstances earlier this year while on the run from accusations that he was the middleman between Gaddafi and Sarkozy.

An unidentifed inmate in La Santé shouts: “Sarko, he’s right there, in an isolated area.

“He’s all alone in his cell. He just arrived, Tuesday, October 20, 2025 – he’s going to have a bad time.

“Right next to it, there’s solitary confinement below – it’s solitary confinement, he’s just above.

“And we know everything – we’re going to avenge Gaddafi. We know everything, Sarko, Ziad Takieddine, we know everything. Give back the billions of dollars.”

It was in 2011 that RAF and French Air Force jets led the mass bombing campaign that ended with Gaddafi being beaten to death by a mob.

David Cameron was British prime minister at the time, and visited Libya with Sarkozy.

There have been claims that Sarkozy wanted his old friend and ally dead because of his potential to produce incriminating evidence.

Sarkozy kissed former supermodel Carla Bruni goodbye outside their £5m Paris townhouse on Tuesday morning before he was driven to La Santé.

He was checked into the notorious jail at 9.40am, as other inmates mocked him by chanting “Welcome Sarko!” and “Sarkozy’s here!”

Sarkozy was found guilty of accepting millions in illegal cash from Gaddafi, so as to win office for five years, between 2007 and 2012.

He is currently serving a five-year term, but has also been convicted for two earlier offences, while facing further criminal enquiries.

Those who have spent time at La Santé – which means Health – include notorious terrorists and armed robbers such as Carlos the Jackal (Illich Ramírez Sanchez) and armed robber, Jacques Mesrine.

Sarkozy is now the first French head of state to go to a prison cell since Marshall Philippe Pétain, the wartime Nazi collaborator.

Sarkozy will spend most of his time alone in a 29-foot-square cell equipped with a shower, bed, small desk, a landline phone, and TV, which will cost him the equivalent of £13 a month to watch.

He will be allowed one solitary walk a day alone, in a small yard, but will not have a mobile phone.

Sarkozy used to be interior minister in France, when his tough policies gained him the nickname ‘Le Top Cop’.

He once claimed that young offender “scum” on housing estates should be “blown away with a power hose”.

Such a background makes him an extremely vulnerable prisoner.

Christophe Ingrain, another Sarkozy lawyer, said he was appealing against having to go to prison, but it will be at least a month before the appeal is heard.

Mr Ingrain said: “He is taking it upon himself to ensure that no one can feel the indignation and anger he feels at suffering this injustice. Humanly, this is an extremely difficult ordeal.”

Sarkozy has also been found guilty of trying to bribe a judge, and illicit campaign funding, following separate trials.

Carla Bruni is herself accused of being part of a £4 million campaign dubbed ‘Operation Save Sarko’ – a complex and illegal plan to try to keep her husband out of jail.

She has been charged with a range of corruption offences, including ‘witness tampering in an organised gang’, and could be imprisoned for a up to 10 years if found guilty in a separate trial.

Like her husband, Ms Bruni denies any wrongdoing.

Four Arsenal goals in 13 minutes stun Atletico and send big statement

It may not be Arsenal’s most celebrated win over a club from the Spanish capital in 2025 but there was something seismic, something spectacular about it nonetheless. Atletico Madrid did not just emulate Real Madrid, who were beaten at the Emirates Stadium in April: they surpassed them. And not in the right way. Real lost 3-0 on one of Mikel Arteta’s greatest nights. In the space of 13 surreal minutes, Arsenal scored four times against the club who used to be the byword for defensive solidity.

This was a statement result. Arteta may shrug off a status as favourites for the Premier League but last season’s semi-finalists illustrated they will be a serious force in the Champions League, too. Arteta may often be accused of being too cautious, too conservative, but this was Arsenal being rampant and ruthless, expansive and ambitious.

“The way we prepare the matches is always to try to hurt the opponents as much as possible, as frequently as possible,” he said. Atletico, who capitulated, were bruised and battered. They discovered this was far more painful than having to endure cold showers after training on Tuesday.

In contrast, Arsenal are coming to the boil. If Arteta could enjoy the scoreline, he certainly savoured the identity of one of the scorers. Viktor Gyokeres was deep into an eighth game without a goal and, apart from one shot that Jan Oblak saved, he scarcely looked likely to provide one. Then came two goals in three minutes, the first deflected, the second directed in with his thigh. Gyokeres’ opener, ending his drought, was inadvertently redirected by David Hancko but relief engulfed the Emirates when it nestled in the net.

The £54m forward’s goals were the two least significant, in the context of the game, but perhaps the more important, in the context of their season and his Arsenal career. “It was the biggest smile on his face today,” said Arteta. “I look at his teammates as well, in the picture and the video, they are all so happy for him because he fully deserved it.”

Arsenal had pulled away from Atletico with different goals from different Gabriels: Gabriel Magalhaes with a trademark header, Gabriel Martinelli from a terrific counter-attack. The razor-sharp Martinelli is shaping up as their Champions League specialist: he has scored in all three games as Arsenal have made a 100 percent start. Three more wins should book a top-eight finish, and they can plan to skip the play-off round.

They are taking a familiar route in another respect, too. The Premier League was supposed to be the set-piece league. When Arsenal play, the Champions League is, too. They bookended the scoring with dead-ball goals. Declan Rice’s free kick, curling in viciously, was glanced in by Magalhaes. His deep corner was met by Gabriel, who allowed Gyokeres to thigh in his second.

Rice had been the scourge of Real with his free kicks, when shooting. His crosses, Arteta said, were “superb”. Atletico had no answer to them. Knowing Arsenal excel at set-pieces is one thing, stopping them another altogether. “We know we can create chaos from set-pieces,” said Arteta. They did.

And Magalhaes is a phenomenon in his own right. It is hard to think of a centre-back who is so consistently menacing in the opposition’s penalty box as the Brazilian, who ended with a goal and an assist. “Set-pieces are so important in football,” said Diego Simeone. It was part observation, part lament.

Arsenal’s four-goal blitz was all the more remarkable as there was a case for saying that, early in the second half, Atletico looked likely to break the deadlock. Julian Alvarez was outstanding and curled a shot against the bar.

Before the break, he had almost curled the ball into an unguarded net from an improbable angle, David Raya having taken a risk in possession and being both caught out, and caught out of possession, by Guiliano Simeone. “They win a lot of games like that with individual actions,” said Arteta. This could have been another.

Instead, Atletico’s manager ended up blaming individuals. “It is individual mistakes that affect the team,” said Simeone. The guilty may be left in no doubt that he holds them responsible.

As his inquest began, Arteta could enthuse and eulogise. His side had offered invention. Eze played a lovely, defence-splitting pass for Bukayo Saka; Zubimendi released Gyokeres with a glorious flick. On each occasion, Jan Oblak made a fine save.

Arteta had contributed to their attacking intent, too. He played Eberechi Eze as a No 10 and, albeit with a shot that looped up off Hancko, the Londoner hit the bar. He brought Myles Lewis-Skelly and Martinelli into the team and they combined for the second goal. The left-back made a buccaneering run deep into Atletico territory, the winger curled in a shot. He had a goal disallowed earlier when, offside, he had touched in Saka’s cross-shot. This time there was no denying him.

And no denying Arsenal. Atletico did become the first team in three games to record a shot on target against Arsenal but that was of scant consolation to Simeone. Not after those 13 minutes that were awesome for Arsenal but awful for Atletico.

How subtle wit shaped the social codes of British culture

The British are a funny lot. In the most literal sense, obviously. The birthplace of Vic and Bob, Morecambe and Wise, Julia Davis and Sara Pascoe is, pound for pound, arguably the funniest nation on earth. But we’re also a funny lot in the other sense – a bit odd, a little unreadable. For outsiders, decoding a Brit can be baffling, because we so rarely say what we mean. We communicate in code, default to irony, and hide behind humour like it’s an invisibility cloak.

There’s a strong case to be made that the British sense of humour – self-deprecating, absurdist, forever puncturing pomposity – has become the defining national trait. More so, even, than driving on the left, putting milk in tea, or holding entire conversations about the weather. The thing that really makes us us is our collective compulsion to make each other laugh. Want a snapshot of Britain at its best? Look no further than this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, with sets from Ahir Shah, Josie Long, Bridget Christie, Nish Kumar, Toussaint Douglass, Leila Navabi and Ivo Graham. A brilliantly diverse line-up, united by one shared attribute: every single one of them is absolutely hilarious.

But why has humour become so central to Britain’s sense of identity? There’s no single answer, but a few theories spring to mind.

First: the class system. Britain’s social hierarchy has long been a source of tension – and tension, as any comic will tell you, is comedy’s favourite plaything. From Tony Hancock muttering darkly in East Cheam and Harold Steptoe’s eternally thwarted ambitions, to the iconic 1960s Frost Report sketch in which John Cleese looks down on Ronnie Barker, who in turn looks down on Ronnie Corbett, our social structures have been ripe for sending up.

But perhaps even more relevant is the fact that Britain is a country of frequently inclement weather. If you live on a beach under brilliant blue skies, you’re less likely to spend much of your time squirreled away in your bedroom writing sitcoms, or holed up in a pub entertaining your mates with well-worked one-liners. And life on this island is just inherently comic, isn’t it? Dreary days, of that sort that we know well, are just funny in a way that sparkling Spanish summer days simply aren’t.

In other cases, it’s harder to say which came first: the cultural quirk or the comedy. Victorian prudishness, for instance, undoubtedly spawned the gloriously euphemistic tradition of bawdy seaside postcards and the how’s-your-father sauciness of the Carry On films. But maybe it works both ways. Perhaps it’s our in-built sense of the ridiculous that made us prudish in the first place. For those of us not blessed with Love Island physiques, our unclothed bodies are – let’s be honest – fairly comic. Maybe we’re not appalled by nudity because we’re repressed, but because we can’t stop laughing.

What is clear is that nowhere else is humour so entangled with the rules of polite society. Take the uniquely British ‘polite insult’ – a national art form. Shakespeare had Orlando declare, with perfect froideur in As You Like It: “I desire we be better strangers.” Today, we’ve refined the technique further. “How interesting,” or “Good for you,” are rarely compliments. And this love of the not-quite-compliment is everywhere in British TV comedy, from Rowan Atkinson’s exquisitely passive-aggressive Blackadder to Basil Fawlty’s majestic withering disdain:

“I’m so sorry to have kept you waiting, your lordship… I do apologise, please forgive me. Now, was there something – is there something – anything I can do for you? Anything at all?”

That love of sarcasm and subtext seeps into every part of British life. We find it near impossible to admit to being good at anything. Self-praise feels grubby. Even compliments are hedged with qualifiers. And we say sorry constantly – even when we don’t mean it. Especially when we don’t mean it.

Of course, life would probably be simpler if we all agreed to be a bit more direct. No more layers of irony. No more cryptic banter or euphemism. Just say what you mean. But, to use a phrase soaked in British understatement: that’s not really our cup of tea, is it?

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Reeves ‘plots tax raid on lawyers and GPs in crackdown on wealthy’

Lawyers, GPs and accountants will reportedly face higher taxes as Rachel Reeves looks to top up the Treasury’s coffers by targeting the wealthy.

In her Budget next month, Ms Reeves is expected to announce a charge on workers who use limited liability partnerships (LLP), raising £2bn as she tries to fill a hole in the public finances estimated at between £30bn and £50bn.

The UK has 355,760 partnerships, with 86,030 of them having employees, according to Money.co.uk. They are particularly common in the legal world. Partnerships do not pay employer’s national insurance of 15 per cent because partners are treated as self-employed. Partners also pay a lower rate of employee NI.

But Ms Reeves is preparing to announce changes to the system in her Budget, as reported by The Times.

She will impose a new charge on partnerships in an effort to “equalise the tax treatment”. But the charge is expected to be levied at a slightly lower rate than the employers’ rate of national insurance.

The Centre for the Analysis of Taxation (CenTax) found that solicitors receive a fifth of all partnership income, averaging £316,000 each in company profits a year. For GPs, the average is £118,000 and for accountants £246,000.

It’s thought more than 13,000 partners earn an average of £1.25m a year.

Ms Reeves is also expected to announce a “mansion tax”, imposing capital gains tax on the sale of the most expensive homes.

She said on Tuesday, as she sought to pave the way for tax rises, that Brexit and austerity had had a bigger effect on the public finances than expected.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) next month is expected to downgrade Britain’s growth forecasts and economists believe it is increasingly likely that the chancellor will break her manifesto pledge not to increase income tax, VAT or national insurance to balance the books.

Ms Reeves said: “We know the OBR – I think are going to be pretty frank about this – [will say] that things like austerity, the cuts to capital spending and Brexit have had a bigger impact on our economy than was even projected back then.

“That is why we are unashamedly rebuilding our relations with the EU to reduce some of those costs that in my view were needlessly added to businesses since 2016 and since we formally left a few years ago.”

Arun Advani, the director of CenTax, told The Times there was no reason why partners should pay less tax than similarly highly paid employees and business owners.

“Since partnership income is hugely concentrated, with almost half going to those in the top 0.1 per cent, exempting partners from any equivalent to employer NICs is very regressive and simply means higher taxes for everyone else,” he said.

The absence of employer national insurance had arisen from a sequence of small accidents, he said.

Stuart Adam, a senior economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said: “People in LLPs are generally very well off and in many cases are just supplying their labour like ordinary employees are, so it’s not clear why they should get preferential treatment.

“But as with any tax rise, it can provide a disincentive to work. There may be other ways that people might respond, including in the most extreme cases leaving the UK or not coming in the first place.”

The Treasury has been contacted for comment.

Home secretary denies grooming gangs inquiry being watered down

The grooming gangs inquiry will leave “no hiding place”, the home secretary has vowed, after the probe was plunged into chaos.

Shabana Mahmood was forced to intervene after a string of resignations from survivors on the inquiry’s overseeing panel amid claims of an alleged cover-up and a “toxic environment”. There are also concerns that a chair has still not been appointed for the inquiry.

The resignations are a huge blow to the prime minister, who had been strong-armed into holding an inquiry after a national outrage over the sexual abuse of children by gangs.

In comments made after the resignations, Ms Mahmood insisted the scope of the inquiry will not change and “will never be watered down on my watch”. She said it would focus on how some of the “most vulnerable people in this country” were abused “at the hands of predatory monsters”.

Writing in The Times, she acknowledged frustrations about the process, adding that “it is essential that the victims themselves are at the heart of this inquiry. It was for that reason that we set up a victims group to support the inquiry in its inception, and throughout its work.”

“It was with a heavy heart, in recent days, I learnt that some members have decided to step away from the group,” she wrote.

She said that the probe would be “robust” with the power to compel witnesses, adding: “There will be no hiding place for those who abused the most vulnerable in our society. Nor will those who ignored victims, and even covered up what occurred, be shielded from the truth.”

On Wednesday morning, one of her cabinet colleagues, environment secretary Emma Reynolds, also offered an apology to victims of grooming gangs “if they felt let down” by the process of setting up the national probe.

One victim known as “Elizabeth” announced her resignation on Tuesday, following Fiona Goddard and Ellie-Ann Reynolds, who walked out of the inquiry’s victims and survivors liaison panel on Monday.

In her resignation letter, Elizabeth said the process appeared to be a “cover-up” and had already “created a toxic environment for survivors”.

She said that she felt the process had been “scripted and predetermined”, rather than “emerging from honest, open dialogue with survivors”.

“This sense of control and stage-management has left many of us questioning whether our voices truly matter, or whether we are being used to legitimise decisions that have already been made,” she added.

She also accused the Home Office of holding meetings without telling survivors and making “decisions we couldn’t question”.

She added: “The final turning point for me was the push to change the remit, to widen it in ways that downplay the racial and religious motivations behind our abuse.

“For many of us, these were not incidental factors; they were central to why we were targeted and why institutions failed to act. To erase that truth is to rewrite history.”

Ms Goddard and Ms Reynolds also levelled heavy criticism at the Home Office’s handling of the issue.

In her resignation letter, Ms Goddard said the process so far had involved “secretive conduct” with instances of “condescending and controlling language” used towards survivors. She also cited a “toxic, fearful environment” and a “high risk of people feeling silenced all over again”.

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick told BBC Breakfast that the resignations “cast a real shadow over the government’s efforts” to set up the inquiry. He said ministers have “got to take action now and grip this.”

Ms Goddard and Ms Reynolds’s resignations come amid mounting pressure on the government to move forward with the inquiry, first announced by the prime minister in June, including by setting out terms of reference and appointing a chair.

Both women have expressed concern about the candidates shortlisted to chair the inquiry, one of whom is reportedly a former police chief and the other a social worker.

Ms Goddard said: “This is a disturbing conflict of interest and I fear the lack of trust in services from years of failings and corruption will have a negative impact in survivor engagement with this inquiry.”

Annie Hudson, a former director of children’s services for Lambeth, has now withdrawn her candidacy following recent media coverage, according to reports on Tuesday.

Sir Keir and his domestic abuse minister Jess Phillips had initially refused to agree to an inquiry but eventually relented when the Tories and Reform pushed it to the top of the agenda.

Ms Phillips told MPs last month the appointment process for a chair was in its “final stages” and a panel of survivors and victims would be involved in the selection.

Downing Street said the government was working “flat out to get the right chair in place”, with survivors “absolutely at the heart of what we’re doing”, but declined to give “running commentary” on the process.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The abuse of children by grooming gangs is one of the most horrific crimes imaginable.

“Any suggestion that this inquiry is being watered down is completely wrong – we are committed to delivering a robust, thorough inquiry that will get to the truth and provide the answers that survivors have so long campaigned for.”