Starmer set for Commons showdown over call for grooming gangs inquiry
MPs will vote on Tory leader Kemi Badenoch’s call for a full inquiry into sexual abuse by organised gangs.
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Your support makes all the difference.MPs will vote on Kemi Badenoch’s call for a national inquiry on grooming gangs after she warned that Sir Keir Starmer’s refusal to back it would fuel concerns about a “cover-up”.
The Prime Minister hit out at the Tory leader over “lies and misinformation and slinging of mud” which did not help victims of child sexual abuse.
He had urged Mrs Badenoch to drop her call which, if it succeeds, would derail a key piece of child protection legislation.
But Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle confirmed it would be put to a vote on Wednesday evening.
At Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir said a further inquiry could delay action on tackling child sexual abuse, pointing out that recommendations from a seven-year investigation which reported in 2022 had not yet been implemented.
In heated Commons exchanges, Sir Keir said: “This morning, I met some of the victims and survivors of this scandal, and they were clear with me that they want action now, not the delay of a further inquiry.”
He said the Conservative leader had “jumped on the bandwagon” about grooming gangs but, while in office as children’s minister and equalities minister, “I can’t recall her once raising this issue in the House, once calling for a national inquiry”.
The Tory leader hit back: “The Prime Minister called for nine inquiries in the last Parliament. Does he not see that by resisting this one, people will start to worry about a cover-up?”
She urged the former director of public prosecutions to “be a leader, not a lawyer”.
The Prime Minister told the Tory leader that “lies and misinformation and slinging of mud doesn’t help one bit”.
Sir Keir’s official spokesman faced questions about the possibility of a national inquiry after safeguarding minister Jess Phillips told Sky News “nothing is off the table” in dealing with the scandal.
The spokesman said the PM and his minister were of the same view, and insisted the Government’s response is “rooted in what victims want”.
The issue has become a political storm after X boss Elon Musk used his social media platform to launch a barrage of attacks at Sir Keir and Ms Phillips.
In response to Labour’s opposition to calls for a national inquiry, Mr Musk called Sir Keir “Starmtrooper” and accused him of trying to cover up “terrible things”.
Mrs Badenoch’s amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill calls for ministers “to develop new legislative proposals for children’s wellbeing including establishing a national statutory inquiry into historical child sexual exploitation, focused on grooming gangs”.
The amendment will almost certainly be rejected in the Commons due to Labour’s massive majority, as the Government wants to roll out the recommendations of the investigation led by Professor Alexis Jay rather than open a new inquiry.
The proposed amendment would halt the progress of the Bill, which includes measures aimed at improving safeguarding for children.
Critics claim Sir Keir wants to avoid a national inquiry as it could put the focus on his time as director of public prosecutions between 2008 and 2013.
The Prime Minister has defended his record, pointing out that he brought the “first major prosecution of an Asian grooming gang” and changed the approach to dealing with similar cases.
But Mr Musk wrote: “Now why would Keir Starmtrooper order his own party to block such an inquiry? Because he is hiding terrible things. That is why.”
Prof Jay, who led the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse which reported in 2022, says “the time has passed” for another lengthy examination of grooming gangs.
On Monday, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the Government would begin to implement Prof Jay’s call for mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse.
England’s Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said that while actions must be taken now, she would “support any further investigation considered necessary”.
She said: “I welcome the commitments already made by the Government and the landmark legislation being taken through Parliament in the form of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill – but this is the moment to go much further, faster.
“Our collective ambition must be to listen to what child victims have told us, through their testimonies to the Jay inquiry, as well as through my own research, and get on with the hard task of acting in response. I am due to meet Professor Alexis Jay shortly to discuss the best way forward.
“I will support any further investigation considered necessary to uncover the scale and scope of failings, where any new evidence emerges.”