UK politics - live: MPs to vote on grooming gangs inquiry as Starmer hints at U-turn after fiery PMQs
MPs debate children’s safety bill after Sir Keir Starmer urges Kemi Badenoch to ‘withdraw her wrecking amendment’
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Your support makes all the difference.Kemi Badenoch’s call for the government to establish a national inquiry into grooming gangs will be put to a Commons vote on Wednesday.
Echoing demands by billionaire Elon Musk, Ms Badenoch has tabled an amendment to Labour’s children’s safety bill for a symbolic vote to call on ministers to open a new national probe into child sexual exploitation.
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has warned that the Tory move, if successful, would leave the Labour Bill “stone dead”, describing it as “the biggest piece of child protection legislation in a generation”. Sir Keir used PMQs to urge Conservative MPs to back it later on Wednesday.
Urging Tory MPs to back the Bill during PMQs, Sir Keir accused Ms Badenoch of a “shortsighted, misguided, bandwagon-jumping approach”, and said he could not recall her ever raising the issue in the eight years she has been an MP.
Pressed by the Tory leader that failing to call a new inquiry would fuel “cover-up” claims, the PM accused Ms Badenoch of spreading “lies and misinformation”.
Ahead of the vote at around 7pm, No 10 indicated that the government is “open-minded” about the possibility of a further national inquiry into child sexual abuse “and will always listen to what victims want in this case”.
Government unable to give timeline for implementing child sex abuse inquiry recommendations
The victims minister was unable to provide a timeline for implementing the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, saying the Government was working “quickly”.
Alex Davies-Jones told Times Radio: “I can’t give you a timeline but what I can tell you is we are working very, very quickly.
“A lot of these recommendations can be implemented quickly. As you heard from the Home Secretary yesterday, we’ve already begun that work and some of those new offences that have been announced will be in our Crime and Policing Bill brought in later this year.”
Adding that the Government would provide “more information soon”, she said: “I want to do this as quickly as possible. It’s very complicated, this is not a quick fix overnight.”
Watch: Elon Musk’s father believes ‘good chance’ Tommy Robinson will be prime minister one day
MPs grill McDonald’s boss on labour rights amid sexual harrassment claims
McDonald’s is facing fresh claims of widespread harassment across its UK branches as hundreds of young current and former workers join a legal action against the company.
More than 700 people who were aged 19 or younger when working at McDonald’s have instructed law firm Leigh Day to take legal action on their behalf. The claims come as UK chief executive Alistair Macrow faced questions from MPs on Tuesday on employment rights.
McDonald’s facing new harassment claims as UK boss set to be questioned by MPs
More than 700 current and former workers are bringing claims including discrimination, homophobia, racism and harassment.
UK long-term borrowing costs jump to highest level since 1998
The UK’s long-term government borrowing costs have lifted to their highest level since 1998, in a potential blow for the Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
The yield on 30-year gilts – the return on Government bonds – increased on Tuesday by four basis points to 5.22 per cent, surpassing the spike seen in 2023.
It ramps up the pressure on the Treasury’s headroom for increased public spending, amid the prospect of higher interest costs.
Henry Saker-Clark has the full report:
UK long-term borrowing costs jump to highest level since 1998
The yield on 30-year gilts increased on Tuesday by four basis points to 5.22%, surpassing the spike seen in 2023.
Breaking: Conservatives to seek support for new child grooming inquiry in symbolic vote
The Conservatives will seek to garner support for a new nationwide child grooming investigation with a symbolic vote in the Commons, amid an ongoing spat between ministers and billionaire Elon Musk.
Sir Keir Starmer’s Government has faced a slew of attacks from X and Tesla owner Mr Musk in recent days, after Home Office minister Jess Phillips declined a request for a nationally led inquiry in Oldham.
The Tories have joined calls by Mr Musk for a new UK-wide inquiry into child sexual abuse, despite a wide-ranging independent probe having concluded its work in 2022.
On Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch’s party will bring forward an amendment to the Government’s Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill which is expected to call for ministers to establish a “national statutory inquiry into historical child sexual exploitation, focused on grooming gangs”.
The amendment is unlikely to be supported by a majority in the Commons, as the Government wants to roll out the recommendations of the investigation led by Professor Alexis Jay rather than open a new inquiry.
The non-binding amendment could not compel ministers to launch an inquiry and merely gives MPs a chance to voice their opinion on the issue.
A Labour spokesperson claimed the Conservatives were “attempting to block this Government’s plans to keep the most at-risk children in our country safe from harm”.
Wes Streeting acknowledges ‘eye-watering’ social care costs facing families
Individuals are shouldering an “imbalance” in paying for social care, Wes Streeting said as he was confronted about the sums one family is facing.
The health secretary has faced criticism in recent days for not giving a hard deadline on his plans to create a National Care Service, aimed at tackling the massive costs of social care. An independent commission is expected to begin exploring the future of the service in the spring, but its timeline means proposals for long-term funding and major reform may not be delivered until 2028.
As he took questions from LBC radio listeners, a woman from Leeds told the health secretary she is paying £85,000 a year to provide care for her 97-year-old mother, who has dementia – meaning her family savings and the proceeds from selling her mother’s home are swiftly being eroded.
“It sounds really terrible, but sometimes I even find myself wishing that my mum would pass away soon, before it’s all gone and the family is left with absolutely nothing. And it shouldn’t be about money, but unfortunately, it is,” she said.
The caller added: “I want to know, when will something be done to stop this happening? And I need a real answer, not just the sort of ‘we get it, we have no money’ kind of answer.”
Mr Streeting described the sums as “eye-watering”, adding: “I think that where we’ve got to as a country is a situation where I think the burden on individuals and families and the state is imbalanced, and it’s almost a game of pot luck and chance.”
New duty to report child sex abuse should include teachers and sports coaches, No 10 says
A new legal duty to report child sexual abuse should apply to people engaged in regulated activities with children, including teachers, healthcare professionals, sports coaches and faith instructors, No 10 has said.
Home secretary Yvette Cooper announced on Monday that ministers would begin implementing the recommendation by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse to bring in mandatory reporting.
More details are expected to be set out in the coming weeks.
Watch: Elon Musk's 'disinformation' is endangering me, says Jess Phillips
Watch: Robert Jenrick in heated clash with BBC's Nick Robinson over grooming gangs
UK ‘must become to wind what Saudi Arabia is to crude oil’, says Labour MP
The United Kingdom must “become to wind what Saudi Arabia is to crude oil”, a Labour MP has urged.
Henry Tufnell, MP for Mid and South Pembrokeshire, told the House of Commons: “In our United Kingdom, one of our biggest and most powerful natural resources is wind. To cut bills, deliver energy security and achieve net zero, we have to become to wind what Saudi Arabia is to crude oil.”
Speaking during a debate on new legislation to give the Crown Estate new borrowing powers, he added: “The population of South Wales and the South West will never forgive us if we don’t seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to redevelop their regional economies.”
Liberal Dem energy spokesperson Pippa Heylings had earlier told MPs: “While the new borrowing powers will enable investment in offshore wind, they will also facilitate property development across the 185,000 acres of the Crown Estate, so this Bill must do more to ensure that these developments do not ride roughshod over community concerns regarding planning, infrastructure and environmental standards, both on land and at sea.
“People must have a say in the decisions that affect them, and where infrastructure’s concerned they should also receive the benefits where appropriate.”
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