UK politics latest: Majority of Labour voters oppose Starmer on grooming gangs inquiry, poll finds
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has also suggested he favours a ‘limited national inquiry’
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Your support makes all the difference.Two thirds of Labour voters are at odds with Sir Keir Starmer and would support a new public inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal, new YouGov polling suggests.
The prime minister has rejected calls from Elon Musk for a new inquiry after condemning the billionaire’s onslaught of social media attacks as “lies and misinformation”, as allies of the world’s richest man claimed he was seeking a way to remove Sir Keir from power prior to the next general election.
As the row throws the scandal into the spotlight, Sir Keir’s party itself appears split over whether to hold a new inquiry. While Sir Keir has suggested action is only needed to implement the recommendations of previous inquiries, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has said he favours “a limited national inquiry”.
And new polling by YouGov suggests that 76 per cent of the British public – including 65 per cent of Labour voters – would support a new inquiry, compared with just 13 per cent who would oppose a new national investigation.
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Musk interviews German far-right leader on X
Elon Musk interviewed the leader of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party live on X on Thursday evening.
In a 74-minute conversation with the party’s frontwoman Alice Weidel touched on immigration, German bureaucracy, energy policy, space colonisation, God and Adolf Hitler.
The Tesla boss doubled down on his support for the party and urged Germans to vote for AfD in the upcoming election.
“People really need to get behind AfD, otherwise things are going to get very, very much worse in Germany,” Musk said. “I think Alice Weidel is a very reasonable person. Nothing outrageous is being proposed.”
Warning food prices could soar by 20% as pressure mounts on Reeves
Rachel Reeves has been hit by a triple whammy of setbacks that appear to have shattered Labour’s dreams of boosting Britain’s economic growth.
With the chancellor set to fly to China on Friday, the pound fell amid fears of surging borrowing costs and future tax rises – and a shocking new report seen by The Independent suggested that the price of food and household staples could rise by 20 per cent.
Read the full exclusive story here:
Warning food prices could soar 20% as pressure mounts on Reeves over flailing economy
Exclusive: Fears of a massive rise in the cost of imports have fuelled calls for Rachel Reeves to cancel her China trip with warnings that the UK is on the cusp of a financial crisis and recession
Shock poll puts Reform level with Labour
A stunning poll by FindOutNowUK has put Reform level pegging with Labour on 25per cent and the Tories five points behind on 20 per cent.
According to the calculations if the result was repeated in a general election Labour would lose 173 seats but remain the largest party on 238. Reform would leap into second place from their current 5 to 170, taking deputy prime minister Angela Rayner and shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel’s seats.
The Tories would be left with just 89 seats and a viable government could only be formed with a deal between Labour and the Lib Dems on 70 seats and SNP on 42.
Reform chairman Zia Yusuf said: “Wow, Reform set to win almost twice as many seats as the Tories based on the latest poll!”
Watch: David Lammy dubs US Greenland ambitions as ‘classic Donald Trump’
Keir Starmer skips grooming gang vote despite ordering his MPs to vote against it
Keir Starmer skips grooming gang vote despite ordering his MPs to vote against it
Downing Street insisted the prime minister had a ‘pre-existing diary commitment’
ICYMI | Andy Burnham breaks with Starmer to back national inquiry into grooming gangs
Andy Burnham has broken with Sir Keir Starmer to back a limited national inquiry into child grooming gangs, so that “those who may have charges to answer are held to account”.
It comes after Labour MPs voted against Conservative demands for a national probe into the scandal.
The prime minister has insisted that another national inquiry would delay justice for victims, pointing out that recommendations from a seven-year probe which reported in 2022 had not yet been implemented.
“I do think there is a case for limited national inquiry that draws on reviews like the one that I commissioned, the one I’ve seen in Rotherham, and the one we saw in Telford”, Mr Burnham told BBC Radio Manchester.
ICYMI | Lammy agrees with Trump that Europe must spend more on defence
Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said that president-elect Donald Trump is “simply right” to say that Europe needs to do more on defence.
In a speech on Thursday, Mr Lammy said: “Donald Trump and JD Vance are simply right when they say that Europe needs to do more to defend its own continent.
“It’s myopia to pretend otherwise with Russia on the march. So this Government will lay out a clear pathway to reaching 2.5% of our GDP on defence.
“A figure, lest we forget that the last Labour government met and was never met by the Tories since David Cameron’s cuts. And with John Healey, we will lead and we will change, to convince all of our Nato allies that rising defence spending is a strategic necessity.”
Exclusive: Religion, police and education leaders unite with grooming survivors to demand immediate government action
Religion, police, education leaders demand grooming action now
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Winston Churchill’s grandson warns Elon Musk to ‘come through me first’ in staunch defence of Jess Phillips
Churchill’s grandson warns Elon Musk to ‘come through me’ in defence of Jess Phillips
Labour safeguarding minister was described as ‘a rape genocide apologist’ by the tycoon and Donald Trump ally
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