The Tory leader says a fresh inquiry is needed to “join the dots” but the PM says it would delay change.
Starmer and Badenoch clash over call for grooming inquiry
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has told Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer he risks fuelling accusations of “a cover up” by refusing to hold a national inquiry into grooming gangs.
She also accused the PM of not wanting questions asked “of Labour politicians who may be complicit”.
Sir Keir argued that several inquires had already been held into abuse carried out by gangs of men, predominantly of Pakistani heritage, and that a new probe would only delay the action the victims wanted.
And he said he would “call out” anyone who prevented victims of sexual abuse from coming forward.
The Conservatives have tabled an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill which calls for a national inquiry.
In the unlikely event the amendment is approved the bill, which includes measures aimed at protecting children and tougher rules around home-schooling, as well as changes to academies, would be scuppered.
Sir Keir said it was “shocking” Conservative MPs would try to block a bill aimed at helping vulnerable children by voting for the Tory amendment and accused Badenoch of “weak leadership”.
Making her argument for a fresh inquiry during Prime Minister’s Questions, Badenoch said “no one has joined the dots, no one has the total picture”.
She noted that the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which lasted for seven years and concluded in 2022, had not had a specific focus on grooming gangs.
“We don’t need to repeat the work that has already been done. Let’s look at new areas.”
She said a new inquiry could explore “if there was a racial and cultural motivation to some of these crimes”.
“Be a leader, not a lawyer,” she urged the prime minister – a reference to his job before coming into politics.
Sir Keir said “reasonable people could agree or disagree” on whether there should be a fresh probe and acknowledged that there were mixed views among victims and survivors.
However, he accused Badenoch of only recently taking an interest in the subject and said she had failed to take action when she was in government.
“I can’t recall her once raising this issue in the House, once calling for a national inquiry,” he said.
The current row over the subject was triggered after GB News reported that the government had refused Oldham Council’s request for a government-led inquiry into historical child sexual exploitation.
Elon Musk, the tech billionaire and adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, has made numerous incendiary interventions on the subject including accusing Sir Keir of being “complicit in the rape of Britain”.
Following Prime Minister’s Questions, he posted a message on social media urging MPs to back an inquiry adding “hundreds of thousands of little girls in Britain who were, and are still are, being systematically, horrifically gang-raped deserve some justice in this world”.
Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, who turned down the request, has argued that in her experience locally-led inquiries were more effective at implementing change.
However, speaking to Sky News she said “nothing is off the table” adding: “If the victims come forward to me in this victims panel and they say, ‘actually, we think there needs to be a national inquiry into this’, I’ll listen to them.”
Following Prime Minister’s Question, a Downing Street spokesman said that “significant” engagement with victims groups had shown “they do not want to see a national inquiry, they want action taken to deliver justice”.
“But as the prime minister said on Monday we will always remain open-minded. We will always listen to local authorities who want to take forward inquiries, or indeed further allegations that need to be followed up.”
MPs are currently debating the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill and will vote on the Conservatives’ amendment in the evening.
The bill would require all councils to hold a register of children who are not in school.
It would also prevent parents from having having an automatic right to take their children out of school for home education if the young person is subject to a child protection investigation or suspected of being at risk of significant harm.
Conservatives have been critical of sections of the bill which states that all teachers should be part of the same core pay and conditions framework whether they work in a local authority-run school or an academy.
Academies – which are independent of local authorities – currently have the freedom to set their own pay and conditions for staff, and some academies exceed the national pay scales for teachers.
Conservative shadow education secretary Laura Trott called the move “educational vandalism” arguing that academies would lose freedoms that can help to recruit teachers and improve pupil outcomes in challenging areas.