Keir Starmer defies demands for national inquiry into grooming gangs scandal at PMQs claiming victims have told him it would only ‘delay’ action_Nhy
Keir Starmer was urged to be a ‘leader not a lawyer’ today as he rejected calls for a national inquiry into child grooming gangs.
During angry clashes at PMQs, the premier insisted he met victims this morning who told him a new probe would only mean ‘delay’.
He acknowledged there were ‘mixed views’ among survivors – but accused Kemi Badenoch of ‘shocking’ behaviour in tabling an amendment that would force a new official inquiry. Sir Keir argued that ‘slinging of mud’ did not help anyone.
Mrs Badenoch shot back that ‘no one has joined the dots’ or had a ‘full picture’ of what had happened – and might still be happening.
‘It’s not about you, it’s about the victims. Be a leader, not a lawyer,’ she said.
‘We know that people were scared to tell the truth because they thought they’d be called racist. If we want to stop this from ever happening again we cannot be afraid.’
With Labour holding a massive majority in the House, the amendment is almost certain to fail this evening. But the Tories have stepped up their attack with an ad saying: ‘Do you think there should be an inquiry into rape gangs? Keir Starmer doesn’t.’
Sir Keir – who has been fending off an extraordinary social media barrage on the issue from US billionaire Elon Musk – has railed at Conservatives for trying to tag the measure on to the wider Children’s Wellbeing & Schools Bill.
During clashes at PMQs, the premier insisted that victims had told him a new probe would only mean ‘delay’
He acknowledged there were ‘mixed views’ among survivors – but accused Kemi Badenoch of ‘shocking’ behaviour in tabling an amendment that would trigger a new official inquiry
The Tories have stepped up their attack with an ad saying: ‘Do you think there should be an inquiry into rape gangs? Keir Starmer doesn’t.’
Speaking in the Commons after being teed up by Labour MP Neil Coyle, Sir Keir said: ‘Violence against women and girls, abuse, child sexual exploitation are sickening. Many victims have been let down for a very long time by warped ideas about community relations and the protection of institutions.
‘(Mr Coyle) raises the question of inquiries. There have been a number of inquiries, both national and local, including one covering Oldham, and reasonable people can agree or disagree on whether a further inquiry is necessary.’
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.
‘The Jay inquiry, the last national inquiry was seven years which would take us with a further inquiry to 2031, I think action is what’s required.
‘But whatever your view, whatever anyone’s view on whether a further inquiry is needed, what I find shocking is that anyone in this House would vote down the Children’s Wellbeing Bill this afternoon, vital protections for the most vulnerable in our society and I urge the Leader of the Opposition to withdraw her wrecking amendment.’
But Mrs Badenoch said: ‘The new year has started with a focus on the decades-long rape gang scandal. Across the country, thousands of girls were tortured and sexually abused at the hands of men who treated them as things to be used and disposed of, destroying many lives for ever.
‘The Prime Minister has mentioned previous inquiries. He is right, there has been an inquiry into child sexual abuse, but it wasn’t about the rape gang scandal. In its 468 pages, it mentioned Rotherham just once.
‘Is the Prime Minister confident that we know the full extent of rape gang activity?’
Sir Keir said: ‘She is right to say it’s one of the worst scandals, it’s terrible. That’s why I acted on it.
‘Her recently acquired view that it’s a scandal, having spent a lot of time on social media over Christmas, not once in eight years did she stand here and say what she’s just said.’
He added: ‘They didn’t act on the recommendations, they want a national inquiry, we’ve had a national inquiry, the Jay inquiry, the Jay report, 20 recommendations, not a single one implemented.’
The PM said the Tories cannot ‘kill’ the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill while also wanting to protect children, arguing that the legislation seeks to address issues highlighted in the case of Sara Sharif.
Appealing to Tory MPs, he said: ‘I urge them to think twice about following this short-sighted, misguided, bandwagon-jumping approach of the non-leadership of the Leader of the Opposition.’
The scandal involved the rape and sexual abuse of thousands of white girls by gangs of predominantly Pakistani-origin men.
Campaigners against child sex abuse also urged the Prime Minister to reconsider.
Victims campaigner Dame Jasvinder Sanghera said she ‘fully supported’ a public inquiry – and warned that rape and abuse of young girls by gangs of men was still continuing.
‘Let’s be clear, this is still happening,’ she told Times Radio. ‘This isn’t something that used to happen. This is still happening today. I’m sure the perpetrators of this kind of abuse will look for different ways of manipulating the system so we have to look at this as a whole and have a broader conversation.’
Dame Jasvinder said the Government’s approach to multiculturalism still appeared to be to ‘minimise the risk of offending communities as opposed to actually dealing with the very problem’.
But on a round of broadcast interviews this morning, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson branded the Tory approach ‘sickening’.
She told Times Radio: ‘We are looking right across the recommendations that Alexis Jay set out and there are crucial recommendations from the review that she carried out.
‘That’s why today we are setting out legislation that addresses many of the wider challenges that we see right across our system. It’s why the Home Secretary announced in the House of Commons the action that we are taking.
‘So we are wasting no time in legislating to keep children safe. The question for the Conservatives today is why they are intent on blocking this landmark piece of child protection legislation that would keep the very children safe that they claim they are concerned about.’
She added: ‘They come along today as we set out legislation to protect the very children they claim to care about and they intend to block it and kill it stone dead.
‘It is absolutely sickening.’
The PM’s official spokesman said further inquiries were unnecessary, saying Sir Keir was ‘completely focused on’ tackling sexual abuse.
The head of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse yesterday said ‘the time has passed’ for another lengthy examination of grooming gangs and that the row is ‘distracting from the issues’.
Professor Alexis Jay said ‘we’ve had enough of inquiries, consultations and discussions’ as she called for action.
But she acknowledged that the government’s decision to finally respond to her report this week was triggered by the media focus on demands for a fresh inquiry.
The issue was raised at the first PMQs since the Commons returned from its Christmas break
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced on Monday that she is implementing three of the report’s 20 recommendations, including placing a mandatory duty on those working with children to report suspected abuse.
Professor Jay said the row ‘may well have given it some kind of impetus to move forward’.
The shadow justice secretary yesterday suggested that a future Conservative government could try to curb migration from countries with ‘alien cultures’, including Pakistan.
Robert Jenrick told the BBC that arrivals from some countries had ‘medieval’ attitudes towards women.
Asked if he was saying immigration policy should be changed to stop people with such attitudes from coming to the UK, he said: ‘I think that we have to be very careful about who is coming into this country, the scale and pace of that immigration so that we can have a much more successful integration policy than we have today.’
