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”.
