Labour rejects call for national inquiry into grooming gangs AGAIN as top party figures clash over how to handle scandal
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LABOUR's deepening split over a national inquiry into rape gangs erupted today as top party figures clashed over how to handle the scandal. Lisa Nandy slapped down Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham’s call for a “limited national inquiry,” warning victims had already waited too long for action.
![[Lisa Nandy, Labour's Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, speaking at a meeting.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/2023-london-england-labour-shadow-903246081.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Mr Burnham told the BBC he wanted to join up the dots from previous reports in places like Rotherham and Telford. He said: “In my view, the Government was right to reject that form of opportunism. But I did hear last night coming out of the debate, ministers saying they are open to discussing issues now with survivors.
![[Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, leaving a meeting with the British Prime Minister.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/epa11467724-mayor-greater-manchester-andy-915776613.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
“And I will add my voice into this and say I do think there is the case for a limited national inquiry that draws on reviews like the one that I commissioned and the one we’ve seen in Rotherham, the one we’ve seen in Telford, to draw out some of these national issues, and compel people to give evidence who then may have charges to answer and be held to account.
"That is something I couldn’t do at my level.”. But this morning, the Culture Secretary hit back, warning more inquiries risk betraying victims who have already waited too long for justice. Asked about his intervention, she told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “I get the point that Andy’s making. He said that there was a case for a smaller, more limited national inquiry into the specific issues that the inquiry that he instigated could not pick up.
