Tory push for grooming inquiry vote ‘a shocking tactic’, Starmer warns
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Sir Keir Starmer has warned Conservative MPs not to back a Commons push for a new nationwide child grooming investigation, as it prioritises “the desire for retweets over any real interest in the safeguarding of children”. The Prime Minister said that Kemi Badenoch’s attempt to garner parliamentary support for a new inquiry, in the form of an amendment to a Bill aimed at bolstering the safety of children, was a “shocking tactic”.
Sir Keir’s Government has faced a slew of attacks from X and Tesla owner Elon Musk in recent days after Home Office minister Jess Phillips declined a request for a nationally led inquiry in Oldham. Ms Phillips said she faced an increased risk to her safety since Mr Musk called her a “rape genocide apologist”, and the Prime Minister has signalled the businessman crossed a line with his criticism and was spreading misinformation.
The Tories have joined calls by Mr Musk for a new UK-wide inquiry into child sexual abuse, despite a wide-ranging independent probe having concluded its work in 2022. On Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch’s party will bring forward an amendment to the Government’s Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill which is expected to call for ministers to establish a “national statutory inquiry into historical child sexual exploitation, focused on grooming gangs”.
“It’s a shocking tactic, completely short-sighted,” the Prime Minister said in his first sit-down interview of the year with the Mirror newspaper. He added: “I would implore any right-thinking Tory MP to vote for the Bill because this would kill the Bill, this would kill the legislation.”.
