Downing Street last night indicated it would block the move by ordering its MPs to vote against the bill/ The Tory leader will step up pressure for an inquiry by tabling an amendment which would force the government to act
DAILY MAIL ONLINE | Published January 8, 2025
Kemi Badenoch will push for a Commons vote today on whether to hold a public inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal – as campaigners warned the abuse of young girls is still continuing.
The Tory leader will step up pressure for an inquiry by tabling an amendment which would force the government to act.
Downing Street last night indicated it would block the move by ordering its MPs to vote against.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the decision showed ‘total moral cowardice from Keir Starmer and his Labour Party. The victims of these heinous child rape gangs deserve honesty, and they deserve the truth.’
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.’
The scandal involved the rape and sexual abuse of thousands of white girls by gangs of predominantly Pakistani-origin men.
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’.
Downing Street warned that the planned Tory amendment would wreck the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which MPs are due to debate today – and said the government would oppose it.
The PM’s official spokesman also said further inquiries were unnecessary, saying Sir Keir was ‘completely focused on’ tackling sexual abuse.
But Mr Philp said previous inquiries had failed to get to the bottom of the issue.
‘Labour’s decision risks perpetuating the cover-up of the rape gangs,’ he said.
‘There will be many Labour MPs in constituencies where these awful crimes took place and where victims still seek justice. They now need to think long and hard about which side of history they want to be on.’
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SOURCE: www.dailymail.co.uk
RELATED: Kemi Badenoch to ramp up calls for national inquiry over grooming scandal
The Tory leader wants to to end the ‘culture of cover ups’ in British institutions
Kemi Badenoch is to ramp up demands for a national inquiry into the child grooming scandal to end the “culture of cover ups” in British institutions.
THE DAILY EXPRESS | Published January 8, 2025
The Tory leader will deliver a face to face challenge to Keir Starmer to launch a public probe into the sexual abuse of young girls in towns across the country.
Both the Conservatives and Reform UK have called for a national inquiry after the issue was reignited by interventions on social media from Elon Musk.
The scandal is expected to be the focus of furious debate when the two leaders face each other over the despatch during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.
Ms Badenoch is tabling a Commons amendment designed to force a vote on an inquiry which she says means MPs “can do right by the victims”.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said his party would be prepared to set up an unofficial inquiry into grooming gangs if the Government did not act within “a few weeks”.
Pressure is mounting on Sir Keir to act after the tech-billionaire waded into the argument last week. But No 10 denied being forced into action over the scandal by Mr Musk.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman insisted action to implement some of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse’s recommendations had not come this week as a result of the latest uproar.
Sir Keir is scrambling to steady the ship after brutal clashes with Mr Musk and accusations that he had “smeared” those calling for a national inquiry into grooming gangs as helping the “far-Right”.
The PM fueled the backlash after saying that politicians who want an overarching probe into the rape of thousands of white girls by gangs of predominantly Pakistani-origin men were “jumping on the bandwagon” and “amplifying what the far-Right are saying”.
Shadow Justice Secretary branded Sir Keir’s remarks “absolutely disgusting” and an “outrageous smear” as he backed calls for a national inquiry.
“What I have said is that millions of people have come into our country in recent times, but some of them are coming from countries and cultures that have backwards attitudes to women,” he told told Times Radio.
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SOURCE: www.express.co.uk
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