Starmer not wavering over national grooming gang inquiry, No 10 insists

Downing Street has rejected suggestions that Sir Keir Starmer is wavering in his insistence that a national inquiry into grooming gangs is not necessary.

The Prime Minister will be “guided by the victims”, his official spokesman added, leaving open the door to a future inquiry should survivors and campaign groups support one.

Sir Keir and several members of his frontbench team did not take place in a Wednesday night Commons vote urging the Government to set up a new inquiry.

MPs rejected the Conservative push for a new inquiry, which took the form of an amendment to a Government Bill aimed at bolstering child safety.

The Bill – which includes measures aimed at protecting home schooled children – would have been derailed from the legislative agenda had the Tory vote succeeded, but Labour’s Commons majority meant this was deeply unlikely.

Sir Keir has insisted a further inquiry could delay action on tackling child sexual abuse, pointing out that recommendations from a seven-year probe which reported in 2022 had not yet been implemented.

In recent days, there have been signals ministers could soften their view if victims felt different.

Sir Keir’s spokesman however rejected the suggestion the Prime Minister was wavering on his insistence there would not be a fresh investigation.

“We will be guided by the victims, and what we’ve heard from the victims is that they don’t want to see another national inquiry,” he told reporters.

He added: “We’ve had a national inquiry, it… engaged 7,000 victims, and what victims are telling us is that they want to see action, and that’s where the Government is focused, and that’s why we’re not going ahead with another national inquiry.

“But as the PM said on Monday, we will always listen to victims, we will always listen to local areas, we always listen to specific allegations or issues as they are put to us, and we will faithfully deal with them, but what we have heard loud and clear from victims is that they want to see action.”

In a signal of behind-the-scenes differences within Labour, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said he believed there was a case for a new national inquiry.

Referring to the Wednesday night Commons debate, Mr Burnham told the BBC: “In my view the Government was right to reject that form of opportunism. But I did hear last night coming out of that debate ministers saying they are open to discussing issues now with survivors.

“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 have seen in Rotherham, the one we have 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.”

Angela Rayner, Rachel Reeves, David Lammy and Wes Streeting were among the Labour frontbench figures who did not take part in the Commons vote, alongside Sir Keir.

The PM’s spokesman said Sir Keir had not attended the vote because of existing diary commitments, and insisted his top team had not stayed away because of worries about social media backlash.

Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips told Sky News she has faced a “deluge of hate” after tech billionaire Elon Musk used his X, formerly Twitter, social media platform to accuse her of being a “rape genocide apologist”.

Mr Musk’s comments, aimed at Ms Phillips and the Prime Minister, followed Labour’s decision to decline a Whitehall-led inquiry into child sexual abuse in Oldham.

Speaking to Sky’s Electoral Dysfunction podcast, the Labour MP said there had been an “attempt” to bully her.

But the tide changed as young women and constituents reached out to show support, she added.

“It became the deluge of ‘we know this isn’t true’, and I think that the vast majority of people in the country can see exactly what is happening,” she said.

She pledged to listen to a new victims panel announced this week if they called for a national inquiry into grooming gangs.

The Prime Minister had earlier hit out at Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch over “lies and misinformation, and slinging of mud” which did not help victims of child sexual abuse.

The Conservatives accused Labour MPs of having “turned a blind eye to justice” for victims of grooming gangs after their amendment was rejected.

Mr Musk said the rejection of the amendment was “unbelievable”, after having called Sir Keir “Starmtrooper” and accusing him of trying to cover up “terrible things”.

On Monday, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the Government would begin to implement Professor Alexis Jay’s call for mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse, with further details expected to be set out in the coming weeks.