MPs vote against Tory call for new grooming gangs inquiry

An attempt by the Conservatives to have the government set up a national inquiry into grooming gangs has been voted down by 364 votes to 111 votes, a margin of 253.

The amendment was attached to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which would have been killed had the vote passed.

Earlier in the day, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch argued the government risks fuelling accusations of “a cover up” by refusing an inquiry.

But Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer argued that several inquiries had already been held into abuse carried out by gangs of men and a new probe would only delay the action the victims wanted.

The amendment was largely symbolic, as the size Labour’s majority meant it was never likely to pass.

It would also have killed a major piece of government legislation, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill includes measures aimed at protecting children and tougher rules around home-schooling, as well as changes to academies.

Sir Keir said it was “shocking” Conservative MPs would try to block a bill aimed at helping vulnerable children by voting for the Tory amendment and accused Badenoch of “weak leadership”.

He said “reasonable people could agree or disagree” on whether there should be a fresh probe and acknowledged that there were mixed views among victims and survivors.

Chris Philp, the Conservative shadow home secretary, condemned Labour’s vote against the amendment as “morally wrong”.

Asked why the Conservatives had brought the amendment, given its limited chances of success, Philp said: “When you’re in opposition you need to use every parliamentary device available to try and bring issues to the fore.”

“We must have this inquiry and we… will do everything we can to keep the victims at the front of this debate and to try and get the government to do the right thing.

“It’s not too late – Keir Starmer could still announce an inquiry and I really hope we can pressure him, persuade him to change his mind and do the right thing for victims.”

During Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir said he would “call out” anyone who prevented victims of sexual abuse from coming forward.

However, he accused Badenoch of only recently taking an interest in the subject and said she had failed to take action when she was in government.

“I can’t recall her once raising this issue in the House, once calling for a national inquiry,” he said.

Making her argument for a fresh inquiry during her debate with Sir Keir, Badenoch said “no one has joined the dots, no one has the total picture”.

She noted that the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which lasted for seven years and concluded in 2022, had not had a specific focus on grooming gangs.

She said a new inquiry could explore “if there was a racial and cultural motivation to some of these crimes”.

A local Rotherham inquiry uncovered the sexual abuse of 1,400 children over 16 years, mainly by British Pakistani men.

In Telford, up to 1,000 girls faced abuse over 40 years, with some cases overlooked due to “nervousness about race” as most suspects were men of south Asian heritage.

Badenoch accused the PM of not wanting questions asked “of Labour politicians who may be complicit” in previous cases.

The current row over the subject was triggered after GB News reported that the government had refused Oldham Council’s request for a government-led inquiry into historical child sexual exploitation.

Elon Musk, the tech billionaire and adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, has made numerous incendiary interventions on the subject including accusing Sir Keir of being “complicit in the rape of Britain”.

Following Prime Minister’s Questions, Musk posted a message on social media urging MPs to back an inquiry adding “hundreds of thousands of little girls in Britain who were, and still are, being systematically, horrifically gang-raped deserve some justice in this world”.

Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, who turned down the request, has argued that in her experience locally-led inquiries, such as the one held in Telford, were more effective at implementing change.

However, speaking to Sky News she said “nothing is off the table” adding: “If the victims come forward to me in this victims panel and they say, ‘actually, we think there needs to be a national inquiry into this’, I’ll listen to them.”

A Downing Street spokesman said that “significant” engagement with victims’ groups had shown “they do not want to see a national inquiry, they want action taken to deliver justice”, but that the prime minister “always remains open-minded”.

The Liberal Democrats abstained from voting on the amendment.

The party’s education spokesperson Munira Wilson said it would “kill crucial child protection measures” and accused the Conservatives of “using the victims of this scandal as a political football”.

All five Reform UK MPs backed the amendment, after spending the week demanding a national inquiry.

Despite the support Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, labelled Conservatives’ interest in the grooming gangs “insincere”.

He added that if the government would not call an inquiry, Reform would raise money to appoint “independent arbiters” to examine the subject.