Labour MP Breaks From Starmer To Call For Fresh National Inquiry Into Grooming Gangs Scandal
A Labour MP has publicly called for a national inquiry into grooming gangs, becoming the first of the parliamentary party to break away from Keir Starmer.
The government has said now is not the time for another inquiry because it is focused on delivering action for victims based on the recommendations from Professor Alexis Jay’s 2022 report into the scandal.
The Tory Party attempted to block the government’s bill on wellbeing and schools so parliament would hold a vote on having another inquiry last week, but MPs voted against it.
However, Liverpool Walton’s Dan Carden, who did not record a vote during Wednesday’s reading of the bill, told the Liverpool Echo newspaper over the weekend that it is time for another probe.
He said: “The public compassion for the victims, thousands of young British working-class girls and children is real.
“The public call for justice must be heeded. It is shocking that people in positions of power could have covered up and refused to act to avoid confronting racial for cultural issues or because victims were poor or working-class.
“We must question and challenge the orthodoxy of progressive liberal multiculturalism that led to authorities failing to act. We need a new doctrine to take our multi-ethnic society into the future.”
The backbencher said while both Starmer and his safeguarding minister Jess Phillips have “strong records” in this area, he believes ” the government has failed to take the high ground”.
He said: “It must communicate a clear message about whose side it is on and now direct the state to implement the rule of law without fear [or] favour and deliver justice.
“The prime minister must use the full power of the state to deliver justice. It must continue to unflinchingly pursue the perpetrators and bring to account those in positions of authority who turned a blind eye, failed to act, or gave political cover to the gangs.”
X billionaire Elon Musk, who brought the topic to the top of the political agenda earlier this month by attacking Starmer and Phillips, praised Carden’s move online for its “integrity” on his social media.
The only other prominent Labour figure to join the Tory call for an inquiry so far is Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham.
He told BBC Radio Manchester that further investigation should “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”.
He was promptly shut down by No.10 when Starmer’s spokesperson said the PM “has been clear that it’s only reasonable for people to have a range of views, but that his focus and the government’s focus is on action now and not more inquiries or delay”.
Ministers have not completely shut the door to holding another inquiry, though – if it is what victims want.
Phillips told Sky News: “Nothing is off the table. And 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.”
Professor Jay, who led the seven-year inquiry into the scandal, has said she would not support another probe because it could lead to further delays and setbacks.