Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has tabled an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, which will be voted on later today, demanding a full inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal.
The conversation surrounding grooming gangs has recently engulfed both social and mainstream media. But where has it come from? Cut through the noise with Politics UK’s explainer.
The scandal
The Times first revealed there were grooming gangs in Rotherham that sexually exploited at least 1,400 children over the course of 16 years which led to the first major inquiry in 2013. Subsequently, there was a national inquiry looking into child sexual abuse, the findings of which were released in 2022. It made 20 recommendations to be implemented to end child suffering.
The current conversation
The recent uproar began when Labour Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips rejected calls to launch a Home Office inquiry on the historic child exploitation scandal in Oldham, stating that multiple other inquiries have taken place on the issue. She instead directed the Oldham Council to conduct its own local inquiry to look into the history of child sexual abuse in the town, stating that she felt the government should not ‘intervene’.
This received widespread criticism, and quickly drew the attention of tech billionaire and X owner Elon Musk last week.
Musk called Phillips a ‘rape genocide apologist’ and said she should be jailed. In an interview with BBC Newsnight yesterday, Phillips said Elon Musk was ‘endangering’ her life with his comments.
He also criticised the PM for his time as head of the CPS for not doing enough to prosecute grooming gangs. Musk claimed Starmer has been ‘complicit in the rape of Britain’ during his time as director of the CPS.
Starmer responded on Monday accusing Musk of ‘spreading lies and misinformation’. He did not mention Musk by name, but condemned all those involved, claiming they are only ‘interested in themselves’.
As director of the CPS between 2008 and 2013, Starmer oversaw at least 35 convictions in relation to child sexual abuse and grooming gangs.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch have joined Musk in calling for a national inquiry. Farage has claimed his party will be able to raise the money to conduct a full public inquiry into what he called the ‘mass rape scandal’. Farage has also claimed that both Labour and Conservatives are at fault for overseeing inquiries that were ‘nothing more than a whitewash’.
Both Farage and Badenoch also took issue with the fact that Starmer labelled those demanding a national inquiry were ‘jumping on the bandwagon’ and ‘amplifying’ the far-right.
Musk recently involved himself in a spat with Reform leader Nigel Farage, claiming he is ‘not fit’ to lead the party despite recent reports that he would be donating millions to them.
Conservative calls for legislative action
As leader of the opposition, Kemi Badenoch is also heading a Conservative amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing Bill later today.
This will try and force a vote on whether to hold a a full national inquiry into what Badenoch called the ‘rape gangs grooming scandal’.
It comes just as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced that reporting child sexual abuse will become mandatory in England and Wales, as well as plans to introduce a victims and survivors panel.
She has also said the government will make grooming an aggravating factor in child sexual offences and will create a dataset for child abuse and protection.
Labour minister for Victims & Violence Against Women & Girls Alex Davies-Jones told Sky News yesterday morning that her party will vote against the Conservatives’ call for a full public inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal.
In 2018, the Conservatives rejected calls for a full public inquiry into the scandal after concerns were raised in Telford, and instead proposed that councils should fund and lead their own local inquiries.
Professor Alexis Jay, who led both inquiries in 2013 and 2022, has also said a new inquiry is not needed, and has instead called for her recommendations to be implemented, which include Yvette Cooper’s announcement in relation to making reporting child sexual abuse mandatory. She has said this will be added to the Crime and Policing Bill, not the Children’s Wellbeing Bill.
