UK MPs vote against grooming gangs inquiry; Keir Starmer, opposition leader clash

Lawmakers from the ruling Labour Party have slammed the opposition for attempting to kill the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill by tabling an amendment that would force the new inquiry, while blocking the bill at the same time.

In Short

• British MPs reject Conservative Party's grooming gangs inquiry bid
• Labour slams Conservatives for blocking Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill
• Vote ends with 364 against and 111 for, majority of 253

British lawmakers have voted against an attempt by the opposition Conservative Party to launch a new national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal.

Lawmakers from the ruling Labour Party have slammed the opposition for attempting to kill the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill by tabling an amendment that would force the national inquiry, while blocking the bill at the same time.

The bill includes measures aimed at protecting children, stricter rules regarding home-schooling, and changes to academies.

Following a lengthy debate on Wednesday evening in the House of Commons, which also witnessed a fierce clash between Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, the amendment was voted down by 364 to 111, a majority of 253.

The grooming scandal, which first came to light in 2010, centres on the exploitation of young girls in towns like Rochdale, Oldham and Rotherham by British-Pakistani men.

A 2014 inquiry revealed that at least 1,400 children had been groomed and abused in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013. Nearly 1,000 girls faced abuse over 40 years in Telford, with most suspects being men of South Asian heritage.

Meanwhile, another inquiry in 2022 confirmed that child sexual abuse was "endemic" across England and Wales.

During the Wednesday evening debate, Badenoch accused the Labour-led government of a "cover up" by refusing an inquiry into the scandal.

She argued that the 2022 inquiry did not have a specific focus on the "rape gang scandal", saying that "no one has joined the dots, no one has the total picture", reports the BBC.

The Conservative MP further said that a new inquiry could also investigate "if there was a racial and cultural motivation to some of these crimes". She also accused the Prime Minister of not wanting to be asked about "Labour MPs who might be complicit" in some of these cases.

In response, Starmer said that Badenoch was only interested in “tweeting and talking” and only started taking interest in the issue recently despite being a children's minister in the previous Rishi Sunak-led Conservative government.

"I can't recall her once raising this issue in the House, once calling for a national inquiry... It’s only in recent days she’s jumped on the bandwagon,” he said.

“She met her recently acquired view that it’s a scandal, having spent a lot of time on social media over Christmas. Not once in eight years did she stand here and say what she just said.”

The grooming gangs scandal came into the spotlight after Home Office Minister Jess Phillips rejected a requesr for a government-led inquiry into historical child sexual exploitation.

It gained further attention after Tesla CEO Elon Musk's repeated criticism of Starmer trying to "safeguard" Phillips over her rejection.

Last week, the tech billionaire intensified his attack against the British Prime Minister, accusing the latter of failing to bring "rape gangs" to justice when he was head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) from 2008 to 2013.

"Starmer was complicit in the rape of Britain when he was head of Crown Prosecution for six years. Starmer must go and he must face charges for his complicity in the worst mass crime in the history of Britain," he said.

Musk also called King Charles to mediate over the issue and dissolve Parliament.

On its part, the UK government hit back at the Tesla CEO, saying he was "misjudged and certainly misinformed".

In a tweet late Wednesday night, he said the decision to vote against the Conservative bid was "unbelievable".