Andy Burnham has split with Sir Keir Starmer to call for a national inquiry into grooming gangs.
The Labour Mayor of Greater Manchester said he believed there was a case for a “limited national inquiry” that draws on local reviews into historic child sexual exploitation.
Sir Keir ordered Labour MPs to vote to block a national inquiry into grooming gangs on Wednesday evening.
This was because the Tory amendment calling for the investigation would have caused the Government’s entire Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to fall if it had been agreed.
Mr Burnham told BBC Radio Manchester: “In my view, the Government was right to reject that form of opportunism. But I did hear last night coming out of the debate, ministers saying they are open to discussing issues now with survivors.
“And 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’ve seen in Rotherham, the one we’ve 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. That is something I couldn’t do at my level.”
Mr Burnham commissioned an independent review in 2017 to consider allegations made in a BBC documentary. It looked at grooming in Manchester, Oldham and Rochdale and concluded authorities failed to protect children.
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