Sir Keir Starmer has faced Kemi Badenoch at the first PMQs of 2025, which came against the backdrop of a debate about an inquiry into child grooming gangs – largely driven by Elon Musk.
Wednesday 8 January 2025 14:48, UK
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Kemi Badenoch used all of her questions at PMQs to question the prime minister about why he is not ordering a new national inquiry into the grooming scandal, having spent days calling for one.
After the parliamentary punch-up, the Tory leader’s spokesman took questions from journalists, and was asked if she had met with victims of grooming and survivors of child sexual exploitation.
He replied that she has not yet met with any victims, but she will “meet them if they want to meet with her”.
The spokesman also said she did not call for a national inquiry previously because she served in governments led by other prime ministers, when she was bound by “collective responsibility”.
In the House of Commons, shadow education secretary Laura Trott has addressed MPs on the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.
She said the Conservative Party was introducing an amendment to the bill for a national inquiry into grooming gangs as the full extent of the scandal is unknown.
Ms Trott said the debate had moved too far away from the victims of child sexual exploitation gangs.
She said: “There are legitimate arguments to be had in this area. But the one I will not accept is to call for this is to be far right.
“The Labour government have to understand that they must explain their actions, not just call the opposition names.”
Inquiry would ‘tell the truth’
Ms Trott added: “This is an enormous scandal, and yet we do not know fully the number of victims, the number of perpetrators and where this has taken place.
“The previous Conservative government set up the grooming gang taskforce which made over 500 arrests in the first year, there were over 1,400 victims in Rotherham alone.
“This will potentially encompass tens of thousands of children and that’s why we think we need a comprehensive national inquiry into grooming gangs to tell the truth.”
The government’s Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill includes measures to keep youngsters safe if they’re being homeschooled, and unifying the pay conditions for council-run school and academy teachers.
But it’s been somewhat hijacked today by a Tory amendment trying to force the government to hold a public inquiry into grooming gangs.
You can watch MPs debate the bill and amendment below:
Let’s have a quick catch-up on the main things you need to know on a busy day in the House of Commons.
We’ll bring you any noteworthy details from the debate on the government’s schools bill through the afternoon, and the result of the vote later this evening.
Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge is live from 7pm.
Stay with us for more updates and analysis until then.
The PM will meet French president Emmanuel Macron tomorrow, Downing Street has announced.
But Sir Keir Starmer is doing something unusual – he is hosting Mr Macron in the UK, rather than jetting off to see him.
The pair will meet at Chequers – the prime minister’s grace-and-favour country home in Buckinghamshire.
The PM’s spokesperson said the two leaders will discuss “areas of cooperation and shared global challenges including support for Ukraine, tech and AI, growth and tackling illegal migration”.
No doubt Donald Trump and Elon Musk will come up at some point as well…
Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesperson has been taking questions from journalists following PMQs, and they were asked about Jess Phillips’s comments to Sky News about a national inquiry into the grooming scandal.
In case you missed it – Ms Phillips told our political editor Beth Rigby on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast that “nothing is off the table” when dealing with the grooming gangs scandal – including a new national inquiry if victims want one.
‘We will always listen to victims’
The comments appeared to contradict what the PM had previously said, but his spokesperson told journalists that Downing Street’s position is exactly the same.
“We will always listen to what victims want,” they said, adding that is why they are implementing all the 20 recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) that reported in 2022.
They added that Sir Keir would meet with “all victims”, while “the Tories are calling for things they sat on for eight years while the leader of the opposition [Kemi Badenoch] was an MP”.
Meanwhile, they said, Sir Keir was “responsible for prosecution of one of the first gangs in Rochdale”.
‘Victims want action’
Asked if this is a U-turn from the PM’s previously express position, his spokesperson rejected that out of hand, saying that they’ll “remain open”, but “victims groups don’t want to see more inquiries”.
They added that an inquiry could take place “if victims in future come to us requesting one”.
“But as of now, they have told us they want action, not instigating a new inquiry.”
The Tories’ attempts to amend the government’s schools bill with a requirement for an inquiry into grooming gangs does rather risk overshadowing what’s actually in the proposed legislation.
The focus – as its full name (Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill) suggests – is on keeping youngsters safe.
One of the main measures is parents losing the automatic right to homeschool their children if they are considered vulnerable.
It comes after the parents of Sara Sharif were jailed for her murder just before the Christmas break, having subjected her to shocking abuse.
Other measures include:
The second reading of the government’s flagship Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill is under way in the Commons.
But the Tories have tabled a reasoned amendment that both expresses opposition to many of the measures in the bill, and also calls on the government to order a national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal.
The Speaker has announced that the amendment has been selected for debate.
Without getting too much into the weeds of parliamentary procedure – at this stage of a bill’s passage, if the reasoned amendment passes, it would kill the whole legislation, which has infuriated the government (read more detail on the Commons procedure here).
That means that Labour MPs will vote against the amendment, and the Tories will then say Labour voted against a new inquiry.
Read the full details of the Tory amendment here.
Tory approach is ‘sickening and shameful’
Opening the debate in the House of Commons, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told MPs: “A vote against this bill today is a vote against the safety of our children.”
She went on to say that Tory MPs “have a choice” when it comes to the vote later today: “They can choose to back measures to protect children, or they can choose to chase headlines.
“They can choose to transform the lives of the most vulnerable young people in this country, or they can choose to sacrifice their safety for political gain.”
She continued: “I want to be very clear about the conduct of politicians, be they on the benches opposite or anywhere else, who put the pursuit of headlines today above the safety of children tomorrow – it is sickening, and it is shameful.”
Some strong points from both government and opposition for and against a national inquiry into grooming gangs.
What stood out from PMQs today is Keir Starmer daring Kemi Badenoch to correct him when he said she had never raised the issue of grooming gangs in parliament since becoming an MP.
She did not correct him, saying she had raised it in “speeches”, but gave new reasons to hold one – including that not doing so could increase Islamophobia.
Starmer reined in his language from earlier in the week, not referring to those who wanted an inquiry as jumping on a “far right” bandwagon, although still insists they are late to the issue.
He also acknowledged victims are split on the issue, and wanting an inquiry was a “reasonable” argument.
This is an issue put at the top of the agenda by Elon Musk, but both party leaders adopted a moderate tone and largely left him out of it.
The first session of Prime Minister’s Questions of the year has now concluded.
Sir Keir Starmer was questioned on a range of topics, and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch focused on calls for a new national inquiry into child sexual exploitation.
Scroll down for full coverage and analysis of this week’s session.
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