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Sir Keir Starmer urges Kemi Badenoch to ‘withdraw her wrecking amendment’ to the government’s Bill aimed at protecting children
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Sir Keir Starmer launched a blistering attack on Tory leader Kemi Bedenoch as the pair exchanged for the first time over calls for a new inquiry into grooming gangs.
Ms Badenoch plans to table an amendment to Labour’s children’s safety bill that will call for ministers to open a national probe into historical child sexual exploitation – but she has been accused by Labour ministers of party politics.
It comes after Elon Musk launched baseless attacks against the government over its handling of child grooming.
At PMQs on Wednesday, Sir Keir said: “This morning, I met some of the victims and survivors of this scandal, and they were clear with me that they want action now, not the delay of a further inquiry. The Jay inquiry, the last national inquiry was seven years which would take us with a further inquiry to 2031, I think action is what’s required.
“But whatever your view, whatever anyone’s view on whether a further inquiry is needed, what I find shocking is that anyone in this House would vote down the Children’s Wellbeing Bill this afternoon, vital protections for the most vulnerable in our society and I urge the Leader of the Opposition to withdraw her wrecking amendment.”
Sir Keir Starmer has appeared to threaten to reverse the funding settlement given to Scotland in the Budget, after being challenged by the SNP over the government’s winter fuel allowance cut.
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn told MPs: “Outside of this place, temperatures continue to plummet, energy bills continue to rise, and the winter fuel allowance has been unacceptably taken away from so many vulnerable pensioners.
“The prime minister intimated prior to Christmas that he had no regrets about any of the decisions that he has taken in office. Does he understand that the public do?”
Sir Keir replied: “We took some tough decisions. They led to a Budget that has delivered the largest settlement since devolution began to Scotland. If he thinks that we should now reverse that, then he should say so … Now the SNP have the money, the power, so no more excuses for the non-delivery which we see in Scotland.”
Sir Keir Starmer has said “we all had a smile on Sunday” when Elon Musk spectacularly turned on Nigel Farage, just hours after the Reform UK leader had been on TV defending the billionaire.
The prime minister said that is the “rough and tumble” of politics, as Mr Farage and Reform’s deputy leader laughed along from the opposition benches.
Sir Keir said: “I think we all had a smile on Sunday when the honourable member said how cool it was to have the support of Musk only for Musk to say should be removed [as Reform UK leader] just a few hours later.
“That’s the rough and tumble of politics.”
Sir Keir confirmed the government is looking at the funding of political parties, as Mr Musk reportedly mulls a multi-million pound donation to Reform.
Urging Tory MPs to back Labour’s Bill on children’s safety this afternoon, Sir Keir Starmer said: “I know there are honourable members on the benches opposite who know very well that what’s in this Bill is necessary, that it’s the right thing to do, and that would want to vote for this Bill.
“I urge them to think twice about following this shortsighted, misguided, bandwagon-jumping approach of the non-leadership of the leader of the opposition.”
Kemi Badenoch has claimed that by blocking a national inquiry into grooming gangs the public would “start to worry about a cover-up”, pointing out the Sir Keir Starmer called for nine enquiries over the course of the last parliament.
She said that “not a single person in a position of authority has been held to account” over the scandal.
“The prime minister called for nine inquiries in the last parliament. Does he not see that by resisting this one people will start to worry about a cover-up?”, Ms Badenoch said.
Responding, Sir Keir replied: “This is an important issue and we have to focus on the victims and survivors and it is isn’t helpful, this sort of lies and misinformation and slinging of mud doesn’t help them one bit.”
Kemi Badenoch has called on Sir Keir Starmer to “look again at the Labour Party’s adoption of the definition of Islamophobia, its chilling effect, and rule out introducing it in government”.
The PM said he will call out an aspect that has prevented anybody coming forward when it comes to child sexual exploitation.
Sir Keir Starmer faced a barrage of questions from Kemi Badenoch about grooming gangs, and Labour’s refusal to launch a new national inquiry into the scandal.
The prime minister held his own, pointing to the Conservatives’ own failures in office and the leader of the opposition’s lack of credentials on the issue. And he reached across the house to urge Tory MPs to back Labour’s key child safety bill, with the party’s amendment calling for a grooming gangs investigation threatening to derail the changes.
Sir Keir repeatedly highlighted the many conversations he has had with victims and their fears about delays a further inquiry could cause in delivering changes recommended in a previous report on the scandal.
He also brandished his record as director of public prosecutions, saying that he “took measures to confront this head on” and ushered in the first mass prosecutions for an Asian grooming gang in Rochdale.
But the killer moment for Ms Badenoch was when Sir Keir highlighted her own silence on the issue in her eight years as an MP.
The PM said: “The leader of the opposition has been an MP, I think for eight years, her party had been in government. For seven and a half of those eight years… I can’t recall her once raising this issue in the house.”
Sir Keir Starmer has issued another defence of his action on grooming gangs while director of public prosecutions.
He told PMQs: “When I was chief prosecutor, I took measures to confront this head-on. The first mass prosecution of an Asian gang was in Rochdale. My team came to see me to put a number of Asian men in the dock. They wanted the green light for the first of these cases to take place.
“I gave that green light but on one condition, because it came to my attention that one of the men that was going into the dock had previously been arrested and not charged.
“And I said ‘you can bring the first of these mass prosecutions, but only if you look back through the file where [he wasn’t] charged and tell me what went wrong, so that I can start to put it right’ – and that’s what started the reforms I brought about.”
He added: “That’s the approach I took in practice while others were tweeting and talking.”
Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell reports:
Sir Keir Starmer has challenged Kemi Badenoch to defend her record on grooming gangs, claiming that she has not raised the issue once in her eight years as an MP.
In a tense PMQs, the prime minister said: “The leader of the opposition has been an MP, I think for eight years, her party had been in government. For seven and a half of those eight years…
“I can’t recall her once raising this issue in the house.
“Only in recent days she’s jumped on the bandwagon… if I am wrong about that and she has raised it, then I invite her to say that now.”
Ms Badenoch could not challenge Sir Keir over the claim directly, but claimed she had previously raised the issue of grooming gangs in speeches and publicly. “He knows that as a minister, I would not have been speaking on this specific issue,” Ms Badenoch added.
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