A Labor MP has publicly called for a national inquiry into grooming gangs, becoming the first parliamentary party to break with Keir Starmer.
The government said now was not the time to launch another investigation as it was focused on taking action for victims based on recommendations in Professor Alexis Jay’s 2022 report into the scandal.
The Conservative Party tried to block the government’s welfare and schools bill so Parliament could vote on another inquiry last week, but MPs voted against it.
However, Liverpool’s Walton’s Dan Carradine, who did not score a vote He said during the reading of the bill on Wednesday Liverpool Echo newspaper Over the weekend, it was time for another investigation.
He said: “The public sympathy for the victims, and the thousands of working-class British girls and children, is real.
“The public call for justice must be answered. It is shocking that people in positions of power could cover up and refuse to act to avoid confronting racism because of cultural issues or because the victims were poor or working class.
“We must question and challenge the doctrine of progressive liberal multiculturalism that has led to the authorities’ failure to act. We need a new doctrine to move our multiethnic society into the future.”
The MP said that although both Starmer and Protection Secretary Jess Phillips had “strong records” in this area, he believed “the government had failed to take the high ground”.
“You must convey a clear message about which side you are on and direct the state now to implement the rule of law without fear,” he said. [or] righteousness and justice.
“The Prime Minister must use the full power of the state to deliver justice. She must continue to relentlessly pursue perpetrators and hold to account those in positions of power who turned a blind eye, failed to act, or provided political cover for the gangs.
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The only other senior Labor figure to have joined the Tories’ call for an inquiry so far is Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.
He told BBC Radio Manchester that further investigations should “shed light on some of these national issues and force people to give evidence and then they may have charges to answer and be held accountable.”
It was immediately shut down by No 10 when Starmer’s spokesman said the Prime Minister “was clear that it is reasonable for people to have a range of views, but his focus and the government’s focus is on action now and not further inquiries or delays”. “.
However, ministers have not completely closed the door on another investigation, if that is what the victims want.
“Nothing is off the table,” Phillips told Sky News. And if victims come to me on this Victims Committee and say, ‘In fact, we think there should be a national investigation into this,’ I will listen to them.”
Professor Guy, who led the seven-year investigation into the scandal, said she would not support another investigation as it could lead to further delays and setbacks.