Starmer rejects Tory claim of grooming gang ‘cover-up’ by Labour over inquiries

Sir Keir Starmer has said he is “delivering truth and justice” for victims of child sexual abuse, after Tory leader Kemi Badenoch accused his party of a “cover-up”.

In their final question session before voters go to the polls in 23 council areas across England and six mayoral contests, Mrs Badenoch said the Prime Minister is “dragging his heels” on local inquiries into grooming gangs.

The Government has faced pressure to act on grooming gangs and, despite a series of announcements to tackle the issue since January, has seen continued calls for a full national inquiry.

Baroness Louise Casey is currently overseeing a national audit on child sexual exploitation and abuse, looking at the scale, nature and profile of group-based abuse, including the characteristics of offenders.

The Government has also announced support for five local inquiries and has confirmed that funding will be made available to Oldham Council for one such inquiry.

On Monday, safeguarding minister Jess Phillips said she knows “exactly the issue of the cover-up”, adding that “wherever they tell me there are victims that need help, that is where I will go”, but did not reveal where the other four local inquiries would be held.

At PMQs, Mrs Badenoch said Ms Phillips “admitted on the floor of the House that there was a cover-up of the child rape gang scandal”, asking: “Does the Prime Minister think we should expose this cover-up?”

Sir Keir said: “This is obviously a serious issue. I oversaw the first grooming gang prosecution which was in Rochdale more than a decade ago.

“There is a contrast here because the Leader of the Opposition when she was minister for children, women and equalities, never raised this issue in the House in three years.”

He added: “My position is absolutely clear. Where there’s evidence then police should investigate and there should be appropriate prosecutions. That’s route number one.

“Route number two, we should implement existing recommendations which did expose what went wrong. They weren’t implemented by the last government, they’re being implemented by this Government.

“We are providing for local inquiries, we are investing more on delivering truth and justice for victims than the party opposite did in 14 long years.”

Mrs Badenoch then asked where the other local inquiries into rape gangs, in addition to the one already announced in Oldham, would be held.

The Conservative leader said her party “launched that inquiry that he’s talking about, but more still needs to be done”.

The Prime Minister said his Government “are providing for local inquiries”, adding: “(The Tories) have got so much to say now, why did they not implement a single recommendation in the 14 years they had in office?

“There are recommendations already in place about the change that needs to be taken.

“They sat on a shelf under the last government, we are acting on them.”

The Tory leader questioned whether the Prime Minister was “dragging his heels” on local inquiries into grooming gangs because he “doesn’t want Labour cover-ups exposed”.

She said: “He cannot name a single place because nothing is happening.

“He stood there at the despatch box and promised five local inquiries, nothing is happening. On the last day of term he had his minister come out to water down the promise to say they would provide funding – that’s not good enough.”

Sir Keir, a former director of public prosecutions, said he “changed the entire approach to prosecutions, which was then lauded by the Government that we were doing the right thing”.

“So my record was going after where I thought something had gone wrong and putting it right. She stayed silent throughout their years in government,” he said.

Mrs Badenoch fired back by reminding Sir Keir he’s “not the director of public prosecutions any more”, adding: “He is the Prime Minister, people want to know what he is going to do now, not talk about what he did years ago.”

She added: “He keeps talking about local inquiries yet they have not got going and they haven’t got going because local authorities don’t want to investigate themselves.”

Mrs Badenoch claimed if she was prime minister there would have been “a national inquiry months ago”, a statement that Sir Keir described as “hollow”.

Concluding with a pitch to voters in the local elections, the Tory leader said they faced a choice of “chaos and cover-ups under Labour councils or better services under the Conservatives”, while the Prime Minister said it would be the country’s opportunity to “pass their verdict” on Mrs Badenoch’s leadership.