MPs have rejected a Conservative bid to push for another national inquiry into grooming gangs by 364 votes to 111.
The Government’s draft child protection legislation cleared its first Commons hurdle on Wednesday following a bitter Prime Minister’s Questions in which Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said failing to back a probe would fuel concerns about a “cover-up”.
The Conservatives had tabled the motion to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill demanding a new national inquiry into gangs which, if approved, would have prevented the legislation from making progress.
But MPs voted to reject the motion by 364 votes to 111, majority 253.
The division list showed that supporters of the amendment included 101 Conservatives, five Reform UK, two DUP, the TUV’s Jim Allister, UUP MP Robin Swann and Independent Alex Easton, and no Labour MPs.
The Bill later received a second reading without the need for a further formal vote, and will undergo further scrutiny at a later date.
The Prime Minister hit out at the Tory leader earlier on Wednesday over “lies and misinformation, and slinging of mud” which did not help victims of child sexual abuse.
He had urged Mrs Badenoch to drop her “wrecking amendment” to the Government’s wide-ranging Bill, which includes measures to protect vulnerable children such as tougher rules on home-schooling as well as changes to academies and private school regulation.
Sir Keir said a further inquiry could delay action on tackling child sexual abuse, pointing out that recommendations from a seven-year probe which reported in 2022 had not yet been implemented.
“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,” he told the Commons.
The Tory leader hit back: “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?”
The Conservatives accused Labour MPs of having “turned a blind eye to justice” for victims of grooming gangs after the motion, which would have derailed a key piece of Government legislation, was rejected in the Commons.
“It is disgusting that Keir Starmer has used his supermajority in Parliament to block a national inquiry into the rape gangs scandal,” shadow home secretary Chris Philp said.
“Labour MPs have put their party ahead of getting to the truth and turned a blind eye to justice for the victims. Labour MPs will have to explain to the British people why they are against learning the truth behind the torture and rape of countless vulnerable girls.”
The Opposition also lashed out at the Liberal Democrats, who also criticised the motion, with shadow equalities minister Mims Davies saying Sir Ed Davey’s party “simply prefer to sit on their hands” than take an opportunity to “stop Labour”.
The Lib Dems have said they will instead lay their own amendment calling for the recommendations to be enacted in full when the Bill reaches the committee stage, in order to avoid blocking the passage of “important child safeguarding measures”.
The issue has become a political storm after X boss Elon Musk used his social media platform to launch a barrage of attacks on Sir Keir and safeguarding minister Jess Phillips.
In response to Labour’s opposition to calls for a national inquiry, Mr Musk called Sir Keir “Starmtrooper” and accused him of trying to cover up “terrible things”, and later said the rejection of the amendment was “unbelievable.”
In a heated parliamentary debate before the vote, Nigel Farage suggested his Reform UK party, which has five MPs, will fund an inquiry into child sexual abuse if the Government fails to do so, arguing that people “need to know the truth about this great evil that has happened in our culture”.
Labour MP Nadia Whittome accused both Reform and the Conservatives of “marching to the beat of Elon Musk’s drum” and “plainly weaponising the pain and the trauma of victims for their own political ends”.
“When you say that child sexual and exploitation is the result of alien cultures, or a multiculturalism project that has failed, you mask the reality, which is that child sexual abuse and exploitation is happening in every area of this country, perpetrated by members of every social class, every race and every religion,” she said.
Reform’s Rupert Lowe raised around 30 questions during the debate, including to ask whether the Government would commit to “urgently deporting all guilty foreign nationals involved, including family members who were aware of the crimes and therefore complicit”.
He added: “The mass rape of young white working-class girls by gangs of Pakistani rapists is a rotting stain on our nation.”
Sarah Champion, Labour MP for Rotherham, said she was “disgusted” by Mr Lowe’s language and urged parliamentarians to think about victims and survivors listening to their words.
Speaking to broadcasters on Wednesday afternoon, education minister Stephen Morgan accused the Tories of “political game-playing” with the motion.
Following the vote, a Labour spokesperson said: “The Conservatives attempted to block this Government’s plans to keep the most vulnerable children in our country safe from harm, after spending years failing to implement Professor Jay’s recommendations.
“Our measures protect children from harm, beef up inspections of illegal schools, and will mean that abusive parents can’t keep their children out of school… Clearly playing politics trumps safeguarding children on the Conservatives’ list of priorities.”
Mrs Badenoch’s amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill called for ministers “to develop new legislative proposals for children’s wellbeing including establishing a national statutory inquiry into historical child sexual exploitation, focused on grooming gangs”.
The move was always likely to be rejected in the Commons due to Labour’s massive majority, as the Government wants to roll out the 2022 recommendations made by Professor Alexis Jay’s inquiry rather than open a new probe.
Critics claim Sir Keir wants to avoid a national inquiry because it could put the focus on his time as director of public prosecutions between 2008 and 2013.
The Prime Minister has defended his record, pointing out that he brought the “first major prosecution of an Asian grooming gang” and changed the approach to dealing with similar cases.
Prof Jay, who led the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse which reported in 2022, says “the time has passed” for another lengthy examination of grooming gangs.
On Monday, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the Government would begin to implement Prof Jay’s call for mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse, with further details expected to be set out in the coming weeks.
