Starmer holds Cabinet assembly over grooming gangs as he faces contemporary fury for ‘far-Right’ smear on requires nationwide probe and clashes with Musk
Keir Starmer is scrambling to steady the ship today after brutal clashes with Elon Musk and fury at ‘smearing’ those calling for a national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal.
The PM will gather his Cabinet this morning as ministers consider how to respond to the growing furore.
Sir Keir fueled the backlash after swiping yesterday that politicians who want an overarching probe into the rape of thousands of white girls by gangs of predominantly Pakistani-origin men were ‘amplifying what the far-Right are saying’.
As it tries to quell the row, the government has announced that the law will be changed to make it mandatory for social workers, teachers, police and others working with children to report suspected sexual abuse.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is tabling a Commons amendment designed to force a vote on an inquiry.
However, Professor Alexis Jay, who chaired the previous independent inquiry into Child Sex Abuse, said this morning that ‘people should just get on with’ implementing its recommendations rather than holding another one.
Keir Starmer is scrambling to steady the ship today after brutal clashes with Elon Musk
In a continuing tirade of attacks on Sir Keir, Mr Musk (pictured with Donald Trump) suggested the PM was ‘complicit’ in failure to tackle the abuse while director of public prosecutions
The latest phase of the scandal erupted when it emerged that the government had rejected a request from Oldham Council for a national inquiry into historical child sexual exploitation – saying the local authority should lead it instead.
Tesla tycoon Mr Musk pushed the issue up the agenda by wading in on his X social media site.
In a continuing tirade of attacks on Sir Keir, he suggested the PM was ‘complicit’ in failure to tackle the abuse while director of public prosecutions.
Mr Musk has also insisted Sir Keir should be in ‘prison’, and asked followers whether the US should ‘liberate’ Britain from ‘tyrannical government’.
Grilled at a press conference yesterday, the PM described child sexual exploitation as ‘utterly sickening’.
But he robustly defended his record as DPP, saying he tackled the issue ‘head on’.
The PM acknowledged that many victims felt ‘let down by perverse ideas about community relations or by the idea that institutions must be protected above all else and they have not been listened to and they have not been heard’.
However, he said there had been enough inquiries into a scandal that took place for decades across dozens of towns and cities. Sir Keir added: ‘This doesn’t need more consultation. It doesn’t need more research. It just needs action.’
Ms Badenoch accused the PM of ‘applying Labour smear tactics from 20 years ago’.
She added: ‘That such a huge scandal could occur should prompt soul-searching not ranting that those of us who care about it are ‘the far-Right’.’
Former police detective Maggie Oliver, who helped blow the whistle on the scandal in Rochdale, said she was ‘incandescent with rage’ at the PM’s comments.
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick insisted it is ‘not about Elon Musk’ and his focus is on the victims.
Asked whether the Conservatives had done enough to tackle the issue in government, Mr Jenrick repeatedly told BBC Breakfast ‘more needs to be done’.
He said: ‘Clearly more needed to be done, that’s why I think we have to take this forward, that’s why we do need to have a fully national inquiry.’
Arguing that ‘a number of significant steps were taken’ by Conservative home secretaries, Mr Jenrick also called for perpetrators to receive whole-life sentences.
As it tries to quell the row, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has announced that the law will be changed to make it mandatory for social workers, teachers, police and others working with children to report suspected sexual abuse
Kemi Badenoch accused the PM of ‘applying Labour smear tactics from 20 years ago’
He said: ‘I have long advocated going further than that and saying you should have a full-life sentence if you are a grooming gang perpetrator, so you never see the light of day, so you go to jail, you don’t step foot out on the streets of our country in 10 years or so, as is happening at the moment.
‘This is one of the most appalling racially aggravated crimes in our country’s history. It must be taken more seriously by everyone.’
Former police detective Maggie Oliver, who helped blow the whistle on the scandal in Rochdale, said she was ‘incandescent with rage’ at the PM’s comments.
She told GB News: ‘I am no far-Right activist. I am a woman who gave 16 years of my life to the police and protecting children was No 1 priority in my life.
‘All the victims that I know and that we support have had their lives destroyed. To write them off as far-Right extremists is insulting in the extreme.’
