Keir Starmer is accused of ‘whole ethical cowardice’ after refusing to again Kemi Badenoch’s name for a Commons vote TODAY on whether or not to carry a public inquiry into grooming gangs scandal

Kemi Badenoch will push for a Commons vote today on whether to hold a public inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal – as campaigners warned the abuse of young girls is still continuing.

The Tory leader will step up pressure for an inquiry by tabling an amendment which would force the government to act.

Downing Street last night indicated it would block the move by ordering its MPs to vote against.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the decision showed ‘total moral cowardice from Keir Starmer and his Labour Party. The victims of these heinous child rape gangs deserve honesty, and they deserve the truth.’

Campaigners against child sex abuse also urged the Prime Minister to reconsider.

Victims campaigner Dame Jasvinder Sanghera said she ‘fully supported’ a public inquiry – and warned that rape and abuse of young girls by gangs of men was still continuing.

‘Let’s be clear, this is still happening,’ she told Times Radio. ‘This isn’t something that used to happen. This is still happening today. I’m sure the perpetrators of this kind of abuse will look for different ways of manipulating the system so we have to look at this as a whole and have a broader conversation.’

The scandal involved the rape and sexual abuse of thousands of white girls by gangs of predominantly Pakistani-origin men.

Downing Street last night indicated it would block the move by ordering its MPs to vote against the bill

The Tory leader will step up pressure for an inquiry by tabling an amendment which would force the government to act

Dame Jasvinder said the government’s approach to multiculturalism still appeared to be to ‘minimise the risk of offending communities as opposed to actually dealing with the very problem’.

Downing Street warned that the planned Tory amendment would wreck the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which MPs are due to debate today – and said the government would oppose it.

The PM’s official spokesman also said further inquiries were unnecessary, saying Sir Keir was ‘completely focused on’ tackling sexual abuse.

But Mr Philp said previous inquiries had failed to get to the bottom of the issue.

‘Labour’s decision risks perpetuating the cover-up of the rape gangs,’ he said.

‘There will be many Labour MPs in constituencies where these awful crimes took place and where victims still seek justice. They now need to think long and hard about which side of history they want to be on.’

The head of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse yesterday said ‘the time has passed’ for another lengthy examination of grooming gangs and that the row is ‘distracting from the issues’.

Professor Alexis Jay said ‘we’ve had enough of inquiries, consultations and discussions’ as she called for action.

Dame Jasvinder said the government’s approach to multiculturalism still appeared to be to ‘minimise the risk of offending communities as opposed to actually dealing with the very problem’

But she acknowledged that the government’s decision to finally respond to her report this week was triggered by the media focus on demands for a fresh inquiry.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced on Monday that she is implementing three of the report’s 20 recommendations, including placing a mandatory duty on those working with children to report suspected abuse.

Professor Jay said the row ‘may well have given it some kind of impetus to move forward’.

The shadow justice secretary yesterday suggested that a future Conservative government could try to curb migration from countries with ‘alien cultures’, including Pakistan.

He told the BBC that arrivals from some countries had ‘medieval’ attitudes towards women.

Asked if he was saying immigration policy should be changed to stop people with such attitudes from coming to the UK, he said: ‘I think that we have to be very careful about who is coming into this country, the scale and pace of that immigration so that we can have a much more successful integration policy than we have today.’

Mr Jenrick said Pakistani men were ‘over-represented in those who are involved in the grooming gangs’ and said he would not ‘tiptoe’ around the issue because some people might take offence.

Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper urged Mrs Badenoch to sack Mr Jenrick for his ‘divisive comments’.

Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper urged Mrs Badenoch to sack Mr Jenrick for his ‘divisive comments’

Mr Jenrick said Pakistani men were ‘over-represented in those who are involved in the grooming gangs’ and said he would not ‘tiptoe’ around the issue because some people might take offence

But a Tory spokesman backed him, saying Mrs Badenoch believed he had done an ‘excellent job explaining the pressing need for a national inquiry into the rape gangs scandal’.

Reform leader Nigel Farage said his party would be prepared to set up an unofficial inquiry into grooming gangs if the Government did not act within ‘a few weeks’.

‘I will have no difficulty in raising the money to do this, whatsoever. We’ll appoint independent ex-judges and experts,’ he told LBC.