Keir Starmer faces recent grooming gang strain as ex-Labour frontbencher breaks ranks to demand a brand new inquiry into intercourse abuse of teenage ladies

Keir Starmer is facing fresh pressure to call a new inquiry into grooming gangs from within Labour ranks today as another MP said a fresh probe was needed.

Sarah Champion, whose Rotherham constituency suffered one of the worst scandals, said that a new national investigation was required, saying the public ‘distrust’ politicians.

The former shadow equalities minister has long campaigned on the issue of gangs, an issue thrown into the spotlight again in recent weeks.

Sir Keir Starmer has so far refused calls for a fresh inquiry. 

In 2017 she said people were failing to confront the problem of Asian men abusing white girls because they were terrified of being branded a racist.

Breaking her silence on X today she outlined a five-point plan of action to ‘ensure children are safeguarded, victims & survivors can access the support that they need, perpetrators are brought to justice and those in authority are held to account. 

‘This includes a national inquiry into grooming gangs,’ she said.

At the weekend Liverpool Walton MP Dan Carden spoke out in favour of a new probe, winning plaudits from rightwing X owner Elon Musk, who has made the subject his new pet issue. 

And new Rochdale MP Paul Waugh has said he also supports a new inquiry ‘with caveats’. His seat was blighted with some of the worst offending. 

He told the BBC today: ‘I’m not against a national enquiry but it has got to have some key caveats.

‘First, is it supported by victims because they are the people who have told their stories and it took a lot of bravery to tell those stories?’

‘They fought for justice for many years, are they going to have to re-experience their trauma every time they explain this? They have done this time and time again.’

Ms Champion proposed a national ‘Telford-style’ inquiry rolled out by the Home Office to areas that trigger the threshold for greater scrutiny.

The findings would then be fed back to the Home Office for a national response.

‘Child sexual abuse is endemic in the UK and needs to be recognised as a national priority,’ she said.

‘It is clear that the public distrusts governments and authorities when it comes to preventing and prosecuting child abuse, especially child sexual exploitation.’

She set out a five-point plan of recommendations including a national inquiry and a ‘national audit’ to see if grooming gangs are still operating or cases have been missed.

Local inquiries lack the power to compel witnesses and would fail to satisfy the public’s concern of cover-ups, she said.

Triggers for such inquiries in local areas could be local councils or police referring themselves or an independent panel raising concerns.

Victim or survivor reports could also trigger an inquiry under the model, Ms Champion said.

Pressure has mounted on the Prime Minister to launch an inquiry specifically into grooming gangs since billionaire Mr Musk posted a slew of attacks on him over the issue at the start of the year.

The Conservatives used an attempt to block the Government’s Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill on Wednesday to force a vote on calls for a new inquiry.

So far, Sir Keir has resisted calls for a new inquiry, saying the Government will focus on implementing the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse chaired by Professor Alexis Jay.

In addition to its main report, that inquiry published a 200-page supplemental report specifically on abuse by organised networks in February 2022.

Prof Jay has previously said that she would not be in favour of another inquiry, warning it would delay implementation of her recommendations.

Ms Champion’s plan includes implementing the Jay report.

Until Mr Carden spoke out, the only significant Labour figure to back calls for an inquiry was Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, a move Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said had added to the ‘immense’ pressure on the Prime Minister.

Speaking at his party’s North-West regional conference on Saturday, Mr Farage reiterated his pledge that Reform would launch its own inquiry if the Government did not act by the end of January.

Describing the previous Independent Inquiry on Child Sexual Abuse as a ‘shotgun approach’, he said a new inquiry needed to be a ‘rifle shot’ dealing with gangs ‘predominantly of Pakistani origin’ preying on ‘young, in most cases working-class white girls’.

His speech came a day after the director of the National Police Chiefs Council’s Hydrant programme targeting sexual abuse said there was no ‘significant issue’ with ‘any particular ethnicity or setting’.

Downing Street said Sarah Champion’s opinion on whether there should be another grooming gang inquiry ‘absolutely’ carries weight given her extensive experience on the issue but ‘there will be a range of views’.

Number 10 said the Government would be ‘guided and led by the victims and survivors’ as it reiterated that taking action on the recommendations from a 2022 report on child sexual abuse was its priority over launching a new investigation.

It comes after Labour MP for Rotherham Ms Champion called for a nationwide inquiry into grooming gangs.

Asked whether Ms Champion’s views on the matter carry some weight given her experience, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘Absolutely. There will be a range of views.

‘We’ve heard opposing views to that from others, including victims and survivors’ groups as well. So we will be guided and led by the victims and survivors on this.’