Labour MPs turn on Starmer over grooming gangs

Will Keir Starmer have to change his tune on a public inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal? Just last week, the Prime Minister appeared to suggest those calling for a new inquiry into grooming gangs were jumping on a ‘far-Right bandwagon’. However, since then – and following a backlash over the comment – Starmer appears to be slowly changing his position. At Prime Minister’s Questions, Starmer suggested everyone was entitled to their own opinion on whether there should be an inquiry into the scandal between 1997 and 2013, which saw children as young as 11 raped and trafficked by gangs of men, predominantly of Pakistani descent.

Now Starmer’s position appears to be softening further as his own MPs start to break rank on the issue. On Monday, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said that while Starmer’s opposition remained, the government ‘will be guided and led by the victims and survivors on this’.