DAVID Lammy has sparked chaos after contradicting No.10’s stance on whether a fresh national inquiry into grooming gangs is on the table.
The Foreign Secretary insisted the Prime Minister had “ruled it out” during PMQs, arguing Sir Keir Starmer was clear in rejecting a new national probe.
But just hours earlier, a spokesman for the PM had told journalists the Government remained “open-minded” on the issue, leaving ministers tangled in mixed messages.
Repeatedly pressed on whether the Government was ruling out a national inquiry, Mr Lammy tried to shift the focus, telling Times Radio: “You’ve asked me seven questions on this… we’ve been talking about it for days.”
He pointed instead to the seven-year, £100 million Jay Inquiry, arguing ministers were getting on” with its 20 recommendations—despite victims’ groups saying much of it remains unfulfilled.
Asked once again if he was ruling out the probe, Mr Lammy replied: “We’ve had a national inquiry. I think he ruled that out at the Prime Minister’s [Questions] at the despatch box… “
The exchange comes after Labour MPs for Northern towns blighted by rape gangs voted against a new inquiry into the scandal last night.
Sir Keir whipped the MPs for Rochdale, Rotherham and Oldham and hundreds of others to defeat the bid for a new probe – just hours after No10 said the PM as “open minded” to a new investigation.
A Downing Street spokesman said that “significant” engagement with victims’ groups had shown “they do not want to see a national inquiry, they want action taken to deliver justice”, but that the prime minister “always remains open-minded”.
Under-fire safeguarding minister Jess Phillips also said “nothing is off the table” when pushed on looking again at the horrific grooming abuse in 50 northern towns.
But Labour were accused of sowing chaos after defeating a Commons bid investigate what opposition boss Kemi Badenoch called “one of the worst scandals in British history.”
MPs voted 364 to 111 against a new inquiry, with the Tories and Reform failing to barely dent the Government’s commanding 253 majority.
Last night the Conservatives said: “Labour are in chaos – they say they’re open minded about holding a national inquiry but hours later voted against one.”
At a heated PMQs earlier in the day, Ms Badenoch warned Labour’s refusal to open a national investigation looked like a “cover up”.
She blasted: “He does not want questions asked of Labour politicians who may be complicit”, adding: “Be a leader, not a lawyer.”
The Tory boss attacked the PM for ordering “Labour MPs, including those representing Telford, Rochdale, Bristol, Derby, Aylesbury, Oldham, Bradford, Peterborough, Coventry, Middlesbrough, Newcastle and Ramsgate, to vote against a national inquiry into the gangs that have systematically gang-raped children in their constituencies.”
Last night victim Elizabeth Harper, who was abused in Rotherham, heaped praise on Elon Musk: “He has amplified and got our voices heard…It’s out of this world”
And in a plea for an inquiry to the PM, she added: “It’s been estimated that there’s 250,000 victims across this country. Don’t we deserve at least to know is how we can stop it? I think it’s so important.”
Her remarks echoed the attacks by the world’s richest man who accused Sir Keir of denying an inquiry “because he is hiding terrible things”.
But the PM insisted he had met victims who did not want another investigation.
He added “a further inquiry would take us to 2031” without providing an explanation to why it will take another six years.
The PM insisted earlier it was time for “action” instead of the “delay of a further inquiry.
His flagship Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill would have also collapsed had Ms Badenoch’s amendment been allowed to stand.
Nigel Farage supported the Tory bid but accused Ms Badenoch’s outrage as “insincere” given she did not act as a minister.
The PM had dismissed growing demands for a new inquiry, insisting a previous investigation has already uncovered the horrors that shook a series of northern towns.
But later his spokesman appeared to leave the door open for a probe, saying the government “will always remain open-minded” and “listen to local authorities who want to take forward inquiries”.
The PM said Ms Badenoch had not once spoken in the Commons about the scandal, accusing her of just “tweeting and talking”.
Ms Badenoch hit back: “We know that people were scared to tell the truth because they thought they would be called racist. Ifwe want to stop this from ever happening again, we cannot be afraid.”
She added: “It is very possible to have shorter inquiries, especially if they are covering areas that have not been looked at yet.”
