LABOUR’S refusal to hold a national rape gangs inquiry looks like a “cover up”, Kemi Badenoch has warned.
The Tory leader and Sir Keir Starmer locked horns over the grooming scandal – each other accusing the other of failing to take action.
They traded blows ahead of a crunch vote this afternoon where the Conservatives are calling for a fresh probe specifically into the abuse of kids by mainly Asian paedophiles.
The PM has dismissed growing demands for a new inquiry, insisting a previous investigation has already uncovered the horrors that shook a series of northern towns.
In a heated PMQs spat, Ms Badenoch said: “The Prime Minister called for nine inquiries in the last parliament. Does he not feel that by resisting this one, people will start to worry about a cover-up.”
Her remarks echoed the attacks by Elon Musk who accused Sir Keir of denying an inquiry “because he is hiding terrible things”.
The animated Labour leader hit back at his Tory rival for taking a “short-sighted, misguided, bandwagon-jumping approach”.
He said victims of the rape gangs scandal “want action now, not the delay of a further inquiry”.
Sir Keir warned: “The Jay inquiry, the last national inquiry was seven years which would take us with a further inquiry to 2031, I think action is what’s required.”
The PM said Ms Badenoch had not once spoken in the Commons about the scandal, accusing her of just “tweeting and talking”.
Ms Badenoch blasted back: “Be a leader, not a lawyer. We know that people were scared to tell the truth because they thought they would be called racist. If we 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.”
Ms Badenoch plans to table an amendment in the Commons to the Government’s Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.
It will call for a specific investigation into failings and cover-ups in about 60 northern towns over Pakistani-heritage rape gangs.
The PM insisted that — if selected by the Speaker and successful — the Tory motion would, in effect, torpedo Labour’s flagship schools legislation.
As a result the PM is prepared to use his huge majority, with a three-line whip ordering Labour MPs to vote against it.
US billionaire Mr Musk, the world’s richest man, forced the scandal back into the spotlight with incessant tweets and attacks on Labour figures.
