Labour accused of ‘cowardice’ after blocking national grooming inquiry

Did anybody expect anything different? All Labour MPs were ordered by the party whip to vote against it on pain of political death. From the Telegraph

Sir Keir Starmer was on Wednesday night accused of an “act of cowardice” after Labour MPs lined up to block a national inquiry into grooming gangs.

MPs voted by 364 votes to 111 against Kemi Badenoch’s call for a new probe into the scandal in which dozens (thousands) of vulnerable girls were abused (raped and prostituted out) , primarily by British-Pakistani gangs.

Kemi Badenoch accused the Prime Minister, who was head of the Crown Prosecution Service at the height of the scandal in Oldham, Greater Manchester, of not wanting questions asked “of Labour politicians who may be complicit”.

Earlier on Wednesday, during Prime Minister’s Questions, Mrs Badenoch said: “The Prime Minister cannot tell the House the full scale of the scandal.

“He does not want questions asked of Labour politicians who may be complicit. He will not listen to the victims who are calling for a national inquiry.

“This is one of the worst scandals in recent British history. How will Labour members explain to their constituents that obeying the Prime Minister’s whip is more important than doing the right thing?”

Critics have said that any inquiry would examine Sir Keir’s conduct as DPP.

On Monday the Prime Minister accused those calling for a new inquiry into grooming gangs of jumping on a “far-Right bandwagon”.