Andy Burnham backs national grooming gangs inquiry despite PM Sir Keir Starmer saying it was unnecessary

Mayor of Greater Manchester and former Labour Cabinet Minister, Andy Burnham, has said he believes there is a case for a new national inquiry into grooming gangs, despite Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer saying it was not necessary. A Wednesday night Commons vote saw MPs reject the Conservative push for a new inquiry, which took the form of an amendment to a Government Bill aimed at bolstering child safety.

The Bill would have been derailed from the legislative agenda had the Tory vote succeeded, but Labour’s Commons majority meant this was deeply unlikely. Sir Keir has insisted a further inquiry could delay action on tackling child sexual abuse, pointing out that recommendations from a seven-year probe which reported in 2022 had not yet been implemented.

However, referring to the Wednesday night Commons debate, Mr Burnham told the BBC: “In my view the Government was right to reject that form of opportunism. But I did hear last night coming out of that debate, ministers saying they are open to discussing issues now with survivors.

“I will add my voice into this and say I do think there is the case for a limited national inquiry that draws on reviews like the one that I commissioned, and the one we have seen in Rotherham, the one we have seen in Telford, to draw out some of these national issues and compel people to give evidence who then may have charges to answer and be held to account.”

Meanwhile, Downing Street has rejected suggestions that Sir Keir Starmer is wavering in his insistence that a national inquiry into grooming gangs is not necessary. The Prime Minister will be “guided by the victims”, his official spokesperson added, leaving the door open to a future inquiry should survivors and campaign groups support one.

“We will be guided by the victims, and what we’ve heard from the victims is that they don’t want to see another national inquiry,” the spokesperson told reporters. “We’ve had a national inquiry, it… engaged 7,000 victims, and what victims are telling us is that they want to see action, and that’s where the Government is focused, and that’s why we’re not going ahead with another national inquiry.

“But as the PM said on Monday, we will always listen to victims, we will always listen to local areas, we always listen to specific allegations or issues as they are put to us, and we will faithfully deal with them, but what we have heard loud and clear from victims is that they want to see action.”

Angela Rayner, Rachel Reeves, David Lammy and Wes Streeting were among Labour frontbench figures who did not take part in Wednesday’s Commons vote, alongside Sir Keir. The PM’s spokesman said Sir Keir had not attended the vote because of existing diary commitments, and insisted his top team had not stayed away because of worries about social media backlash.

The remark follows safeguarding minister Jess Phillips saying she has faced a “deluge of hate” after tech billionaire Elon Musk used his X, formerly Twitter, social media platform to accuse her of being a “rape genocide apologist”.