Prime minister’s questions: a shouty, jeery, very occasionally useful advert for British politics. Here’s what you need to know from the latest session in POLITICO’s weekly run-through.
What they sparred about: Britain’s long-running child grooming scandal. After a week dominated by X owner Elon Musk tweeting inflammatory comments about the British state’s failure to tackle the sexual exploitation of vulnerable young women by predominantly South Asian gangs, Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch pressed Prime Minister Keir Starmer on why the government won’t hold a fresh national inquiry into the issue.
Brief reminder: A wide-ranging national inquiry into child sexual abuse across different British institutions did actually take place under the Conservative government from 2014. It reported in 2022, and came after numerous local inquiries into specific failures to tackle grooming gangs. The Conservatives — plus Nigel Farage’s Reform UK — argue a new inquiry focused specifically on grooming gangs is necessary. Labour hits back that this would only delay existing recommendations from being put into practice, and charges the Conservatives with failing to act while in office.
Back to the clash: Even before Badenoch asked her first question, Starmer said “reasonable people could agree or disagree” on having another inquiry — but that survivors of abuse “want action.”
Make a u-turn: The PM urged Badenoch to withdraw what he called her party’s “wrecking amendment” to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill later Wednesday calling for an inquiry. The gambit, tacked on to existing, largely unrelated legislation, won’t pass due to Labour’s huge parliamentary majority — but the Tories want to draw a dividing line.
In the detail: Badenoch stressed the urgency of another inquiry. She said the previous national probe mentioned Rotherham — a town at the center of the grooming scandal — just once. She argued that “no one has joined the dots” between different towns where abuse has taken place and “is almost certainly still going on.” One victim from Telford told Badenoch, in her account, that a new probe will “hold people accountable in a way that previous inquiries have not.”
Speak up: Starmer shot back, accusing the Tories of delaying justice for victims and jumping “on the bandwagon” of social media. He turned the tables on Badenoch. Had she raised the topic as a minister in parliament? The Tory leader couldn’t say.
Here we go again: Undaunted, Badeonch asked the PM whether rejecting an inquiry would mean “people start to worry about a cover-up.” That’s language which echoes the conspiratorially-minded Musk. Starmer retorted that “lies and misinformation and slinging of mud” doesn’t help victims.
Rule of law: Starmer highlighted his record as Britain’s top prosecutor between 2008 and 2013, stressing he’d “put Asian men in the dock” and tried to remove barriers that stopped victims of abuse coming forward. Badenoch urged him to “be a leader, not a lawyer,” and said the government could implement existing recommendations while cracking on with a new inquiry, taking on a “weak excuse” from the PM.
Money talks: Starmer had a dig at Nigel Farage after his brief bromance with Musk came to a dramatic halt at the weekend. He quipped that we “all had a smile” when the X owner whose approval he’s seeking … called for him to be removed as Reform UK leader.
Helpful backbench intervention of the week: Labour’s Aldershot MP Alex Baker asked about the poor quality of military accommodation under the last government. That meant Starmer had the chance to reel off a load of investment from this government. Thanks!
Totally unscientific scores on the doors: Starmer 8/10 … Badenoch 6/10. The Tory leader pushed Starmer hard and chose the topic dominating the political agenda. But she came unstuck when repeatedly pressed on her own record in government, the Tory wheeze to scupper a bill on child wellbeing, and the specific issue of a new inquiry holding up help for victims. Starmer the lawyer confidently did the job – but if Musk has his way, this issue will be coming up again and again.
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