Ex-Shadow International Development Minister Dan Carden has become the first sitting Labour MP to demand a national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal.
Carden, who abstained on Wednesday’s Tory amendment, joins Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and former Shadow Europe Minister Khalid Mahmood in breaking ranks with Sir Keir Starmer.
Speaking to The Liverpool Echo, Carden said: “The British public want action and justice on the unspeakable rape gangs. The scale of the crimes committed – rape, murder, torture – are horrific.
“The public compassion for the victims, thousands of young British working class girls and children is real. The public call for justice must be heeded.
“It is shocking that people in positions of power could have covered up and refused to act to avoid confronting racial or cultural issues or because victims were poor and working class.
“We must question and challenge the orthodoxy of progressive liberal multiculturalism that led to authorities failing to act. We need a new doctrine to take our multi-ethnic society into the future.”
He added: “Both Keir Starmer and Jess Phillips have strong records in this area and yet the government has failed to take the high ground. It must communicate a clear message about whose side it is on and now direct the state to implement the rule of law without fear of favour and deliver justice.
“The Prime Minister must use the full power of the state to deliver justice. It must continue to unflinchingly pursue the perpetrators and bring to account those in positions of authority who turned a blind eye ,failed to act, or gave political cover to the gangs.
“The outcome must include acknowledging the racial and ethnic hatred of this mass sexual violence. This is not an obsession of the far right. I am speaking out because over the decades there have been far too few Labour voices expressing clear disgust and outrage at these heinous crimes, their cover-up and the lack of action.”