Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will be giving a statement to Parliament on grooming gangs today, the House of Commons has confirmed.
With Labour under increasing pressure to launch a national Public Inquiry into the rape gangs scandal, Cooper will be addressing MPs on “child sexual exploitation and abuse” at 2pm on Thursday.
It comes just days after Labour’s own Rotherham, Rochdale and Liverpool Walton MPs – Sarah Champion, Paul Waugh and Dan Carden respectively – broke ranks with the party’s top brass to demand a national probe.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has also called for a Public Inquiry.
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And, in new polling exclusively shared with GB News today, the Labour rebels appear to have the backing of an overwhelming majority of Britons.
The data, from pollsters at Friderichs Advisory and JL Partners, shows that almost three quarters (73 per cent) of the country support a Public Inquiry – while 14 per cent oppose one.
Labour’s line is that the Government should move to implement the recommendations of Professor Alexis Jay’s Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) before launching a separate probe.
And Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said the IICSA is evidence that the matter has already been covered sufficiently at a national level.
MORE ON BRITAIN’S RAPE GANGS SHAME:
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- ‘I am FURIOUS!’ Keir Starmer branded ‘out of touch’ for blocking grooming gangs inquiry: ‘Listen to the British people!’
Wes Streeting has said the IICSA is evidence that the matter has already been covered sufficiently at a national level
GB NEWS
But opponents have warned that the recommendations do not go far enough – with some raising fears of a “cover-up” in the compilation of Professor Jay’s report itself.
Others have pointed to how none of the IICSA’s recommendations specifically cover grooming gangs – the report looked at just six areas, all of which had seen no major prosecution which fit existing patterns of majority-south Asian abuse committed across the country.
The rape gangs scandal was thrust back into the spotlight a few weeks ago when court transcripts detailing the horrific scale of the abuse began circulating on social media.
Then, GB News revealed that Labour’s Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips rejected repeated pleas by Oldham Council for a Public Inquiry, arguing that the local authority was best-placed to carry out any future probe.
Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips rejected repeated pleas by Oldham Council for a Public Inquiry
PA
That caught the attention of Elon Musk, who piled pressure on Phillips, Sir Keir Starmer and Labour through a series of incendiary posts on his social media platform, X.
As the backlash grew, Starmer accused MPs who supported an inquiry of “jumping on a badwagon” and “amplifying what the far-right is saying” – and whipped them into voting down a Tory-tabled amendment to Labour’s Schools Bill which would have officially called for a national probe.
In response to calls for a full, independent inquiry, a Government spokesman previously said: “No child should ever suffer sexual abuse or exploitation and it is paramount we do more to protect vulnerable children – which is why we are working at pace across Government to drive forward real action to implement the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, chaired by Professor Alexis Jay.
“The comprehensive independent inquiry ran for seven years and continues to work with survivors of these heinous crimes – and this Government is committed to working closely with survivors and expert groups like Act on IICSA.”