18 hours ago
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The Labour MP for Rotherham, Sarah Champion, has backed a nationalist enquiry into grooming gangs.
Champion said that "nothing little than a afloat inquiry...will reconstruct religion successful our safeguarding systems".
Her telephone comes aft tech tycoon Elon Musk's comments connected societal media targetting the PM personally and calling for a caller enquiry - calls which were echoed by the Conservatives and Reform UK.
Downing Street said Champion's sentiment "absolutely" carried value fixed her extended acquisition of the issue, but added that taking enactment connected recommendations from a erstwhile enquiry took priority.
Number 10 said "there volition beryllium a scope of views" connected the contented of a caller inquiry, adding that the authorities would beryllium "guided and led by the victims and survivors".
Two different Labour figures from places affected - Rochdale MP Paul Waugh and Greater Manchester politician Andy Burnham - person called for constricted inquiries.
Champion, who has been campaigning connected kid extortion for implicit a decade, said kid intersexual maltreatment is "endemic" successful the UK and indispensable beryllium "a nationalist priority".
She said: "Having worked wide with victims and survivors, and front-line professionals, I person agelong believed that we request to afloat recognize the quality of this transgression and the failures successful the effect of nationalist bodies if we are to genuinely support children.
"It is wide that thing little than a nationalist enquiry into the failings of those successful authorization to some prevent, and beryllium accountable for their failings, successful narration to grooming gangs volition reconstruct the religion successful our safeguarding systems."
Rotherham successful South Yorkshire was 1 of respective areas blighted by gangs of men, predominantly of Pakistani descent, who raped and trafficked children arsenic young arsenic 11 betwixt 1997 and 2013.
An independent report, published by Prof Alexis Jay successful 2014, estimated 1,400 girls had been abused successful Rotherham.
Prof Jay went connected to pb the abstracted Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), a probe which lasted 7 years and made 20 recommendations.
She has rejected calls for a caller nationalist inquiry, saying victims privation to spot enactment on her recommendations and a caller enquiry would origin delays.
Labour ministers person said their precedence is to instrumentality the recommendations, and past week, Yvette Cooper said 1 of the cardinal points - mandatory reporting - would beryllium added to the Crime and Policing Bill.
Champion has called for the recommendations to beryllium implemented "in full, with a timetable and ring-fenced resources", alongside a nationalist audit of grooming gags, probe into the motivations of pack members and a reappraisal of whether existent laws are adequate.
A bid of section reviews into kid enactment maltreatment successful Manchester, Rochdale and Oldham were besides published betwixt 2020 and 2024, and recovered authorities had failed to support children from intersexual exploitation by gangs of predominantly Asian men.
Burnham, who commissioned those section reviews, said a "limited" nationalist enquiry could physique connected the section reviews but besides compel radical to springiness grounds truthful "those who whitethorn person charges to reply are held to account".
Last week, Labour MPs voted down an amendment from the Conservatives which contained a telephone for a nationalist inquiry, due to the fact that it would person killed disconnected the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, a large portion of authorities legislation.
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