Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has defended his decision to hold a national inquiry into grooming gangs, despite previously criticizing those calling for one as “jumping on a bandwagon.” The move comes after Dame Louise Casey’s report recommended both a national police operation and a national inquiry.
Casey’s report highlights poor data collection on the ethnicity of perpetrators and suggests officials had “shied away” from the issue. The report states that in three local police forces, there were disproportionate numbers of men from Asian ethnic backgrounds among suspects for group-based child sexual exploitation.
Starmer told the BBC that he commissioned Casey to write a report to double-check the issue and agreed with her conclusion. He defended the national inquiry as “a practical, common sense way of doing politics.” Casey also stressed the importance of ensuring adults who engage in penetrative sex with children under 16 face the most serious charge of rape.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused Starmer of politicizing the issue and suggested that opposition parties could have come together behind the government. The Conservative leader has apologized for not doing more to tackle grooming gangs during their time in power, but believes more focus should be on prosecuting a government’s actions rather than criticizing them.
The national inquiry into grooming gangs is expected to take three years to complete, with Casey recommending full powers to compel witnesses to provide evidence.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg1xje9wzlo