Labour’s failure to back a national inquiry into Britain’s grooming gangs scandal sparked a blistering row on GB News, with the Government accused of “shifting the focus”.
A Conservative amendment to legislation demanding a new probe was rejected by MPs in the Commons this week by 364 votes to 111, a majority of 253.
Labour has defended its decision, stressing that the party will “welcome and support an independent investigation” commissioned by Oldham Council, which “puts victims’ voices at its heart”.
Discussing the move on GB News, Labour MP Barry Gardiner claimed that the Tories were simply making a “cheap political point”, instead of addressing the “real issues of the Bill”.
Barry Gardiner clashed with Matthew Goodwin on Labour’s block on a national grooming gangs inquiry
GB News
Gardiner told the GB News panel: “The Bill that we passed means children are safer today because we passed that Bill. It doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t have an inquiry, but children are now safer because we passed that legislation.
“I’m perfectly open to there being an inquiry into that systemic situation, looking at it structurally, looking at what actually went on.”
Taking aim at Gardiner and Labour, commentator and pollster Matthew Goodwin hit back at the MP and stated that the Government is “woefully out of touch” on the issue of grooming gangs.
Goodwin fumed: “The vast majority of Brits want a national inquiry. The issue I have with Barry and many other Labour MPs is when they say we’ve had an inquiry.
“It didn’t treat this as what it is, which is a national systemic scandal which needs tougher recommendations than what the Jay report delivered.”
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Noting Labour’s historic and “desperate” efforts to “shift the focus off a minority community”, Goodwin added: “What you see so often on the Labour side of this debate, and the reason this rape gang scandal is so difficult for people on the left, is because it turns on its head the progressive worldview, which is minorities are good, the majority is bad.”
Defending the Government further, Gardiner responded: “The very first person to call this out was Anne Cryer, who was a Labour MP. So let’s not say it was Labour MPs that said don’t be racist.
“The Breakdown by Ethnicity was first published by Labour in November last year. If you look at those figures you find that 76 per cent of those who’ve been prosecuted have been white.
“What I’m saying is that actually, why are we not talking about the problem that we have as a community now? Instead of saying this is a specific problem, it’s a crime.”
Goodwin told the GB News panel that Labour are in a ‘desperate attempt to shift the focus off a minority community’
GB News
Concluding his argument, Goodwin asserted that Labour’s block of a national inquiry as a result of the amendment vote is “not the first time” the Government has denied an investigation.
Goodwin told GB News: “What we’ve seen over the last few weeks, let’s be honest, this wasn’t the first time that Labour refused a national inquiry in this vote, Barry.
“We had that when Oldham said can we have a national inquiry? And Jess Phillips and others said not right now.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has defended Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips, telling GB News: “The Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls has dedicated her career to tackling sexual violence and abuse and to being a voice for victims and survivors of the most terrible crimes, including child sexual abuse.”
The Home Office has stated: “No child should ever suffer sexual abuse and exploitation, and it’s paramount that we do more to protect vulnerable children. Which is why we’re working at pace across Government to drive forward real action to implement the recommendations of the independent inquiry.”
