Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp was torn apart by Sky News’ Wilfred Frost after he slammed Keir Starmer for not launching a statutory inquiry into grooming gangs more quickly
A Top Tory has been challenged over the Conservatives’ lack of action on grooming gangs during their 14 years in power.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp was torn apart by Sky News’ Wilfred Frost after he slammed Keir Starmer for not launching a statutory inquiry into the scandal more quickly. The Tory MP said the PM was “dragged here kicking and screaming” six months after the Tories demanded a national inquiry.
But Mr Philp was asked whether the Conservatives were “guilty” and deserve “almost as much if not more criticism” as he was aiming at Labour because they did not call one during the 14 years they were in power.
Frost told him: “If the Prime Minister is guilty of taking too long, six months, to initiate this statutory national inquiry, then you must acknowledge that the Conservative government – over 14 years – is also guilty of taking too long and not doing enough.”
READ MORE: Rachel Reeves clashes with Sky News presenter over calls for grooming gangs apology
Mr Philp began to reply: “I’ve already gone through, I think three times now, all of the things the last government did –”
Frost interjected: “Are you saying you deserve praise for that, and the government deserves criticism for six months of delays? Or do you also acknowledge that, despite listing all of those things three times, it wasn’t enough and you deserve almost as much if not more criticism for not doing enough to stop this for 14 years?”
Mr Philp claimed the last Tory Government “did a lot” when it was in power, including the Rotherham inquiry in 2014 and the wider independent inquiry into child sex abuse. He also said former Cabinet minister Sajid Javid started collecting ethnicity data and Rishi Sunak later established the grooming gangs taskforce, which led to 550 arrests.
He said the Tories’ recent campaign for a national inquiry came after a request for one by Oldham Council was dismissed by the Government.
But Frost did not accept his “excuse”, saying: “Essentially, what I’m hearing is the only legitimate excuse you have for not introducing a statutory national inquiry is that Oldham Council hadn’t called for it yet.”
Mr Philp again tried to say “a whole load of things” were done by the Tories, but Frost interrupted to say: “I get that but you weren’t when you were in government as a junior minister or a senior minister in various different roles, calling for one then. And then the day the election passes, you change your tune. Essentially you’re saying the only difference is that Oldham council called for it. As a government, you could have done this yourselves earlier.”
After initially resisting pressure to implement a full probe, the Prime Minister over the weekend said he had read “every single word” of an independent report into child sexual exploitation by Baroness Louise Casey and would accept her recommendation for a national investigation.
The Tories criticised Labour for changing its position, with Kemi Badenoch calling on Mr Starmer to apologise for “six wasted months”. The Tories also accused Mr Starmer of a “disgraceful smear” against victims after he said the Tories were jumping on a “bandwagon of the far-right” by suddenly calling for a national inquiry.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is set to address Parliament later today about the findings of Baroness Casey’s review. The Home Office has also said the National Crime Agency (NCA) will carry out a nationwide operation targeting people who have sexually exploited children, and follow up on more than 800 cold cases.
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