Conservative response to Labour announcing they will vote against a national inquiry

Chris Philp MP, Shadow Home Secretary, said:

“The Labour Party announcing they will whip their MPs to vote against a national inquiry into this scandal is total moral cowardice from Keir Starmer and his Labour Party. The victims of these heinous child rape gangs deserve honesty, and they deserve the truth.

“Many towns - like Keighley - have not been looked at and local Inquiries don't have the legal powers to compel production of evidence. Labour's decision risks perpetuating the cover-up of the rape gangs.

“There will be many Labour MPs in constituencies where these awful crimes took place and where victims still seek justice. They now need to think long and hard about which side of history they want to be on.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

• The investigation into child sexual exploitation by organised networks examined six case study areas across England and Wales. These were: St Helens, Tower Hamlets, Swansea, Durham, Bristol and Warwickshire. Rotherham is only mentioned once and Telford is not mentioned in the report at all (The Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, October 2022, link; BBC News, 1 February 2022, link).

• Local Inquiries do not have legal powers to summon witnesses, take evidence under oath or requisition evidence.  The leaders of the Manchester Inquiry resigned last year because there was still a cover up and they did not have the powers needed to get evidence (Charlie Peters, Twitter, 5 January 2025, link; House of Commons Library, Research Briefing, 16 January 2024, link).