Pushing for a new national inquiry into grooming gangs by halting the progress of a bill aimed at bolstering child safety is “utterly sickening”, the education secretary has said.
Bridget Phillipson told the BBC the Tory Party’s plan to bring forward an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill “would kill it stone dead”.
The Conservatives have joined calls by Elon Musk for a new UK-wide inquiry into child sexual abuse, despite a seven-year independent review having concluded its work in 2022.
The wide-ranging bill includes measures to protect vulnerable children such as tougher rules around home-schooling and support for children in care, inspections of schools and regulation of private education institutions.
The Conservatives will bring forward an amendment to the bill on Wednesday, which calls for ministers to establish a national statutory inquiry into historical child sexual exploitation, focused on grooming gangs.
The amendment also calls for the Commons to halt the progress of the bill – but it is unlikely to pass in the Commons because of Labour’s large majority.
The government wants to roll out the recommendations of the review led by Prof Alexis Jay, rather than open a new national inquiry.
Prof Jay told the BBC on Tuesday that victims want action and do not need a new national inquiry.
Phillipson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the bill was “the single biggest piece of children safeguarding legislation in a generation”, which the Conservatives intended to block “on the altar of political opportunism”.
She said the government backed local inquiries into grooming gangs and said the row over calls for a new national probe had “lost sight” of victims.
Asked how many local inquiries into grooming gangs could be funded by the government, Phillipson said it had to be led by the evidence and ministers would look at any request.
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick has called for a new national inquiry into grooming gangs and said “what we’ve learnt more recently is the sheer scale of what is happening”.
He told the BBC on Tuesday that the Jay Review looked at six towns but it is now suspected at least 50 towns have had grooming gangs.
However Phillipson criticised Jenrick, saying he should “hang his head in shame” for his “failure to bring justice for victims” as a Home Office minister in the previous Conservative government.
She said if Tory MPs plan to vote against the bill on Wednesday, they need to explain why they are seeking to block measures that will keep children safe.
“They are a bunch of bandwagon jumpers who have absolutely no shame,” she said.
Sir Keir Starmer has also warned Conservative MPs not to back the Commons push for an amendment to the bill, telling the Daily Mirror it was a “shocking tactic”.
