MPs have rejected a Tory demand for a national inquiry into the child grooming scandal.
The Conservatives tabled an amendment to the government’s Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, calling for the probe after the issue shot up the political agenda in recent days.
That was a result of Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, accusing Labour of failing to tackle the issue in a series of inflammatory posts on X, the social media platform he owns.
However, the government said parliamentary rules meant that if it was passed, the amendment would have killed the entire bill, which is aimed at protecting vulnerable children.
Ministers have also said a new inquiry is not needed while the government is still implementing the recommendations of Professor Alexis Jay’s report on child sexual abuse, which reported in 2022.
In the end, the amendment was comprehensively defeated by 364 votes to 111.
In response, the shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “It is disgusting that Keir Starmer has used his supermajority in parliament to block a national inquiry into the rape gangs scandal.
“Labour MPs have put their party ahead of getting to the truth and turned a blind eye to justice for the victims. Labour MPs will have to explain to the British people why they are against learning the truth behind the torture and rape of countless vulnerable girls.
“We will not let them forget this act of cowardice.”
Earlier, Keir Starmer said Kemi Badenoch had “jumped on the bandwagon” after failing to mention the grooming gang scandal - in which young girls were targeted by men in dozens of English towns - when she was a Tory minister.
During angry clashes at PMQs, he said: “The leader of the opposition has been an MP I think for eight years.
“Her party have been in government for seven and a half of those eight years.
“She was the children’s minister. She was the women’s and equalities minister.
“I can’t recall her once raising this issue in the house, once calling for a national inquiry.
“It’s only in recent days that she has jumped on the bandwagon.”
The Tory leader hit back: “The prime minister is being very specific because I have raised this issue, I have raised it in speeches, I have raised it publicly.
“He knows that as a minister, I would have been speaking on this specific issue I was not a home office minister.”