Politics LIVE: Keir Starmer clashes with Kemi Badenoch at PMQs as he accuses Tory leader of ‘jumping on bandwagon’ over calls for new inquiry into grooming gangs

In the dying seconds of PMQs, Starmer was asked why he never initiated investigations into former Harrods boss Mohamed Al-Fayed.

Starmer responded: ‘That case never crossed my desk’.

And that concludes Prime Minister’s Questions for today.

MPs are now hearing of an open letter calling on the English cricket team to boycott games against Afghanistan in protest of the near-disappearance of women from society.

Starmer says he ‘welcomes’ the England and Wales cricket board making statements to the ICC and called for the return of rights to Afghan women.

Earlier Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch defended her party’s record in government, saying ‘we do right by victims’.

Across the despatch box from Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Ms Badenoch told the Commons: ‘I’ve raised [grooming gangs] in speeches, I’ve raised it publicly. He knows that as a minister, I would not have been speaking on this specific issue – I was not a Home Office minister but I will remind him about other victims who came to me who I did help – the victims of the Tavistock scandal came to me as a minister.

‘I didn’t send them away like his safeguarding minister (Jess Phillips). I made sure, as his Labour Party was calling me transphobic, that we launched the Cass Review that even his health secretary has accepted, so we do right by victims.’

Ms Phillips appeared to say ‘I didn’t send them away’ from the front bench, before Ms Badenoch said past inquiries ‘couldn’t get evidence, they couldn’t summon witnesses and not a single person in a position of authority has been held to account’.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said the cus must be on the victims and survivors of grooming gangs, as he pleaded with Tory MPs to ‘defy the misleading leadership’ of Kemi Badenoch.

Responding to the Conservative Leader, Sir Keir said: ‘There have been a number of inquiries, some of them localised, including the Mayor of Manchester’s inquiry recently, and of course, a national inquiry Professor Jay carried out – took seven years, had 20 recommendations, none of which actually were implemented by the party opposite when they were in government.

‘This is a really serious issue and we must focus, obviously, on the victims and survivors. There’s no fixed view from the victims and survivors about a further national inquiry, there are mixed views. But there is a view, and I share this view, that what is needed now is action on what we already know.

‘We already know, myself from personal knowledge when I was chief prosecutor, that warped ideas, myths and stereotypes about victims were at the heart of this. We’ve known that for a decade.

‘The Jay report called for mandatory reporting. I called for it 11 years ago. What we need now is action. What can’t be tolerated is the idea that this afternoon, members opposite will vote down a Bill which protects children.’

He added: ‘One of the provisions in the Bill is to protect children vulnerable today, who are out of school, to prevent abusers ever taking those children out of school. I implore members opposite to defy the misleading leadership of the Leader of the Opposition and vote for a really important Bill.’

Starmer is now asked about ‘clear targets’ for social housing around England.

The PM said the government was committed to building the 1.5 million homes promised by Labour and would continue supporting social housing needs around the UK.

Starmer is now questioned on anti-Semitism, with this month marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of concentration camps including Auschwitz.

The Prime Minister said he has pledged more than £200million to continue funding Lessons From Auschwitz, a learning initiative from the Holocaust Educational Trust.

Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, tweeted just before PMQs and questioned why Badenoch had not raised the isue of grooming gangs while Minister for Women and Equalities.

‘Why did she not demand a full inquiry then?’ he said.

SNP leader John Swinney said he ‘commended’ the PM for his answers in PMQs so far.

He went on to criticise the removal of winter fuel payments from millions of pensioners.

‘We took some tough decisons,’ Starmer said, adding his budget gave the ‘largest-ever devolution’ fund to Scotland.

‘The SNP have the money, they have the power,’ he added, stating Swinney must ‘deliver’ for Scotland.

Ed Davey raised the issue of Elon Musk appearing to offer money to Reform UK, saying it should make MPs ‘pause for thought’ over the prospect of anyone ‘buying a political party’.

He calls for a cross-party approach to regulate money given to political parties.

Leader of the Lib Dems Sir Ed Davey has pressed Sir Keir Starmer on the UK’s care crisis and said Brits cannot afford to wait three years.

He asks the PM to ‘speed up’ work to reform care and make it a focus for 2025.

The PM says he has given £3.7bn extra in the last budget, increased carer’s allowance and is working on a cross-party consensus on reforming social care.

Starmer is asked about poor conditions for military families in housing in her constituency.

Starmer says the government plans to reacquire military homes to improve standards.

‘There is of course still work to do, but this is a major step forward,’ he said.

Grooming gangs ‘one of the worst scandals in British history’, Kemi Badenoch has said.

Starmer agreed, adding: ‘It’s terrible, that’s why I acted on it.’

He accused Badenoch of having a ‘recently acquired’ view that the issue is a ‘scandal’.

‘You can’t kill the bill this aftenroon, wreck that bill and protect children,’ he said.

Starmer reminded MPs steps in the bill were put forward to prevent another tragedy such as the death of Sara Sharif, who was taken out of school and tortured to death.

Badenoch said a ‘lack of clarity’ over grooming gangs means British Muslims are ‘smeared by association’.

Starmer said he ‘accepts’ that some will believe a national inquiry is the best way forward.

But he added: ‘We already know what the major flaws are, and my argument is we should get on and take action’.

The PM says as chief prosecutor he tackled grooming gangs and oversaw the first trial of an Asian grooming gang in Rochdale.

He added ‘we’ve got to get on with action’ and called for Tory MPs not to vote against the government’s bill later today.

‘We need a leader not a lawyer,’ Badenoch responded.

‘Reasonable people can agree or disagree’ on whether a further inquiry into child sexual exploitation is needed, the Prime Minister has told MPs.

Opening Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons Labour MP Neil Coyle (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) asked: ‘Last July, the public overwhelmingly backed Labour’s manifesto commitment to halving violence against women and girls.

‘Can the Prime Minister set out how today’s vote on the Children’s Wellbeing Bill is a crucial step to delivering that promise to protecting children and without the delay of an unnecessary further lengthy inquiry?’

Sir Keir Starmer replied: ‘Violence against women and girls, abuse, child sexual exploitation are sickening. Many victims have been let down for a very long time by warped ideas about community relations and the protection of institutions.

‘(Mr Coyle) raises the question of inquiries. There have been a number of inquiries, both national and local, including one covering Oldham, and reasonable people can agree or disagree on whether a further inquiry is necessary.’

Starmer tells the House the focus must remain on victims and survivors, and pointed out that the last CSE inquiry took seven years.

He said this is far too long and means a new inquiry wouldn’t conclude until 2031.

‘The victims I have spoken to want action today,’ he said.

Starmer accuses Badenoch of never raising the issue of grooming gangs while she was in government, including as Children’s Minister.

Shouts of ‘shame’ were heard in the Chamber as Starmer goaded Badenoch, offering to withdraw his comments if she had raised the grooming gangs scandal, accusing her of ‘jumping on the bandwagon’.

Badenoch did not explicitly deny his claims but said she had supported victims in the past.

Badenoch hits back at Starmer saying the last government accepted 18 of the reccommendations in the Jay review and pointed out they had set up a unit to target exploitation gangs.

She quotes a survivor of sexual abuse from Telford and reiterates her call for a national inquiry.

Starmer responds by saying the Conservatives didn’t put any of the reccommendations into force, and said he first called for the mandatory reporting of child sex abuse more than a decade ago.

Kemi Badenoch asks if Starmer is confidant if the extent of grooming gangs in the UK is known.

The Prime Minister reiterates that there was a national inquiry into child sex abuse, which did include looking at gangs, and accused the Conservatives of failing to instigate any of the 20 reccommendations made.

Starmer added it is ‘unacceptable’ for the Conservatives to try and ‘vote down’ a bill which seeks to ‘protect children’.

PMQs has got underway and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch opens by offering Sir Keir Starmer condolences for the loss of his brother during the festive period.

Andrew Norfolk, the journalist who first exposed Rotherham’s grooming gangs, has accused politicians of ‘exploiting’ child sexual abuse victims.

Speaking to podcast The News Agents, he said victims are ‘being exploited all over again’ by politicians, adding: ‘For now politicians to jump on the bandwagon when they’ve been silent for so many years, just strikes me as a bit shameful.’

He also said Elon Musk’s posts are an ‘utter distortion of the truth’.

Labour minister Jess Phillips tonight hit back at Elon Musk for branding her a ‘rape genocide apologist’ amid the furious political row over grooming gangs.

The controversial billionaire has recently launched a barrage of attacks on senior Labour figures – including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer – over the issue.

In posts on his X social media site, the businessman has attacked Sir Keir’s record on tackling grooming gangs from his time as the director of public prosecutions.

He also blasted Ms Phillips for rejecting a request for the Government to lead a public inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham.

But, in a series of TV interviews this evening, the Home Office minister branded Mr Musk’s posts ‘ridiculous’ and claimed he ‘knows absolutely nothing’ about the subject.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said that the ‘public demand answers’ over grooming gangs.

In a video posted on X, Mrs Badenoch said: ‘The public demand answers, the victims deserve justice.’

She also accused the Government of ‘trying to sweep it under the rug’.

The clip comes as the Tories will seek to garner support for a new nationwide investigation into child grooming as they try to force a vote in the Commons on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has just been pictured leaving No.10 ahead of today’s PMQs.

He’ll do some final preparation at Parliament before joining the rest of his MPs in the Commons shortly.

The PM has ordered his MPs to oppose an amendment tabled by Kemi Badenoch that would trigger a new official probe.

With Labour holding a massive majority in the House, it means the bid is almost certain to fail.

Sir Keir – who has been fending off an extraordinary social media attack on the issue from US billionaire Elon Musk – accused the Conservatives of ‘shocking’ tactics by tagging the measure on to the wider Children’s Wellbeing & Schools Bill.

‘I would implore any right-thinking Tory MP to vote for the Bill because this would kill the Bill, this would kill the legislation,’ he told the Mirror.

Keir Starmer might have been hoping for a low-key return to politics after Christmas and New Year.

But his short family break to Madeira – in itself delayed due to the death of his brother – must already feel like it was months ago.

The PM has walked into a maelstrom on grooming gangs thanks to the intervention of the world’s richest man, Elon Musk.

The US mogul has been using his X social media platform to fuel fury at the handling of the scandal, which first emerged more than a decade ago. Branding Sir Keir ‘evil’ and saying he should go to prison for his record as a former director of public prosecutions are among the more repeatable jibes being thrown.

It leaves Sir Keir walking a particularly tricky tightrope, as Mr Musk is one of Donald Trump’s closest confederates – and the PM is desperate to foster relations with the returning president.

Allies have long viewed the premier’s performance as DPP, including the reforms he introduced to target grooming gangs, as a matter of pride.

It will be galling for him to see his record trashed online, and ministers are visibly furious at the way the Tories have moved to exploit calls for a new national inquiry – something they did not pursue while in power.

However, politics is a rough game.

Labour is trying to hold firm and paint Kemi Badenoch as an opportunist.

No10 will hope the focus from across the Atlantic will soon shift, not least as Mr Trump resumes ownership of the White House this month.

The danger is that much damage has already been done – and after the Commons showdown this evening, the Conservatives will gain a potent attack line: that Labour voted to block an inquiry into grooming gangs.

Speaking ahead of today’s PMQs, Education Secretary defended her party’s stance on a grooming inquiry.

She told Times Radio: ‘We are looking right across the recommendations that Alexis Jay set out and there are crucial recommendations from the review that she carried out.

‘That’s why today we are setting out legislation that addresses many of the wider challenges that we see right across our system. It’s why the Home Secretary announced in the House of Commons the action that we are taking.

‘So we are wasting no time in legislating to keep children safe. The question for the Conservatives today is why they are intent on blocking this landmark piece of child protection legislation that would keep the very children safe that they claim they are concerned about.’

She added: ‘They come along today as we set out legislation to protect the very children they claim to care about and they intend to block it and kill it stone dead.

‘It is absolutely sickening.’

As ever, after questions from the leader of the opposition, Prime Minister Starmer will also respond to questions from MPs across the House.

Today that includes Lib Dem MP Marie Goldman, Labour MP Alex Baker and Green MP Carla Denyer.

Victoria Collins, Sam Joseph and Josh Newbury are also amongst those expected to speak today.

The family of a murdered teenage girl who was Britain’s first white honour killing victim have condemned a grooming gangs ‘cover-up’ and backed calls for a new national inquiry into the scandal.

An inquiry held after her murder by Ashtiaq Ashgar, who could soon be eligible for parole, criticised officials at Rotherham Council after hearing how she was preyed upon by gangs in the town from the age of just 11.

Laura was killed just days after she revealed to families of some of her abusers how she had been in sexual relationships with them – including having a daughter by an older man who was described as a ‘mentor’ to her murderer.

Now her elder sister Sarah Wilson, 33, has backed calls for a new national inquiry into sex abuse gangs, following on from concerns raised by X owner Elon Musk.

The government and Sir Keir Starmer have accused Elon Musk of spreading misinformation about the reality of grooming gangs in recent days.

Musk caused controversy when he appeared to cross a line and accused Home Office minister Jess Phillips of being a ‘rape genocide apologist’ after she refused calls for a national inquiry.

Ms Phillips instead recommended a local inquiry, as happened in other towns such as Telford.

Musk has since been accused of peddling far-right lies on X, formerly Twitter, by Starmer.

Sir Keir Starmer has accused the Conservatives of prioritising winning support on Elon Musk’s social media site over protecting children by pushing for a vote on a new nationwide child grooming investigation.

The Prime Minister said Tory leader Kemi Badenoch’s attempt to win parliamentary backing for a new inquiry was a ‘shocking tactic’ because it would mean derailing legislation aimed at bolstering the safety of children.

Sir Keir told the Mirror: ‘No MP should be voting down children’s safeguarding measures. It’s shocking they are even thinking about this as a tactic.

‘It’s the elevation of the desire for retweets over any real interest in the safeguarding of children.’

Today’s PMQs is sure to be a feisty even amid the ongoing rows over Elon Musk, grooming gangs and Reform.

The shocking abuse of thousands of young girls by gangs across the country – including in Rochdale, Telford and Oldham – was put back on the national agenda by Musk recently as he made controversial comments about Labour MP Jess Phillips.

Reform are calling for a national inquiry into grooming gangs and say they intend to fund one themselves if the government refuses.

Meanwhile the Conservatives are threatening to table an amendment which could derail the to the Government’s Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to explicitly require a national inquiry into the scandal.

If successful, this would halt the progress of the Bill completely.

Good morning and welcome to our politics live blog which will take you through all the events and aftermath of the first PMQs of 2025.

Stick with us for the latest updates throughout the day.