The government will fund any further local inquiries into the grooming gangs scandal that are deemed necessary, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

However, the prime minister said it is his “strong belief” that the focus must be on implementing recommendations from the Alexis Jay national review before more investigations go ahead.

Politics latest: ‘Our position hasn’t changed’ on tariffs, says minister

It follows a row over whether Labour is still committed to the five local inquiries it promised in January, after safeguarding minister Jess Phillips failed to provide an update on them in a statement to parliament hours before it closed for recess on Tuesday.

Instead, Ms Phillips told MPs that local authorities will be able to access a £5m fund to support locally-led work on grooming gangs.

On Thursday morning, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper insisted the “victim-centred, locally-led inquiries” will still go ahead, while a Home Office source told Sky News more could take place in addition to the five.

Speaking to Sky News’ Rob Powell later on Thursday, Sir Keir confirmed that there could be more inquiries than those five but said the government must also “get on and implement the recommendations we’ve already got”.

The prime minister said: “Of course, if there’s further local inquiries that are needed then we will put some funding behind that, and they should happen.

“But I don’t think that simply saying we need more inquiries when we haven’t even acted on the ones that we’ve had is necessarily the only way forward.”

Ms Phillips’s earlier comments led to accusations that the government was diluting the importance of the local inquiries by giving councils choice over how to use the funds.

Sky News understands she was due to host a briefing with MPs this afternoon at 5pm – the second she had held in 24 hours – in an attempt to calm concern amongst her colleagues.

Review recommendations ‘sat on a shelf’

Sir Keir insisted he is not watering down his commitment for the five local enquiries, but said the Jay recommendations were “sitting on a shelf under the last government” and he is “equally committed” to them.

He added: “At the most important level, if there is evidence of grooming that is coming to light now, we need a criminal investigation. I want the police investigation because I want perpetrators in the dock and I want justice delivered.”

In October 2022, Professor Alexis Jay finished a seven-year national inquiry into the many ways children in England and Wales had been sexually abused, including grooming gangs.

Girls as young as 11 were groomed and raped across a number of towns and cities in England over a decade ago.

Prof Jay made 20 recommendations which haven’t been implemented yet, with Sir Keir saying on Thursday he will bring 17 of them forward.

However, the Tories and Reform UK want the government to fund a new national inquiry specifically into grooming gangs, demands for which first started last year after interventions by tech billionaire Elon Musk on his social media platform X.

‘Fuelling confusion’

Reform leader Nigel Farage said the statement made by Ms Phillips “was one of the most cowardly things I have ever seen” as he repeated calls for a fresh inquiry.

Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, also told Sky News that ministers were “fuelling confusion” and that the “mess.. could have been avoided if the government backed a full national inquiry – not this piecemeal alternative”.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the government needed to look at “state failings” and she would try and force a fresh vote on holding another national inquiry, which MPs voted down in January.

‘Political mess’

As well as facing criticism from the Opposition, there are signs of a backlash within Labour over how the issue has been handled.

Labour MPs angry with government decision grooming gangs

Mhari Aurora

Political correspondent

@MhariAurora

With about an hour until the House of Commons rose for Easter recess, the government announced it was taking a more “flexible” approach to the local grooming gang inquiries.

Safeguarding minister Jess Philips argued this was based on experience from certain affected areas, and that the government is funding new police investigations to re-open historic cases.

Speaking on Times Radio, former chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission Sir Trevor Phillips called the move “utterly shameful” and claimed it was a political decision.

One Labour MP told Sky News: “Some people are very angry. I despair. I don’t disagree with many of our decisions but we just play to Reform – someone somewhere needs sacking.”

The government has insisted party political misinformation was fanning the flames of frustration in Labour.

The government also said it was not watering down the inquiries and was actually increasing the action being taken.

But while many Labour MPs have one eye on Reform in the rearview mirror, any accusations of being soft on grooming gangs only provides political ammunition to their adversaries.

One Labour MP told Sky News the issue had turned into a “political mess” and that they were being called “grooming sympathisers”.

On the update from Ms Phillips on Tuesday, they said it might have been the “right thing to do” but that it was “horrible politically”.

“We are all getting so much abuse. It’s just political naivety in the extreme.”

Read more:
Grooming gangs: What we know from the data
Fewer criminals set to be jailed amid overcrowding

‘We will leave no stone unturned’

Ms Phillips later defended her decision, saying there was “far too much party political misinformation about the action that is being taken when everyone should be trying to support victims and survivors”.

“We are funding new police investigations to re-open historical cases, providing national support for locally led inquiries and action, and Louise Casey… is currently reviewing the nature, scale and ethnicity of grooming gangs offending across the country,” she said.

“We will not hesitate to go further, unlike the previous government, who showed no interest in this issue over 14 years and did nothing to progress the recommendations from the seven-year national inquiry when they had the chance.

“We will leave no stone unturned in pursuit of justice for victims and will be unrelenting in our crackdown on sick predators and perpetrators who prey on vulnerable children.”

Elected councillors must “do what they need to do” to serve the people, Kemi Badenoch said after she suggested Reform and the Tories could form alliances at a local level.

The Conservative leader said that while she doesn’t actively support council coalitions, she is ultimately leaving the decision to local politicians “because they can’t have a re-election if they don’t have an outright majority”.

Politics Live: Cabinet Office slashes workforce as 1,200 jobs cut

However, she said that at a national level “we’re trying to rebuild trust with the public” and “suddenly saying that we’re rushing to form a pact or merge with another party is not what I was elected to do”.

Ms Badenoch was speaking during a local election visit to Lancashire after earlier comments about local coalitions were attacked by opposition parties.

She has consistently ruled out a pact at a national level with Reform UK, whose leader Nigel Farage has vowed to “destroy” the Tories.

But speaking to BBC Breakfast on Thursday, she suggested the picture could be different at a local level, saying: “I’ve seen Conservatives go into coalition with Labour, with Liberal Democrats, with Independents.

“What I’m telling local leaders across the country (is) they have to do what is right for the people in their local area and they must stick to Conservative principles.”

Labour Party chairwoman Ellie Reeves said it is “crystal clear” that if you vote Reform or Conservative, “you’re opening the door to more of the Tory chaos that held our country back over the past 14 years”.

Liberal Democrats deputy leader Daisy Cooper said the two parties had “merged in all but name”, adding: “You couldn’t put a cigarette paper between Badenoch and Farage when it comes to their policies. It’s clear the Conservatives have totally abandoned the centre ground.”

Reform meanwhile snubbed the offer, saying they are “not interested in coalitions” and are focused on “taking the fight to Labour and the Conservatives”.

Ms Badenoch later insisted she is “‘not supporting coalitions at a local level”.

She told reporters: “I am leaving the decision to local leaders because they can’t have a re-election if they don’t have an outright majority.

“And it’s right that they do what they need to do to serve the people of a community. These local elections are not opinion polls.”

Read More:
Local elections: Your ultimate guide
Labour have been ‘crushing disappointment’, say Greens at campaign launch

The Tories face an uphill battle at the local elections on 1 May, with polling suggesting the party is yet to recover from its catastrophic general election defeat in July.

👉Listen to Politics at Sam and Anne’s on your podcast app👈

Latest YouGov polling for Sky News’ Sam and Anne’s podcast put Labour marginally in the lead, followed by Reform and then the Tories.

The Lib Dems were fourth but their 17 points was the highest level of support they’ve had since 2017.

The Tories are defending more than half of the seats up for election, having won them in 2021 thanks in part to a Covid-19 vaccine polling bounce.

Votes will take place in 23 of England’s 317 local authorities, and there will also be a by-election in Runcorn following the resignation of Labour’s Mike Amesbury, who last month was given a suspended prison sentence for punching a man.

Senior Tory MP Esther McVey has previously said the Tories should “let Reform win” in Runcorn as part of an electoral pact, but Ms Badenoch today said: “That’s absolutely the wrong thing.”

She added: “We need to make sure that people always have the option to vote Conservative, and that’s the message that I’m taking out for these local government elections on May 1.”