Further pressure on Sir Keir Starmer as Rotherham MP backs national grooming inquiry
The Labour MP for Rotherham has called for a national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal, adding more pressure on Sir Keir Starmer.
Sarah Champion said child sexual abuse was “endemic” in Britain and “needs to be recognised as a national priority”.
She is the latest Labour politician to call for a national inquiry into child sexual exploitation (CSE) after Dan Carden, the Labour MP for Liverpool Walton, became the first Labour MP to back calls for a national inquiry at the weekend.
Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, has also said he would not “stand against” a further review while Paul Waugh, the Labour MP for Rochdale, backed a further inquiry on the condition it had the support of victims and survivors.
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Ms Champion, who resigned from Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow frontbench in 2017 after she said Britain had a “problem with British Pakistani men raping and exploiting white girls”, issued a five-point plan for tackling CSE on X – the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, who has increasingly taken an interest in the issue.
Her intervention will add more pressure on the prime minister, who has so far resisted the Conservatives’ calls for a national inquiry into “rape gangs”, arguing that it would delay implementing measures that would help victims.
Sir Keir, the former director of public prosecutions for England and Wales, pointed to the fact that there had already been the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse by Professor Alexis Jay – but critics have argued that it was not comprehensive enough.
During Prime Minister’s Questions last week, Sir Keir said a new inquiry would delay implementing Prof Jay’s recommendations “until 2031”.
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He accused the Conservatives of failing to implement any of the 2022 recommendations, adding: “They’ve been tweeting and talking. We’ve been acting.”
Last week the government announced it would implement one of Prof Jay’s recommendations by making it mandatory for professionals who work with children to report claims of sexual abuse – or face criminal sanctions.
MPs also last week voted against a Tory bid to launch a new national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal by 364 to 111, a majority of 253.
However, even if the Commons had supported the measure, it wouldn’t have actually forced the government to open the desired inquiry due to parliamentary procedure.
Instead, it would have killed the government’s legislation, the aim of which is to reform things such as the children’s care system and raise educational standards in schools.
Ms Champion, who previously indicated she would not support a further inquiry, proposed a national “Telford-style” inquiry that was “nationally resourced” and “victim-centred”.
Starmer said a new inquiry would delay implementing recommendations. Pic: PA
She said local inquiries did not have the power to compel witnesses and would fail to satisfy the public’s concern of cover-ups.
Telford was one of a number of towns and cities where young girls were targeted and abused by men largely of Pakistani heritage more than a decade ago. Other areas that were affected include Oldham, Rochdale, Newcastle and Bristol.
Ms Champion, who has campaigned on the issue of CSE for years, wrote on X: “Child sexual abuse is endemic in the UK and needs to be recognised as a national priority,” she said.
“It is clear that the public distrusts governments and authorities when it comes to preventing and prosecuting child abuse, especially child sexual exploitation.”
She added: “Having worked widely with victims and survivors, and frontline professionals, I have long believed that we need to fully understand the nature of this crime and the failures in the response of public bodies if we are to truly protect children.
“It is clear that nothing less than a national inquiry into the failings of those in authority to both prevent, and be accountable for their failings, in relation to grooming gangs will restore the faith in our safeguarding systems.”
In her list of recommendations, Ms Champion also included a “national audit” to see if grooming gangs were still operating or cases had been missed.
Read more:
Child sex abuse and grooming gangs: What we know, and what we don’t, from the data
Grooming gangs scandal timeline: What happened?
She also said there needed to be greater work to understand the motivations of grooming gang members.
Instead, she said triggers for such inquiries in local areas could be local councils or police referring themselves or an independent panel raising concerns.
Victim or survivor reports could also trigger an inquiry under the model, Ms Champion said.
Asked whether Ms Champion’s views on the matter carry some weight given her experience, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “Absolutely. There will be a range of views.
“We’ve heard opposing views to that from others, including victims and survivors’ groups as well. So we will be guided and led by the victims and survivors on this.”
The US Securities and Exchange Commission and crypto exchange Gemini have asked to pause the regulator’s suit over the exchange’s Gemini Earn program, saying they want to discuss a potential resolution.
In an April 1 letter to New York federal court judge Edgardo Ramos, lawyers representing the SEC and Genesis requested a 60-day hold on the case and that all deadlines be pulled “to allow the parties to explore a potential resolution.”
“In this case, the parties submit that it is in each of their interests to stay this matter while they consider a potential resolution and agree that no party or non-party would be prejudiced by a stay,” the letter states.
The lawyers added that a stay was in the court’s interest as “a resolution would conserve judicial resources” and proposed that a joint status report be submitted within 60 days after the entry of the stay.
The SEC sued Gemini and crypto lending firm Genesis Global Capital in January 2023, alleging they offered unregistered securities through the Gemini Earn program.
In March 2024, Genesis agreed to pay $21 million to settle charges related to the lending program, but the enforcement case against Gemini remains outstanding.
Letter from SEC and Genesis Global requesting extension of stay. Source: CourtListener
The letter did not specify what a possible resolution would entail, but the SEC has dropped several lawsuits it launched against crypto companies under the Biden administration, including against Coinbase, Ripple and Kraken.
Related: Will new US SEC rules bring crypto companies onshore?
In February, Gemini said the SEC closed a separate investigation into the firm as the regulator winds back its crypto enforcement under President Donald Trump.
“The SEC cost us tens of millions of dollars in legal bills alone and hundreds of millions in lost productivity, creativity, and innovation. Of course, Gemini is not alone,” Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss said at the time.
OpenSea, Crypto.com and Uniswap, among others, have also recently reported that the SEC had closed similar probes into their companies that were investigating alleged breaches of securities laws.
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Two Republicans who received a combined $1.5 million from the crypto-backed political action committee (PAC) Fairshake will enter the US House after winning special elections in Florida.
Republican Jimmy Patronis won the vacant seat in Florida’s 1st Congressional District to replace Matt Gaetz, taking 57% of the vote to defeat Democrat Gay Valimont, according to AP News data.
Randy Fine also took Florida’s 6th Congressional District with 56.7% of the vote to beat his Democratic rival, public school teacher Josh Weil, and fill a seat left vacant by Mike Waltz, who took a job as White House national security adviser.
Florida’s 1st and 6th Congressional Districts — located in Florida’s western panhandle and along the state’s northeast coast — have been controlled by Republicans for roughly 30 years, but their lead has narrowed in recent years.
Fairshake, a PAC backed by crypto industry giants including Coinbase, Ripple and Andreessen Horowitz, gave Fine around $1.16 million in advertising spending and funneled $347,000 to Patronis to support his campaign.
Both Republicans have expressed support for the crypto industry, with Fine stating in a Jan. 14 X post that “Floridians want crypto innovation!”
Source: Randy Fine
Fairshake and its affiliates poured around $170 million into the 2024 US presidential and congressional elections to back candidates who committed to supporting the crypto industry.
The wins by Patronis and Fine increased Republican representation in the House to 220 seats, with the Democrats holding 213 seats.
There are two vacant seats to be filled after Texas and Arizona Democrats Sylvester Turner and Raúl Grijalva died on March 5 and March 13, respectively.
Florida can expect to see a crypto-friendly regulatory environment
The victories for Patronis and Fine likely mean that crypto legislation will continue to see support in the US capital.
The Republican Party would have maintained its House majority even if it lost both seats in Florida, but it would have made it more difficult for some of the recently introduced Republican-backed crypto bills to pass through the House and Senate.
Related: Florida bill proposes strict rules against online gambling
At the Digital Assets Summit on March 18, Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna said he believes Congress “should be able to get” both a stablecoin and crypto market structure bill done this year.
Bills that could eventually make their way to the House include the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, which passed the Senate Banking Committee in an 18-6 vote on March 13.
Senator Cynthia Lummis also reintroduced a Bitcoin reserve bill about a week after the Trump administration announced the establishment of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve on March 6, with the legislation referred to the Senate Banking Committee on March 11.
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Several British trade associations have asked Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office to appoint a special envoy dedicated to crypto and for a dedicated action plan for digital assets and blockchain technology.
In a March 31 letter, the coalition of six UK digital economy trade bodies urged Starmer’s special adviser on business and investment, Varun Chandra, for a “greater strategic focus and alignment to deliver investment, growth and jobs” for the crypto industry.
The group, which consisted of the UK Cryptoasset Business Council, Global Digital Finance, The Payments Association, Digital Currencies Governance Group, the Crypto Council for Innovation and techUK, noted the US policy shift on crypto under President Donald Trump and his appointment of a crypto czar.
Britain’s commitment to an economic trade deal focused on technological cooperation with the US “presents a significant opportunity to mirror the United States’ ambition in fostering leadership in blockchain, digital assets, and other emerging financial technologies,” the letter stated.
The group recommended that the UK appoint a blockchain special envoy, similar to the US, to coordinate policy, foster innovation, and position the country competitively in global markets.
The trade bodies also called for the development of a dedicated government action plan for crypto and blockchain technology, including a concierge service to attract high-potential firms.
They added that the government should acknowledge and leverage the commonalities between blockchain, quantum computing and artificial intelligence technologies, including potential applications for government services.
Another recommendation was to create a high-level industry-government-regulator engagement forum to ensure informed decision-making and cross-sector collaboration.
The UK crypto and tech associations lobbying the government for a policy shift. Source: LinkedIn
“With deep pools of talent, access to capital, world-class academic institutions, and sophisticated regulators, the UK provides an environment where digital assets and blockchain innovation can thrive,” they stated.
Related: UK should tax crypto buyers to boost stock investing, economy, says banker
The coalition argues that crypto and blockchain technology could boost the UK economy by 57 billion British pounds ($73.6 billion) over the next decade, with the sector potentially increasing global gross domestic product by 1.39 trillion pounds ($1.8 trillion) by 2030.
Tom Griffiths, the co-founder and managing partner of crypto compliance advisory firm BitCompli, said in response to the letter on LinkedIn that the Financial Conduct Authority “has a lot of talent and a good sight of future plans, but the UK is definitely losing pace with Dubai, Singapore, and other EU jurisdictions.”
“Now is the time for the FCA to act, or the UK will lose out on this huge opportunity, which is digital assets and all the benefits this sector can bring, not only now but over the next 20 years,” he added.
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