British prime minister Keir Starmer said on Saturday that he would accept a recommendation for a national inquiry into “grooming gangs” after a decade-old child sexual abuse scandal came to light recently.
Starmer had earlier resisted calls for a statutory review in the case. Earlier this year it was revealed that gangs of mostly Pakistani men had groomed, trafficked and raped young white girls more than a decade ago.
Also Read: Elon Musk backs Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi’s ‘Pakistani grooming gang’ post: ‘True’
UK’s interior minister Yvette Cooper in January asked Louise Casey, a former senior official, to undertake a “rapid audit” of the current scale and nature of gang-based exploitation in Britain.
“(Casey’s) position when she started the audit was that there was not a real need for a national inquiry, over and above what was going on,” Starmer told Reuters.
Also Read: What is UK’s ‘Pakistani grooming gangs’ scandal? Why is Elon Musk slamming PM Keir Starmer?
He added, “She has looked at the material she has looked at and she has come to the view that there should be a national inquiry on the basis of what she has seen. I have read every single word of her report and I am going to accept her recommendation.”
The matter brought heat to the UK government after US billionaire Elon Musk criticised them for turning a blind eye to the issue of thousands of girls being sexually abused.
Also Read: Elon Musk attacks PM Keir Starmer over ‘Pakistani rape gangs’, UK responds
Starmer said that it “will take a bit of time” to set up the inquiry, but added that “it will be statutory under the Inquiries Act”, as per the BBC.
The local investigations will have the power to compel evidence to be given and witnesses to appear.
In a post on X, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage wrote: “A full statutory enquiry, done correctly, will expose the multiple failings of the British establishment. I repeat the words ‘done correctly’ – this cannot be a whitewash.
“It’s time for victims to receive the justice they deserve and for perpetrators to face the full force of the law.”
