PA MediaPushing for a new national inquiry into grooming gangs by halting the progress of a bill aimed at bolstering child safety is “utterly sickening”, the education secretary has said.Bridget Phillipson told the BBC the Tory Party’s amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill “would kill it stone dead” – but the amendment is unlikely to pass in the Commons. The Conservatives have joined calls by Elon Musk for a new UK-wide inquiry into child sexual abuse, despite a seven-year independent review having concluded its work in 2022.The wide-ranging bill being debated on Wednesday includes measures to protect vulnerable children, such as tougher rules around home-schooling and support for those in care, inspections of schools, changes to academies, and regulation of private education institutions.The Conservatives are bringing forward an amendment to the bill to call for ministers to establish a national statutory inquiry into historical child sexual exploitation, focused on grooming gangs.Ministers have said they want to roll out the recommendations of the previous child sexual abuse inquiry led by Prof Alexis Jay, rather than open a new national one. Prof Alexis Jay told the BBC on Tuesday that victims want action and do not need a new national inquiry.Phillipson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the children’s bill was “the single biggest piece of children safeguarding legislation in a generation”, which the Conservatives intended to block “on the altar of political opportunism”.While the proposed amendment would stop the children’s bill in its tracks if it were passed, it will not pass because of the Labour government’s large majority. The Conservatives know this, opening themselves up to criticism that their actions are performative.Yet, if in the coming years they were only to attempt amendments which are likely to pass then they are in for a very quiet period in opposition.Ultimately, this is what oppositions do: they draw attention to differences in position between them and the government.The Conservatives are already vowing to continue to amend the bill at every opportunity if – or when – Wednesday’s gambit fails, meaning this issue is likely to crop up again before long.Phillipson said the government backed local inquiries into grooming gangs and said the row over calls for a new national inquiry had “lost sight” of victims.Asked how many local inquiries could be funded by the government, Phillipson said it had to be led by the evidence and ministers would look at any request.Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick has called for a new national inquiry into grooming gangs and said “what we’ve learnt more recently is the sheer scale of what is happening”.He told the BBC on Tuesday that the Jay Review looked at six towns but claimed at least 50 towns were suspected to have had gr …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnPA MediaPushing for a new national inquiry into grooming gangs by halting the progress of a bill aimed at bolstering child safety is “utterly sickening”, the education secretary has said.Bridget Phillipson told the BBC the Tory Party’s amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill “would kill it stone dead” – but the amendment is unlikely to pass in the Commons. The Conservatives have joined calls by Elon Musk for a new UK-wide inquiry into child sexual abuse, despite a seven-year independent review having concluded its work in 2022.The wide-ranging bill being debated on Wednesday includes measures to protect vulnerable children, such as tougher rules around home-schooling and support for those in care, inspections of schools, changes to academies, and regulation of private education institutions.The Conservatives are bringing forward an amendment to the bill to call for ministers to establish a national statutory inquiry into historical child sexual exploitation, focused on grooming gangs.Ministers have said they want to roll out the recommendations of the previous child sexual abuse inquiry led by Prof Alexis Jay, rather than open a new national one. Prof Alexis Jay told the BBC on Tuesday that victims want action and do not need a new national inquiry.Phillipson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the children’s bill was “the single biggest piece of children safeguarding legislation in a generation”, which the Conservatives intended to block “on the altar of political opportunism”.While the proposed amendment would stop the children’s bill in its tracks if it were passed, it will not pass because of the Labour government’s large majority. The Conservatives know this, opening themselves up to criticism that their actions are performative.Yet, if in the coming years they were only to attempt amendments which are likely to pass then they are in for a very quiet period in opposition.Ultimately, this is what oppositions do: they draw attention to differences in position between them and the government.The Conservatives are already vowing to continue to amend the bill at every opportunity if – or when – Wednesday’s gambit fails, meaning this issue is likely to crop up again before long.Phillipson said the government backed local inquiries into grooming gangs and said the row over calls for a new national inquiry had “lost sight” of victims.Asked how many local inquiries could be funded by the government, Phillipson said it had to be led by the evidence and ministers would look at any request.Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick has called for a new national inquiry into grooming gangs and said “what we’ve learnt more recently is the sheer scale of what is happening”.He told the BBC on Tuesday that the Jay Review looked at six towns but claimed at least 50 towns were suspected to have had gr …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
