Despite their recent outrage, neither right-wing leader has previously taken any action on grooming gangs.
Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage have been criticised for politicising the grooming gangs inquiry.
Following the publication of Baroness Louise Casey’s audit of grooming gangs, the government yesterday committed to launching a national inquiry.
Responding to the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s statement, Badenoch accused the government of “another U-turn” and claimed Keir Starmer’s handling of the grooming scandal was “an extraordinary failure of leadership”.
She also said: “It has been left to the Conservatives to force this issue”, adding that Labour MPs voted against a national inquiry three times. The government did not initially commit to a national inquiry, as Professor Alexis Jay had led an independent inquiry into child sexual abuse in England and Wales in 2022.
Labour argued that the focus should be on implementing Jay’s findings, rather than launching a new investigation. However, following Baroness Casey’s recommendation for a national investigation into grooming gangs, the government has now committed to one.
Baroness Casey criticised Badenoch’s response, telling broadcasters she was “disappointed by it, to put it mildly.” She added: “I just felt, dare I say it, I felt the opposition could have just been a bit, ‘Yes, we will all come together behind you.’
“It almost doesn’t matter right now, does it, what political party people are part of. We’ve identified there’s a problem, it’s been a problem there a long time, and it’s about time we drew a line in the sand.”
Badenoch, who was Women and Equalities minister between 2022 and 2024, did not raise the issue of grooming gangs in Parliament until January this year, when tech billionaire Elon Musk started posting about Muslim grooming gangs on X.
Speaking to Andrew Marr on LBC, Jess Phillips, the Safeguarding Minister said: “Kemi Badenoch and Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary have found themselves very newly interested in this issue.”
Phillips added: “Lots of people have asked me today, ‘do you think this would be happening without Elon Musk?’”. She said: “I don’t think they’d be interested without Elon Musk. However, there have been many of us who have been plowing this furrow and seeking to change this.”
Former Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe has hit out against Farage’s opportunism on the grooming gangs issue.
This morning, he posted on X: “I sat next to Farage in the Commons when he stated that Reform would ‘raise the money’ for a rape gang inquiry. I applauded him.
“For that, I am sorry. Nothing happened. Nothing was done. Reform did nothing.
“It is filthy politics, and I feel deeply ashamed for my role in it.”
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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