"Kemi Badenoch is entitled to take a bit of the credit for persuading Keir Starmer to change his mind and agree to a national grooming gangs inquiry. (GB News and Elon Musk probably played a rule too although Starmer says the voice that mattered was Louise Casey's.) When opposition parties influence policy, they always look a bit more serious. But intentionally or not by getting the inquiry off the ground, Badenoch has also plunged the government into process turmoil that guarantees endless negative headlines and unwanted distraction."
"In the Commons yesterday Starmer defended Phillips. Josh MacAlister, the children's minister, has been doing a media round this morning and he said Phillips has the full backing of the prime minister and the home secretary and that he would stay in post. He went on: I know Jess, she's been a lifelong advocate and champion for young girls who've been abused, and she has already shown that she's properly"
Opposition pressure led to a national grooming gangs inquiry, but the inquiry's launch has caused procedural chaos and sustained negative publicity for the government. Four survivors resigned from the inquiry's oversight panel and both candidates to chair the inquiry withdrew. Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, faces calls to be sacked after comments alleged to have falsely accused survivors of lying about the process. The resigning survivors said Phillips's remark retraumatized them and declared she was unfit to oversee the process. The prime minister and home secretary publicly backed Phillips, while some survivors and victims disagree with the resignations.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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