No 10 says Starmer stands by claim Tories were jumping on far-right bandwagon when they first demanded abuse inquiry – UK politics live | Politics

In his interview on the Sky News this morning Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said that Keir Starmer should apologise for saying in January that those calling for a national inquiry into grooming gangs were jumping on a far-right bandwagon. Kemi Badenoch, his party leader, is also quoted today in an Daily Express splash story saying Starmer should apologise, but she is saying he should apologise for not agreeing to hold a national inquiry earlier.

At the Downing Street lobby briefing this morning the No 10 spokesperson was asked if Starmer still thought that people who backed a national inquiry in January were joining a far-right bandwagon. In response, the spokesperson defended the phrase, and insisted that it only applied to Tories who were now demanding an inquiry they never set up when they were in government.

The spokesperson said:

The prime minister’s comments about bandwagons were specifically about ministers from the previous government who sat in office for years and did nothing to tackle this scandal. As the prime minister has said, we will not make the same mistake.

The point the PM has made is that those spreading lies and misinformation were not doing so in the interest of victims. And those cheerleading for Tommy Robinson, who was almost who was jailed for almost collapsing a grooming case, are not interested in justice.

Some of those prominent on social media in January calling for a national inquiry, like the X owner Elon Musk, were also strong Robinson supporters.

The spokesperson also said that there shadow ministers who “did not implement of Alex Jay’s recommendations [when they were in government] but then called for an inquiry when it became politically convenient”.

Philp was referring this morning to something Starmer said at a press conference on 6 January. Starmer said:

When politicians, and I mean politicians who sat in government for many years, are casual about honesty, decency, truth and the rule of law, calling for inquiries because they want to jump on a bandwagon of the far right, that affects politics because a robust debate can only be based on the true facts.

Two days later, at PMQs, Starmer again accused the Tories of jumping on a bandwagon, although on that occasion he did not refer to calls for a national inquiry as being a “far-right” cause.

In his Sky interview Philp was asked why the Tories were criticising Starmer for taking 11 months to order a national inquiry into grooming gangs when the Tories did not order one during their 14 years office. Philp said the previous government had done much in this area, including setting up a general child abuse inquiry, and he said that he was not home secretary in the last government, and Badenoch was not leader. He said he and Badenoch subsequently decided an inquiry was needed.