Bridget Phillipson accuses Tories of being 'bandwagon jumpers who don't care about children' over grooming gangs inquiry calls

8 January 2025, 08:20 | Updated: 8 January 2025, 09:41

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has accused the Conservatives of being "bandwagon jumpers" who "don't care about children" as they try to force a national grooming gangs inquiry.

The Tories have tabled an amendment to the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, being debated on Wednesday, to require a statutory inquiry into grooming gangs after safeguarding minister Jess Phillips rejected calls for one.

Passing the amendment would not necessarily force the government to launch an inquiry, but could mean the entire bill - aimed at improving the safeguarding of children - fails to get through parliament.

Politics latest: Tories told to 'put up or shut up'

Ms Phillipson told Sky News' Wilfred Frost the Conservative government did not implement any of the recommendations that came out of an eight-year national inquiry into grooming gangs published in 2022.

The education secretary said: "The measures that I'm setting out today and the legislation in many ways go further because it puts a requirement on all councils to have teams working to keep children safe.

"And the bandwagon jumpers that have come along in recent days, they don't care about children, they don't care about making sure that we stop this and we take action.

"They had years to do it and they didn't do it."

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Grooming gangs scandal timeline
Why the Tories' attempts to force inquiry won't work

The grooming gangs scandal has been back in the headlines over the past week as tech billionaire Elon Musk has accused Sir Keir Starmer of being "complicit" as he was head of public prosecutions from 2008-2013 when many of the gangs were operating.

Mr Musk has also attacked Ms Phillips for rejecting a national inquiry as she said it needs to be carried out by Oldham Council, who requested it.

The Conservatives did the same in 2022.

Sir Keir and Ms Phillips addressed Mr Musk's attacks on them, saying their records show how much they have done to protect children.

Ms Phillips told Sky News political editor Beth Rigby: "He should crack on with this 'getting to Mars'. Elon Musk is going to Elon Musk.

"I've got bigger and more important things to be thinking about."

Ms Phillipson said some of the Conservative MPs who have been saying it was a "national scandal" that nothing happened after the inquiry were ministers when it was published in 2022.

She said: "I agree it's a national scandal that nothing happened.

"Do they have a mirror? I mean, they are the very people that are responsible for the failure to act, and they are the same very people today, the Conservatives who intend to block our legislation to keep children safe.

"I thought there was a limit to how far they would sink. And I was wrong."

Laura Trott, Conservative shadow education secretary, said her government did act on the national inquiry, with Rishi Sunak setting up the Grooming Gangs Taskforce in 2023, which saw 550 arrests and 4,000 children identified and protected in a year.

She told Sky News the number of victims and perpetrators is still unknown so a national inquiry is "very important".

However, Ms Phillipson added: "The Conservatives can back this or, as they're proposing, can kill stone dead this key landmark legislation.

"They've spent the last week or so touring studios like this, telling your viewers that they care about keeping children safe.

"Well they should put up or shut up, vote for this legislation, and do precisely that. Or is it all about grabbing a cheap headline and political opportunism?"

(c) Sky News 2025: Bridget Phillipson accuses Tories of being 'bandwagon jumpers who don't care about children' over grooming gangs inquiry calls