British MPs on Wednesday voted against launching a national inquiry into Britain's grooming gang scandal, following objections to the way the vote would proceed and amid international scrutiny of the crisis led by Elon Musk.
The House of Commons passed an amendment to establish a statutory inquiry into the scandal, which revealed that men, mainly of Pakistani descent, had been sexually abusing young girls in a town in northern England for years.
The bill was an amendment to the Child Welfare and Schools Bill supported by the Labor government. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned that voting in favor of the amendment would invalidate the entire bill to which it was attached. The amendment failed in the Labor-controlled chamber by a margin of 364 votes to 111, Sky News reported.
British Prime Minister Starmer hits back at Musk attack on child grooming gangs
Ahead of the vote, Mr Starmer said: “What we need now is action. What is unacceptable is the idea that opposition MPs will vote down the Child Protection Bill this afternoon.” ” he called.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer addressed MPs at the Labor Party conference in Liverpool, England, on Tuesday. (AP)
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch pushed back.
“Be a leader, not a lawyer,” she said, adding that the new investigation should look into related issues between the two towns.
“The reason a national investigation is important is because this problem is systemic,” she said, noting that “local and national officials, police, prosecutors and politicians” are involved. Ta.
“These interconnected issues cannot be covered by local research alone,” she says.
Previous reports had found evidence of “horrifying” abuse, with more than 1,400 girls abused between 1997 and 2013 in Rotherham alone. Reports also found that authorities feared stirring up racial discrimination in their response to the crime, given the ethnic makeup of the perpetrators. The scandal raised concerns about multiculturalism and mass immigration.
The issue recently came to the fore again after local officials in Oldham called on the government to launch a national inquiry into the town's handling of the crisis. A 2022 report found that children were being treated unfairly by authorities, but found no cover-up despite concerns that they would be exploited by right-wing activists.
Elon Musk demands UK response to grooming gang scandal amid calls for investigation
The British government rejected the request, saying any investigation should be organized locally. This prompted calls from Badenoch and Elon Musk for a national investigation.
Palace of Westminster, Houses of Parliament in central London.
“Thousands of girls across the country have been tortured and sexually abused at the hands of men and many lives have been destroyed forever. The Prime Minister referred to an earlier investigation. He was right. “It was an investigation into child sexual abuse, but it wasn't about a rape gang scandal,” Mr Badenoch said.
Mr. Musk, who has pursued the issue of
President-elect Trump and Elon Musk attend the SpaceX Starship launch in Brownsville, Texas, on November 19, 2024. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
“Call your MP and tell them that the hundreds of thousands of girls in the UK who have been and are being systematically and horrifically gang raped deserve some kind of justice in this world,” Musk said on Wednesday. Said in X.
“This is very important, otherwise the same thing will happen in the future,” he said.
Britain hit by another Asian grooming gang scandal after report exposes child sex abuse in Manchester
Mr Starmer had previously accused Mr Musk of “lies and misinformation” and accused British politicians of “jumping on the far-right bandwagon”, without directly naming Mr Musk.
On Wednesday, he again accused Mr Badenoch of jumping on the bandwagon and urged MPs to ensure the wide-ranging bill is passed.
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“One of the provisions of the bill is to protect vulnerable children who are not currently attending school and to prevent them from being kicked out of school due to abuse. We implore you to rebel against misleading guidance and cast a genuine yes vote on this important bill. ”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
