Will Keir Starmer have to change his tune on a public inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal? Just last week, the Prime Minister appeared to suggest those calling for a new inquiry into grooming gangs were jumping on a ‘far-Right bandwagon’. However, since then – and following a backlash over the comment – Starmer appears to be slowly changing his position. At Prime Minister’s Questions, Starmer suggested everyone was entitled to their own opinion on whether there should be an inquiry into the scandal between 1997 and 2013, which saw children as young as 11 raped and trafficked by gangs of men, predominantly of Pakistani descent.

Champion is backed by Paul Waugh, the MP for Rochdale, who said he would back an inquiry

Now Starmer’s position appears to be softening further as his own MPs start to break rank on the issue. On Monday, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said that while Starmer’s opposition remained, the government ‘will be guided and led by the victims and survivors on this’. The comments came after Sarah Champion, the MP for Rotherham, became the latest Labour politician to back calls for an inquiry. Champion, who faced a backlash in her party when she previously spoke out about grooming gangs, said ‘nothing less than a national inquiry into the failings of those in authority to prevent and be accountable for their failings’ would restore faith in the police and local councils.

Champion is backed by Paul Waugh, the MP for Rochdale, who said he would back an inquiry supported by the victims. Both Waugh and Champion represent areas that were grooming hotspots and both initially appeared to back Starmer’s position that there would be no inquiry. Other Labour politicians to call for an inquiry include Dan Carden and the Manchester metro mayor Andy Burnham. It comes as both Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch keep the pressure up: on Saturday, Farage welcomed grooming gangs survivor Elizabeth Harper to the stage at the Reform North West Conference. On Monday, Badenoch met with Harper along with survivors from Oldham.

If Starmer does not change tack, the issue is likely to become a running sore. Farage has said his Reform party will fund their own inquiry if the government fails to act. The fact that Labour politicians are changing their positions on this issue after a weekend in their constituencies suggests that voter pressure could also be a factor here when it come to what the Labour leadership does next.