Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
MPs rejected calls for a new national inquiry into grooming gangs on Wednesday evening, after the issue was forced on to parliament’s agenda by the Conservatives amid pressure from tech billionaire Elon Musk.
In the House of Commons, the government used its majority to reject a Tory amendment to education legislation that proposed a national inquiry. A total of 364 MPs voted against the amendment, while 111 were in favour.
The vote by MPs came after ministers earlier indicated they were open to holding a new national inquiry into historic grooming cases involving sexual exploitation of girls by gangs of mainly British-Pakistani men.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described the Tory amendment to the government’s schools legislation as a “wrecking amendment” because it would block the passage of the bill if approved.
Musk has demanded a national inquiry into grooming gangs in the UK as he launched strong attacks on Starmer and his safeguarding minister Jess Phillips.
This is a developing story.
