Phillipson says bill will try to prevent crippling protections
The Education Secretary has said it is “absolutely sad” to push for a new national inquiry into grooming gangs by blocking progress on a bill aimed at boosting child protection.
Bridget Phillipson told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that Tory plans to amend the Child Wellbeing and Schools Bill would “completely destroy it”.
He said this was “the largest share of law-protecting children in a generation”, which conservatives wanted to block “at the altar of political opportunism”.
The Conservatives have joined Elon Musk’s call for a new UK-wide investigation into child sexual abuse, despite a wider independent inquiry set to complete its work in 2022.
The Conservatives will table an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill on Wednesday, which is expected to ask ministers to set up a “national statutory inquiry into historical child sexual abuse, focused on grooming gangs”.
This amendment is unlikely to get majority support in the Commons, as the Government wants to implement the recommendations of the inquiry led by Professor Alexis Jay rather than launch a new inquiry.
The non-binding amendment also calls on the Commons to block progress on the bill, which includes measures aimed at promoting the protection of children.
Phillipson said the government supports local investigations into targeting gangs and said the controversy had “lost sight” of victims, with calls for a new national inquiry.
