Justice delayed is justice denied, and the British people will not forget this dereliction of duty.
Labour MPs tonight (8 January 2025) rejected a national inquiry into child sexual exploitation and grooming gangs, sparking outrage from victims, campaigners, and the wider public.
The motion, proposed by Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch, was defeated by 364 votes to 111, with Labour MPs ordered to follow Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s three-line whip to block the inquiry. The scandal, one of the darkest chapters in recent British history, involved the systematic abuse of vulnerable girls, primarily by British-Pakistani grooming gangs.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp condemned Labour’s decision, branding it “an appalling betrayal of victims and a slap in the face to the entire nation.” He added: “Labour MPs have turned a blind eye to justice for the victims. How will they explain this disgraceful decision to their constituents?”
Kemi Badenoch Hits Out at Starmer
During fiery exchanges at PMQs earlier in the day, Kemi Badenoch directly challenged Prime Minister Keir Starmer, accusing him of silencing efforts to expose the full extent of the scandal. She said:
“The Prime Minister cannot tell the House the full scale of the scandal. He does not want questions asked of Labour politicians who may be complicit. He will not listen to the victims who are calling for a national inquiry.
“This is one of the worst scandals in recent British history. How will Labour members explain to their constituents that obeying the Prime Minister’s whip is more important than doing the right thing?”
Whipped Into Line
Starmer’s three-line whip forced Labour MPs to vote against the inquiry, with the threat of expulsion from the Parliamentary party for those who defied the order. Critics have suggested this move may have been driven by concerns over the Prime Minister’s tenure as Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) during the height of the grooming gang scandal in Oldham.
A Divisive Decision
The refusal to back the inquiry has been widely condemned, with campaigners arguing that victims deserve a full, transparent investigation into systemic failures that allowed abuse to persist.
One Conservative MP commented: “Labour has shown tonight that it is more interested in protecting certain people than in seeking justice for victims. The country will not forget this shameful betrayal.”
Public anger is mounting, with many questioning why Labour would block an inquiry into such a harrowing issue. The fallout from this decision is likely to dominate political discourse in the weeks to come.
These are the 364 MPs who voted against the national inquiry. Shame on them all. Britain shall never forget:
Jack Abbott (Labour) Debbie Abrahams (Labour) Shockat Adam (Independent) Zubir Ahmed (Labour) Luke Akehurst (Labour) Sadik Al-Hassan (Labour) Bayo Alaba (Labour) Dan Aldridge (Labour) Heidi Alexander (Labour) Douglas Alexander (Labour) Rushanara Ali (Labour) Tahir Ali (Labour) Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour) Mike Amesbury (Independent) Callum Anderson (Labour) Fleur Anderson (Labour) Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour) Scott Arthur (Labour) Jess Asato (Labour) James Asser (Labour) Jas Athwal (Labour) Catherine Atkinson (Labour) Lewis Atkinson (Labour) Calvin Bailey (Labour) Olivia Bailey (Labour) David Baines (Labour) Alex Baker (Labour) Richard Baker (Labour) Alex Ballinger (Labour) Antonia Bance (Labour) Lee Barron (Labour) Alex Barros-Curtis (Labour) Johanna Baxter (Labour) Danny Beales (Labour) Lorraine Beavers (Labour) Apsana Begum (Independent) Torsten Bell (Labour) Hilary Benn (Labour) Siân Berry (Green Party) Clive Betts (Labour) Polly Billington (Labour) Matt Bishop (Labour) Olivia Blake (Labour) Rachel Blake (Labour) Chris Bloore (Labour) Elsie Blundell (Labour) Kevin Bonavia (Labour) Jade Botterill (Labour) Sureena Brackenridge (Labour) Jonathan Brash (Labour) Phil Brickell (Labour) Chris Bryant (Labour) Julia Buckley (Labour) Richard Burgon (Independent) Maureen Burke (Labour ) David Burton-Sampson (Labour) Dawn Butler (Labour) Ruth Cadbury (Labour) Nesil Caliskan (Labour) Markus Campbell-Savours (Labour) Irene Campbell (Labour) Juliet Campbell (Labour) Alan Campbell (Labour) Sam Carling (Labour) Sarah Champion (Labour) Bambos Charalambous (Labour) Luke Charters (Labour) Ellie Chowns (Green Party) Feryal Clark (Labour) Ben Coleman (Labour) Jacob Collier (Labour) Lizzi Collinge (Labour) Tom Collins (Labour) Liam Conlon (Labour) Sarah Coombes (Labour) Andrew Cooper (Labour) Beccy Cooper (Labour) Yvette Cooper (Labour) Jeremy Corbyn (Independent) Deirdre Costigan (Labour) Pam Cox (Labour) Neil Coyle (Labour) Jen Craft (Labour) Stella Creasy (Labour) Torcuil Crichton (Labour) Chris Curtis (Labour) Janet Daby (Labour) Nicholas Dakin (Labour) Ashley Dalton (Labour) Emily Darlington (Labour) Alex Davies-Jones (Labour) Jonathan Davies (Labour) Paul Davies (Labour) Marsha De Cordova (Labour) Josh Dean (Labour) Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour) Jim Dickson (Labour) Anna Dixon (Labour) Samantha Dixon (Labour) Anneliese Dodds (Labour) Helena Dollimore (Labour) Stephen Doughty (Labour) Peter Dowd (Labour) Graeme Downie (Labour) Rosie Duffield (Independent) Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour) Angela Eagle (Labour) Maria Eagle (Labour) Lauren Edwards (Labour) Sarah Edwards (Labour) Clive Efford (Labour) Damien Egan (Labour) Maya Ellis (Labour) Chris Elmore (Labour) Kirith Entwistle (Labour) Florence Eshalomi (Labour) Bill Esterson (Labour) Chris Evans (Labour) Linsey Farnsworth (Labour) Josh Fenton-Glynn (Labour) Mark Ferguson (Labour) Patricia Ferguson (Labour) Natalie Fleet (Labour) Emma Foody (Labour) Catherine Fookes (Labour) Vicky Foxcroft (Labour) Daniel Francis (Labour) James Frith (Labour) Gill Furniss (Labour) Barry Gardiner (Labour) Allison Gardner (Labour) Anna Gelderd (Labour) Gill German (Labour) Tracy Gilbert (Labour) Becky Gittins (Labour) Mary Glindon (Labour) Ben Goldsborough (Labour) Jodie Gosling (Labour) Georgia Gould (Labour) John Grady (Labour) Lilian Greenwood (Labour) Nia Griffith (Labour) Andrew Gwynne (Labour) Amanda Hack (Labour) Paulette Hamilton (Labour) Emma Hardy (Labour) Carolyn Harris (Labour) Helen Hayes (Labour) Tom Hayes (Labour) Claire Hazelgrove (Labour) Mark Hendrick (Labour) Meg Hillier (Labour) Chris Hinchliff (Labour) Sharon Hodgson (Labour) Rachel Hopkins (Labour) Claire Hughes (Labour) Alison Hume (Labour) Patrick Hurley (Labour) Imran Hussain (Independent) Leigh Ingham (Labour) Natasha Irons (Labour) Sally Jameson (Labour) Dan Jarvis (Labour) Terry Jermy (Labour) Adam Jogee (Labour) Diana Johnson (Labour) Darren Jones (Labour) Gerald Jones (Labour) Lillian Jones (Labour) Louise Jones (Labour) Ruth Jones (Labour) Sarah Jones (Labour) Gurinder Singh Josan (Labour) Sojan Joseph (Labour) Warinder Juss (Labour) Chris Kane (Labour) Mike Kane (Labour) Satvir Kaur (Labour) Liz Kendall (Labour) Afzal Khan (Labour) Naushabah Khan (Labour) Stephen Kinnock (Labour) Jayne Kirkham (Labour) Gen Kitchen (Labour) Sonia Kumar (Labour) Uma Kumaran (Labour) Peter Kyle (Labour) Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour) Peter Lamb (Labour) Ian Lavery (Labour) Noah Law (Labour) Kim Leadbeater (Labour) Brian Leishman (Labour) Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour) Andrew Lewin (Labour) Clive Lewis (Labour) Simon Lightwood (Labour) Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent) Josh MacAlister (Labour) Alice Macdonald (Labour) Andy MacNae (Labour) Justin Madders (Labour) Shabana Mahmood (Labour) Seema Malhotra (Labour) Amanda Martin (Labour) Rachael Maskell (Labour) Keir Mather (Labour) Alex Mayer (Labour) Douglas McAllister (Labour) Kerry McCarthy (Labour) Martin McCluskey (Labour) Andy McDonald (Labour) Chris McDonald (Labour) John McDonnell (Independent) Blair McDougall (Labour) Lola McEvoy (Labour) Pat McFadden (Labour) Alison McGovern (Labour) Alex McIntyre (Labour) Gordon McKee (Labour) Kevin McKenna (Labour) Catherine McKinnell (Labour) Jim McMahon (Labour) Anna McMorrin (Labour) Frank McNally (Labour) Kirsty McNeill (Labour) Anneliese Midgley (Labour) Julie Minns (Labour) Navendu Mishra (Labour) Abtisam Mohamed (Labour) Iqbal Mohamed (Independent) Perran Moon (Labour) Jessica Morden (Labour) Stephen Morgan (Labour) Grahame Morris (Labour) Joe Morris (Labour) Luke Murphy (Labour) Chris Murray (Labour) Ian Murray (Labour) James Murray (Labour) Katrina Murray (Labour) Luke Myer (Labour) James Naish (Labour) Connor Naismith (Labour) Lisa Nandy (Labour) Kanishka Narayan (Labour) Josh Newbury (Labour) Samantha Niblett (Labour) Charlotte Nichols (Labour) Melanie Onn (Labour) Chi Onwurah (Labour) Simon Opher (Labour) Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour) Kate Osamor (Labour) Kate Osborne (Labour) Tristan Osborne (Labour) Sarah Owen (Labour) Darren Paffey (Labour) Andrew Pakes (Labour) Matthew Patrick (Labour) Michael Payne (Labour) Stephanie Peacock (Labour) Jon Pearce (Labour) Matthew Pennycook (Labour) Toby Perkins (Labour) Jess Phillips (Labour) Bridget Phillipson (Labour) David Pinto-Duschinsky (Labour) Lee Pitcher (Labour) Jo Platt (Labour) Luke Pollard (Labour) Joe Powell (Labour) Lucy Powell (Labour) Gregor Poynton (Labour) Peter Prinsley (Labour) Richard Quigley (Labour) Steve Race (Labour) Connor Rand (Labour) Andrew Ranger (Labour) Mike Reader (Labour) Ellie Reeves (Labour) Joani Reid (Labour) Emma Reynolds (Labour) Martin Rhodes (Labour) Jake Richards (Labour) Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour) Dave Robertson (Labour) Tim Roca (Labour) Matt Rodda (Labour) Sam Rushworth (Labour) Sarah Russell (Labour) Oliver Ryan (Labour) Jeevun Sandher (Labour) Michelle Scrogham (Labour) Mark Sewards (Labour) Naz Shah (Labour) Tulip Siddiq (Labour) Josh Simons (Labour) Andy Slaughter (Labour) John Slinger (Labour) Cat Smith (Labour) David Smith (Labour) Jeff Smith (Labour) Nick Smith (Labour) Sarah Smith (Labour) Karin Smyth (Labour) Gareth Snell (Labour) Alex Sobel (Labour) Euan Stainbank (Labour) Jo Stevens (Labour) Kenneth Stevenson (Labour) Elaine Stewart (Labour) Will Stone (Labour) Alistair Strathern (Labour) Alan Strickland (Labour) Lauren Sullivan (Labour) Kirsteen Sullivan (Labour) Peter Swallow (Labour) Mark Tami (Labour) Mike Tapp (Labour) David Taylor (Labour) Rachel Taylor (Labour) Nick Thomas-Symonds (Labour) Fred Thomas (Labour) (Proxy vote cast by Chris Elmore) Gareth Thomas (Labour) Adam Thompson (Labour) Emily Thornberry (Labour) Marie Tidball (Labour) Stephen Timms (Labour) Jessica Toale (Labour) Jon Trickett (Labour) Henry Tufnell (Labour) Anna Turley (Labour) Matt Turmaine (Labour) Karl Turner (Labour) Laurence Turner (Labour) Derek Twigg (Labour) Liz Twist (Labour) Harpreet Uppal (Labour) Valerie Vaz (Labour) Chris Vince (Labour) Christian Wakeford (Labour) Imogen Walker (Labour) Chris Ward (Labour) Melanie Ward (Labour) Paul Waugh (Labour) Chris Webb (Labour) Michelle Welsh (Labour) Catherine West (Labour) Andrew Western (Labour) Matt Western (Labour) Michael Wheeler (Labour) John Whitby (Labour) Jo White (Labour) Katie White (Labour) Nadia Whittome (Labour) David Williams (Labour) Steve Witherden (Labour) Rosie Wrighting (Labour) Yuan Yang (Labour) Mohammad Yasin (Labour) Steve Yemm (Labour)
Main photo: Keir Starmer 08/01/2025 Copyright: ©House of Commons CC BY 3.0
