Grooming gangs inquiry has got very political – but maybe it needs to for action to take place
There’s a naive tendency among some in Westminster to think certain issues are so serious they can be removed from party politics.
Perhaps sadly, the reverse is often true.
Scandals like child sexual abuse often get political precisely because they are so serious. For the government of the day, this presents a quandary.
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Ministers must work to address the substance of the issue, yes. But quiet and effective administration isn’t enough here.
They’ve also got to make sure their work is noticed and any space for doubt about it is minimised.
This appears to be the problem when it comes to the heinous issue of grooming gangs.
It was January when calls for a national inquiry were driven up the UK news agenda by nakedly political interventions by the tech billionaire turned Trump adviser Elon Musk.
The Tories joined in, despite the fact they hadn’t instituted such a probe while they were in government.
In short, it all got very political.
But that doesn’t mean critics of the government didn’t have some sort of point, with calmer heads on the Labour side also saying more was needed.
The home secretary eventually settled the situation by announcing five locally led inquiries that would be backed by a government framework and informed by a national audit led by the respected former children’s commissioner Baroness Casey.
An initial sign of problems to come arrived earlier this month when the lawyer who was due to help with the inquiries suggested progress and communication was lacking from the government.
Then on Tuesday, the victims minister Jess Phillips made a Commons statement announcing a “flexible approach” in how funding could be used for locally led work.
This could be for full inquiries, but it could also be for “victims panels” or “locally led audits”.
Some Labour MPs began to wonder what happened to the five inquiries and what recent progress they could point concerned constituents towards.
The fact the announcement was made immediately before MPs left Westminster for Easter heightened nerves that someone was trying to bury something.
Then there’s the ongoing pressure from Reform UK, who are chasing Labour in many areas where concern over this issue runs deep.
One MP told Sky News: “We are all getting so much abuse. It’s just political naivety in the extreme.”
Home Office sources are emphatic there has been no watering down and that there may be more than five inquiries – if Baroness Casey’s audit suggests they are needed.
That, I am told, can be expected after Easter and will be accompanied by more detail on the framework for the inquiries.
Tom Crowther, the lawyer who cast doubt on the timeliness of the process, will still be involved and is currently helping with the Oldham inquiry.
The position on a full national inquiry hasn’t changed though, with the prime minister telling me further probes are just one way to address this crime and guidance from previous reviews must be implemented too.
On that, he said 17 of the 20 recommendations from Alexis Jay’s child sexual abuse inquiry were being taken forward.
As is the case in many policy areas, Sir Keir’s message is that action is preferable to words.
But as the government has found out on this, if that action is not overly visible and demonstrable, others will start talking.