Bid to halt child safeguarding bill ‘sickening’ – Bridget Phillipson

The Conservatives will bring forward an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill on Wednesday, which is expected to call for ministers to establish a “national statutory inquiry into historical child sexual exploitation, focused on grooming gangs”.

The amendment is unlikely to be supported by a majority in the Commons, as the government wants to roll out the recommendations of the inquiry led by Prof Alexis Jay, rather than open a new inquiry.

The non-binding amendment also calls for the Commons to halt the progress of the bill, which includes measures aimed at bolstering safeguarding for children.

Phillipson said the government backed local inquiries into grooming gangs and said the row over calls for a new national probe had “lost sight” of victims.