There are grooming gangs “in every single part of our country”, Jess Phillips has told Sky News.
The safeguarding minister told Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast she was issuing an “open invitation” to Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch to meet victims with her.
Ms Badenoch’s spokesperson said she has not met any grooming gang victims after she called for a new national inquiry on Wednesday.
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Ms Phillips said: “There are grooming gangs in every single part of our country.
“I can’t stress this enough. There is nowhere where there is not organised child sexual abuse in our country.
“I am absolutely furious. All I’m going to say is, I’m going to start ringing them when I have to go and sit in courtrooms with rape victims. I’m going to start to see if they want to come along.
“Kemi has an open invitation. Next time I go and pick up a grooming victim, or every Friday afternoon in my office, I allocate two hours for the girls I’ve supported over the years, because they need to be supported for years and years and years afterwards.”
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Timeline of the grooming gangs scandal
Jess Phillips does not rule out new national inquiry
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The issue of grooming gangs reared its head again after it emerged last week Ms Phillips had rejected calls from Oldham Council for a government inquiry into the scandal in the town. She said a local inquiry was more appropriate.
Elon Musk has used that to continually tweet about the scandal, attacking Ms Phillips and Sir Keir Starmer for their involvement – which they have hit back at.
There have been several inquiries into grooming gangs around the country, including a national inquiry that took seven years and was published in 2022.
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Sky News has reported on those inquiries over the years, and also investigated and written about many grooming cases over the past two decades.
Home editor Jason Farrell has spoken to dozens of victims over the years, with his investigations exposing child abuse in Telford.
Many of the victims over the past week have told him they are not certain a new inquiry would help as it would take too long.
