Andy Burnham 'not opposed' to new national inquiry into grooming gangs

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Andy Burnham ‘would not be opposed’ to a new national inquiry into grooming gangs the day after a Conservative bid to set one up failed.

Labour MPs voted against the amendment to Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill last night (January 8) to commission a national inquiry into widespread child sexual exploitation.

It came after the Home Office rejected Oldham Council’s request for a new inquiry into abuse in the town. In Greater Manchester, the mayor launched a review into systematic child sexual abuse shortly after taking office in 2017.

It has produced ‘blistering’ reports on the authorities’ response in Oldham, Manchester, and Rochdale. However, no council or police officer has faced criminal proceedings as a result of those reviews, prompting the mayor to say he is open for a new national inquiry. “The review I instigated was not a public inquiry,” Mr Burnham told BBC Radio Manchester on Thursday (January 9). “People were not required to give evidence. “There’s a difference at a local level and a statutory public inquiry.