Starmer to face PMQs after Musk row as Tories push vote on child grooming gangs: live inkeinspires

Bridget Phillipson has denied the government is committing “educational vandalism” with its Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

Tory shadow education secretary Laura Trott has accused Labour of being set on “tearing up everything that has driven up school standards”, amid fears that academies will lose freedoms that can help to recruit teachers and improve pupil outcomes in challenging areas.

Academies – which are independent of local authorities – currently have the freedom to set their own pay and conditions for staff, and some academies exceed the national pay scales for teachers.

But under the new legislation, all teachers will be part of the same core pay and conditions framework whether they work in a local authority-run school or an academy.

Responding to Conservative criticism, the education secretary told LBC: “I think the only vandals here are the people that today intend to vote down the single biggest piece of child protection legislation. They are the vandals.”

Calls for a national inquiry into grooming gangs should be debated “without calling each other names”, the Tory shadow education secretary has said.

Laura Trott told Sky News that the Conservatives’ calls for a national inquiry followed further details about the issue becoming known after the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse had been established.

She said: “There is much more information that has come to light, this is an evolving picture. There is more that we need to understand and, as a result, it makes sense to do a national inquiry alongside taking forward further steps to help support and protect victims.”

Pointing to a report from the grooming gangs taskforce just before the election that showed 550 people had been arrested in the past year, she added: “This is about new information which is coming forward about the extent of what’s happening and us needing more information to take this forward.

“I would like this to be done on a cross-party basis, where we talk about these things, we are able to have policy debates, without people calling each other names.”

Sir Keir Starmer has warned Conservative MPs not to back a Commons push for a new nationwide child grooming investigation, as it prioritises “the desire for retweets over any real interest in the safeguarding of children”.

The prime minister said that Kemi Badenoch’s attempt to garner parliamentary support for a new inquiry, in the form of an amendment to a Bill aimed at bolstering the safety of children, was a “shocking tactic” and “completely shortsighted”.

The amendment is unlikely to be supported by a majority in the Commons, as the government wants to roll out the recommendations of the investigation led by Professor 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, such as removing the automatic right for parents to take their children out of school for home education if the young person is subject to a child protection investigation or suspected of being at risk of significant harm.

Here is a brief timeline of events in the House of Commons today:

At midday, Sir Keir Starmer will face his first PMQs of the year amid the row sparked by social media boss Elon Musk over the grooming gangs scandal.

Later in the day, MPs will debate Labour’s children’s wellbeing and schools bill – with the Tories expected to seek an amendment to the bill calling for ministers to establish a “national statutory inquiry into historical child sexual exploitation, focused on grooming gangs”. A vote is expected at around 4pm.

Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell has more details on the row over Kemi Badenoch’s bid to seek an amendment to Labour’s child safety bill in order to call for a new national inquiry into grooming gangs.

Urging the Conservatives to “put up or shut up” and back Labour’s bill ahead of today’s vote, education secretary Bridget Phillipson warned the Tory amendment would “kill it stone dead”, jeopardising urgent measures to protect vulnerable youngsters.

The amendment has almost zero chance of passing, but due to parliamentary process, if voted for it would stop the overall bill in its tracks and prevent it being brought back before the Commons in the current parliamentary session.

It includes measures that will see parents no longer have an automatic right to take their children out of school for home education if the young person is subject to a child protection investigation or suspected of being at risk of significant harm.

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has warned that the Tories should “put up or shut up” ahead of a Commons vote later today which she fears could hijack legislation aimed at bolstering children’s safety.

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

Describing the bill as the “single biggest piece of child protection legislation in a generation”, Ms Phillipson said it would ensure coordination across agencies” to ensure that we know where children are in order to “make sure that our children are protected”.

The education secretary told Sky News: “The Conservatives can back this or, as they’re proposing, can kill stone dead this key landmark legislation. They’ve spent the last week or so touring studios like this telling your viewers that they care about keeping children safe.

“Well, they should put up or shut up. Vote for this legislation, and do precisely that. Or is it all about grabbing a cheap headline and political opportunism?”

Elon Musk’s father has warned that Nigel Farage is “not strong enough to be the leader that” Britain needs, after his son called for Reform UK to replace him as party leader.

Asked whether he had talked to his son about the breakdown of his relationship with Mr Farage, Errol Musk told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “Yes … Initially I was the first one to say that I think Farage is certainly not – I don’t think he’s a bad person – he’s not strong enough to be the leader that you need at the moment.

“You need a really strong leader – somebody who’s prepared to ultimately be crucified, not lose the odd cigarette or something because of the pressure on him. You need someone who’s really prepared to put themselves on the line. You’re heading in the wrong direction in your country.

“So initially I just said he’s not a strong enough person, then Elon followed it up by saying that he’s just got to go. And then I was asked and I said, ‘look it is England, after all, we are trying to be fair people’ … and so we would perhaps give him a second chance and see what he can do.”

The Conservatives will seek to garner support for a new nationwide child grooming investigation with a symbolic vote in the Commons later today, amid an ongoing spat between ministers and billionaire Elon Musk.

Sir Keir Starmer’s government has faced a slew of attacks from the X and Tesla owner in recent days, after Home Office minister Jess Phillips declined a request for a nationally led inquiry in Oldham in favour of a council-led investigation.

Ms Phillips said she faced an increased risk to her safety since Mr Musk called her a “rape genocide apologist”, and the prime minister has signalled the businessman crossed a line with his criticism and was spreading misinformation.

The Tories have joined calls by Mr Musk for a new UK-wide inquiry into child sexual abuse, despite a wide-ranging independent probe having concluded its work in 2022.

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

In his latest piece for Independent Voices, Jon Sopel writes:

You know that moment when your child gets home from school and you’re aware something bad has happened? Then, it all comes out: the person your child thought was his new best mate isn’t that nice after all. And he’s worried that his other longstanding friend might side with him, because the other two seem really tight. And you listen attentively, if slightly bewildered, to learn the spat is all the fault of that horrid kid in the class, Tommy.

Well, in this story it’s Nigel Farage who’s fallen out with the school’s Mr Flash – Elon Musk… all because Nige hasn’t shown loyalty to another kid, Tommy (Robinson, of course), who has been expelled. And Farage is worried that his longstanding best friend, Donald Trump, might side with Elon because they seem inseparable – always hanging around the playground together, sniggering at the back of the classroom, Elon letting Don copy his algebra homework.

If it wasn’t so consequential for British politics, it might be easy just to play it for laughs.

But it does matter. Having played an outsized role in the US presidential election in November – and few can doubt Musk’s significance, both in terms of financial muscle and his alleged recalibration of the X algorithm to promote and amplify Trump’s messages – it looks like the world’s richest man is turning to the UK as his next political playground.

The government’s plan for all state schools – academies and those run by councils – to follow the same pay and conditions framework is “educational vandalism”, the shadow education secretary has warned.

Laura Trott accused Labour of being set on “tearing up everything that has driven up school standards” through its Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

The Bill – which is due to have its second reading in Parliament on Wednesday – has prompted fears that academies will lose freedoms which can help to recruit teachers and improve pupil outcomes in challenging areas.

Academies – which are independent of local authorities – currently have the freedom to set their own pay and conditions for staff, and some academies exceed the national pay scales for teachers. But under the new legislation, all teachers will be part of the same core pay and conditions framework whether they work in a local authority-run school or an academy.