Keir Starmer has insisted Tommy Robinson is a thug just days after he was accused of ‘smear tactics’ for his comments on the grooming gangs scandal.
The Prime Minister expressed in a column that individuals supporting the veteran of the English Defence League were not seeking justice but were attempting to distort historical facts.
His remarks followed a period of intense criticism he faced for insinuating that those calling for an investigation into the grooming scandal were aligning themselves with extreme-right views.
Sir Keir provoked strong opposition after stating that Conservative calls for an inquiry into the systematic abuse of numerous white girls by mostly Pakistani men were essentially echoing the sentiments of far-right groups.
The Labour leader had also angrily defended his record as Director of Public Prosecutions after Tesla tycoon Elon Musk suggested he was ‘complicit’ in the failure to tackle the abuse.
And he claimed Kemi Badenoch’s interventions on the issue showed she was ‘desperate for attention’.
Ms Badenoch hit back, accusing the PM of ‘applying Labour smear tactics from 20 years ago’.
Sir Keir has now doubled down on his position that ‘action’ is needed rather than another national inquiry and spoke of the ‘ludicrous claims’ that allege he is ‘part of the problem’.
Sir Keir Starmer triggered a backlash after he branded calls for a inquiry into grooming gangs as ‘amplifying what the far-Right are saying’
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said she would table a Commons amendment this week designed to force a vote on an inquiry into the scandal
The Prime Minister said in his column for The Sun: ‘[The Conservative government] are demanding another national inquiry. Putting political posturing before child protection.’
He later went on to say: ‘We can’t fix this problem until we have an accurate picture of who is involved.
‘Police forces should be spotting patterns, targeting the gangs, bringing the abusers to justice and helping the victims.’
Elsewhere he insisted his ‘fight’ to change the way the prosecution service operated was a ‘matter of public record’ and that he ‘saw firsthand’ how children were ‘failed’ when acting as the country’s leading prosecutor.
The prime minister added he had called in 2013 for a mandatory duty to report child sexual abuse and that the current government would not put this into law.
He described how this would make it a criminal offence for anyone to willfully obstruct a sexual abuse investigation.
And speaking of Robinson, he said: ‘The poison being pumped out by the far right should not surprise anyone.
‘Those spreading lies and misinformation are not interested in the victims.
Speaking of Robinson, Sir Keir said: ‘The poison being pumped out by the far right should not surprise anyone’
Elon Musk with Nigel Farage. The Tesla founder stepped up his criticism of Sir Keir, describing his comments as ‘utterly despicable’ and suggesting he should be jailed
‘Those cheerleading for Tommy Robinson — a thug who was jailed for almost collapsing a grooming case — are not interested in justice.
‘They are only interested in themselves.’
The comments come as Tory leader Ms Badenoch revealed she would table a Commons amendment this week designed to force a vote on the need for an inquiry.
And they also follow former police detective Maggie Oliver, who helped blow the whistle on the scandal in Rochdale, saying she was ‘incandescent with rage’ at the PM’s previous comments.
She told GB News: ‘I am no far-Right activist. I am a woman who gave 16 years of my life to the police and protecting children was No 1 priority in my life.
‘All the victims that I know and that we support have had their lives destroyed. To write them off as far-Right extremists is insulting in the extreme.’
At the press conference in Epsom, the issue had overshadowed Sir Keir’s announcement of plans to cut health waiting lists, which were meant to be the centrepiece of the latest attempt to relaunch his premiership.
Dismissing calls for a fresh inquiry into the grooming gangs, he said: ‘What I won’t tolerate is politicians jumping on the bandwagon simply to get attention when those politicians sat in government for 14 long years, tweeting, talking, but not doing anything about it – now so desperate for attention that they’re amplifying what the far-Right is saying.’
Former police detective Maggie Oliver, who helped blow the whistle on the scandal in Rochdale said she was ‘incandescent with rage’ at the PM’s comments
Downing Street insisted the PM’s comments were focused on the Conservatives and said he did not believe the campaigners and victims pushing for an inquiry are necessarily ‘far-Right’.
The PM acknowledged that many victims felt ‘let down by perverse ideas about community relations or by the idea that institutions must be protected above all else and they have not been listened to and they have not been heard’.
But he said there had been enough inquiries into a scandal that took place for decades across dozens of towns and cities. Sir Keir added: ‘This doesn’t need more consultation. It doesn’t need more research. It just needs action.’
In his Sun column he admitted the grooming gangs were ‘many of them Asian’ and said ‘we should stop at nothing to get to the truth’.
