LONDON

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday said there are a number of inquiries into child sexual abuse and victims want immediate "action," while main opposition Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch insisted that a national inquiry is important because the issue of abuse is "systemic."

Starmer and Badenoch had a heated debate during the first Prime Minister's Questions Session of the year, about whether there should be another inquiry into child grooming gangs, an issue that has recently been dominating the UK politics.

Badenoch defined the issue as "decades-long rape gangs scandal," and asked Starmer whether he is confident they know the full extent of "rape gang activity."

In response, Starmer recalled that that there have been local inquiries as well as Professor Alexis Jay's national inquiry which was set up in 2015 and carried out 15 investigations, including into grooming gangs and abuse in schools and church settings.

He added that none of the recommendations were implemented by Conservative Party while they were in government.

Starmer said there are mixed views among victims about the merits of a further inquiry, but added: "What we need now is action."

For her part, Badenoch noted that there are thousands of victims "but no one has joined the dots, no one has the total picture."

She said one of the victims told her that she wants a national inquiry, asking the premier why he will not listen to victims and launch a national inquiry.

Starmer replied that the Tories didn't enact the recommendations which they accepted, adding he called for action 11 years ago.

"They've been tweeting and talking, we've been acting... it is only in recent days she has jumped on the bandwagon."

Badenoch insisted that a national inquiry is important because the issue of abuse is "systemic," while Starmer replied by saying that "lies and misinformation" and "slinging of mud" do not help people.

Another seven-year inquiry would take us to 2031, adding that such an investigation could not be done in a hurry, he said.

Starmer added: "This is an important issue, and we have to focus on the victims and survivors, and it isn't helping. This. Lies and misinformation and slinging of mud doesn't help them."

Grooming gang issue has become one of Elon Musk's recent focus for his inflammatory remarks targeting the UK government and criticizing the Labour Party's response to historic child abuse scandals.

Last week, he accused Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips of being a “rape genocide apologist” and called for Prime Minister Keir Starmer to be ousted and imprisoned for alleged failures in prosecuting grooming gangs.