Chris Webb
Main Page: Chris Webb (Labour - Blackpool South)Department Debates - View all Chris Webb's debates with the Home Office
(1 day, 17 hours ago)
Commons ChamberUrgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
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The simple answer is yes. My hon. Friend is absolutely right on his first point. What we should all seek to be doing throughout this is to try to grease the wheels so that we can have the best possible inquiry. We should all be seeking to do that while holding people to account with as much scrutiny as is needed. I will absolutely do that, and obviously I have met Lord Hanson a number of times. Getting mandatory reporting right is vital and, much like in the survivor group, there are different views on either side.
Blackpool continues to live with the scars of Charlene Downes and Paige Chivers, two young girls in Blackpool who never came home and were subject to grooming. Will the Minister confirm to my constituents that the grooming gangs inquiry will be thorough and comprehensive, and committed to a full and transparent investigation, ensuring that every avenue is examined to uncover the truth?
I absolutely will. Funnily enough, this morning I spoke to one of my hon. Friend’s constituents, a grooming gang victim, to assure her of similar things. Quite a lot of this process causes quite a lot of nervousness, and there is a need to manage lots of different people’s emotions, but I absolutely make that commitment to him, as I made it to one of his constituents this morning, and I make it to the House.