'What is taking so long?!' Ellie Costello slaps down Labour minister over grooming gangs inquiry after denying using 'blocking tactics'

Speaking to Skills Minister Baroness Jacqui Smith, Ellie put her feet to the fire as she grilled her on just why the Government has appeared to delay progress on the matter.

The GB News star asked: "Six months on from the Government formally announcing this national inquiry into grooming gangs, we still don't have a chair and we still don't have the terms of reference laid out.

"Why is this Government dragging its feet on this?

But Baroness Smith adamantly denied such claims, simply saying: "It isn't.

"We're working hard on making sure that that inquiry is set up and works along the sorts of bases that you've talked about, identifying the nature of people who were responsible for this absolute abomination, including religious and ethnic backgrounds," she added.

"The Government has been very, very clear about that."

Just like plenty of her Labour colleagues, the MP continued: "The last Tory Government had a considerable amount of time to put in place the recommendations of the Child Safeguarding Review. They failed to do that.

"So they're coming slightly late in Opposition to this. But this Government is determined to take action."

However, Baroness Smith's immediate denial did not foot the bill for Ellie.

"But what is taking so long?" she asked again, incredulously.

She continued: "You've had six months. There's still no chair. There's still no terms of reference.

"There are people saying it felt as though you were being dragged to the table, kicking and screaming to even get a national inquiry in the first place.

"And now there is a theory that you're deploying blocking tactics to try and push this past the next General Election."

But Ellie's pressing on the matter was to no avail as Baroness Smith doubled-down on her commitment to her party's reputation on grooming gangs, shifting blame onto the Tories instead.

"No, that's completely wrong," she sharply refuted.

"And what's more, we've taken action on a range of other recommendations from the child safeguarding inquiry that the Tories chose to sit on for years when they were actually in Government.

"It's no point now being outraged in opposition for Kemi Badenoch. She could have acted when she was in Government. She didn't."

Yet, the Tory leader has been praised on her work on the grooming gangs scandal today, with the latest being from ex-political adviser Oscar Reddrop.

She was lauded for launching an "alternative grooming gangs inquiry" after survivors "lost faith in Labour", a few of whom resigned from the national inquiry victims' panel over the Government's handling of the matter.

In a statement ahead of her conference, she said: "This is about survivors and what they want. We must give a voice to the voiceless."

"They have told us what an inquiry must include in order to obtain justice. This is what the terms of reference sets out."

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