Katie Lam hits out at 'weak' Keir Starmer for his PMQs 'attack' on grooming gangs: 'He is incapable!'

During PMQs, Ms Lam asked the Prime Minister about the "fatally flawed" grooming gangs inquiry and whether the "final terms of reference will reflect the concerns" of victims and survivors.

Hitting back at the Tory MP, Sir Keir jibed: "Baroness Longfield is now beginning the work of the inquiry, with victims and survivors at the heart of the process.

"Under this Government, convictions that were highest level ever were introducing mandatory reporting on child sexual abuse and putting a legal duty on police to collect ethnicity data.

"But forgive me if I do not take suggestions from the honourable member who said people legally and settled here should 'go home to ensure that the UK is culturally coherent'.

"That is a grotesque way to talk about our friends and neighbours, and I rather suspect that her next question will come from her sitting up there [points to Reform UK benches]."

Speaking out on Sir Keir's response, Ms Lam declared that he is "fundamentally uncomfortable and incapable of having a proper discussion about the rape and grooming gangs".

She told GB News: "This is the biggest hate crime, the biggest sex crime, the biggest state cover up in our country's history.

"He's the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He should be able to engage on this issue without just attacking whoever is bringing it up."

Criticising the current inquiry led by the Labour Government, Ms Lam highlighted "three main reasons" why the inquiry is "not going to lead to any prosecutions" for "anybody who covered up these crimes".

She explained: "It's worth remembering not a single person has ever been arrested for the cover up, ever.

"It's not going to explore the role that race and religion played in motivating these crimes.

"We know that that's one of the most uncomfortable conversations to have, but it also makes it one of the most important.

"But crucially, it's not even going to go everywhere. It's very explicit that it is not exhaustive and not going to try to be.

"It's not going to look all across the country, it is not going to be able to tell us how many of these gangs were there, how many victims were there, how many perpetrators were there, how many people covered this up? The public have to know the answers to these questions.

Recalling Sir Keir's previous remarks about supporters of an inquiry jumping on a "right-wing bandwagon", Ms Lam argued that the Prime Minister is "not the right person" to take the inquiry forward.

She made clear: "The Government is just always weak on this. It's worth remembering that it was only a year ago that the Prime Minister said that this was a far-right bandwagon.

"So in January 2025, it's a far-right bandwagon, and he finally has to accept that these crimes are real in June.

"But clearly, if as recently as that he's thought that this wasn't even real, then he's not going to be the best person to actually get to the bottom of this.

"And every single round the Government has come up short, and they've done it again."

In a statement, a Government spokesman said: "The independent inquiry into grooming gangs will have four legal powers to compel evidence to uncover the truth and provide answers that survivors of these horrific crimes deserve.

"The Chair is currently undertaking a consultation on the draft terms of reference and the Home Secretary will agree these by the end of March.

"These terms are already clear that the inquiry will examine the role of ethnicity, religion and culture and this will not change."