'Plague on both your houses!' Martin Daubney ERUPTS at MPs 'playing political blame game' in grooming gangs update

His outburst came as Cooper delivered findings from Baroness Casey's review into grooming gangs, revealing over 800 cases had been identified for investigation.

Cooper told MPs that more than 800 cases had been identified for review, with expectations "that figure to rise above 1,000".

The Casey report found "deep-rooted failures" to protect children from rape and exploitation, with Cooper admitting authorities had "avoided the topic altogether for fear of appearing racist".

The government's announcement marks a dramatic U-turn after months of resistance to calls for a national inquiry.

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Speaking after the announcement in the Commons, Martin said: "Cooper, the Home Secretary, and Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the opposition in the IFO, engaged in a particularly tawdry exchange playing the political blame game on a day when this shouldn’t be about politics.

"In fact, a plague on all your houses. This was a systemic failure spanning decades. Anyone who has followed this case over the years as I have, as Charlie Peters has, as the survivors, councillors, and campaigners across Britain know that there was nothing new in today's report. They had to be dragged to this.

"They whipped against it. The Labour Party, on mass, voted against it just five months ago. They told us this was the rhetoric of the far right. They said we were jumping on a bandwagon.

"Today, Cooper admitted there was a continued failure to collect good data on ethnicity for fear of being called racist. Cooper, we were saying this 15 years ago. And for saying it, we were called racist. We were called far right. Accused of blowing the dog whistle.

WATCH IN FULL - Yvette Cooper announces full inquiry into Grooming Gangs

"No it was the truth. And today, that truth was dragged out in Parliament. Cooper herself admitted that nothing in this report is new. It’s shameful that such a statement even needed to be made.

"At the top of her remarks, Yvette Cooper said more than 800 cases came from the five local inquiries.

"She said she expects the number to exceed 1,000. But those were five out of 50 towns. If there are 800 cases in just five towns, there could be thousands more across the country.

"On the issue of ethnicity data, one of the most shaming things ever said in Parliament came today, when Yvette Cooper acknowledged that ethnicity was only recorded for 37 per cent of perpetrators. Only 37 per cent.

"Someone, somewhere, decided that was acceptable. And when others raised the issue that this was predominantly Pakistani men they were called racist.

"I’ll tell you what: a lot of people watching today will be saying, a plague on all of your houses."

Cooper confirmed the government would accept all 12 of Casey's recommendations, including mandatory information sharing and new laws to protect children.

The inquiry is expected to take "around three years", with a chairman to be appointed within weeks.

"I couldn't believe my ears, listening to the home secretary's statement as if this was their plan all along, when we all know it is another U-turn after months of pressure," Badenoch told the Commons.