MPs vote to decriminalise abortion in historic vote as women will no longer be prosecuted

WATCH: Labour MP hits back at Kemi Badenoch after she brands Jess Phillips 'worst safeguarding minister'

A Labour MP who experienced grooming as a teenager has launched a fierce defence of Jess Phillips after Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch branded her "the worst safeguarding minister we have ever had".

Natalie Fleet expressed fury at Badenoch's criticism, revealing that Phillips had been instrumental in helping her overcome her traumatic past and enter Parliament.

Last July shortly after being elected, Fleet revealed that she became pregnant at the age of 15 after being groomed and raped by an older man.

Pregnancy charity welcomes amendment passing as 'hard won victory'

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) said the vote by MPs to decriminalise abortion is a "landmark moment for women’s rights."

Chief executive Heidi Stewart said: "This is a landmark moment for women’s rights in this country and the most significant change to our abortion law since the 1967 Abortion Act was passed.

"There will be no more women investigated after enduring a miscarriage, no more women dragged from their hospital beds to the back of a police van, no more women separated from their children because of our archaic abortion law.

"When we launched the campaign to decriminalise abortion in 2016, we could not have envisaged that within a decade such progress would be achieved.

"In the past six years, we have seen more progressive reform of abortion law than we had seen in the previous 50.

"Today’s vote is testament to the strength of support for abortion rights across the healthcare sector, civil society, parliament, and the country as a whole.

"We look forward to continuing to work with MPs to deliver wider reform and an abortion framework fit for the 21st century."

How did key MPs vote in Tonia Antoniazzi's amendment?

Cabinet members who backed Tonia Antoniazzi’s proposed new clause included Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, Defence Secretary John Healey and Commons Leader Lucy Powell.

All four Green Party MPs as well as Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey and former shadow frontbench of Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell and Diane Abbott voted in favour of the amendment.

Among the Tories who backed the amendment were Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott, and former Shadow Foreign Secretary Sir Andrew Mitchell.

Meanwhile, four out of the five Reform UK MPs voted against the amendment as well as three of the pro-Gaza Independent Alliance and former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch voted against Tonia Antoniazzi’s new clause one, to decriminalise abortion for women in relation to their own pregnancies.

She was joined in the "no" lobby by her shadow cabinet colleagues Sir Mel Stride, Richard Fuller, Dame Priti Patel and Chris Philp.

Senior Tory MP warns amendments are 'not pro-woman'

Crime and Policing Bill amendments proposed by Labour MPs Tonia Antoniazzi and Stella Creasy "are not pro-woman" but instead risk introducing “sex-selective abortion”, the Father of the House has said.

Conservative MP for Gainsborough Sir Edward Leigh said Walthamstow MP Creasy’s amendment new clause 20 "would fully repeal all the existing laws that prohibit abortion in any circumstances at any gestation both in relation to a woman undergoing an abortion, and abortion providers or clinicians performing abortions."

Referring to Antoniazzi’s new clause one, he told MPs it would "not be illegal for a woman to carry out her own abortion at home solely on the basis that the foetus is female" and added: "So, these amendments are not pro-woman. They would introduce sex-selective abortion."

Suella Braverman demands apology from Ipso after being 'vilified and cancelled' over rape gangs comments

Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman has demanded an apology from the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) over a 2023 ruling that required a correction to her comments about grooming gangs.

Speaking to GB News presenter Martin Daubney, Braverman said she would be writing to Ipso requesting they retract their decision, which found her claim that UK child grooming gangs were made up of "almost all British-Pakistani men" was misleading.

"I'd like an apology. I don't want an apology for me. I want an apology for the victims," Braverman said.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

Former Green councillor accuses party of veering towards 'left wing authoritarianism'

A former Green Party councillor has said the party is swerving towards "left wing authoritarianism" as she accused the party of trying to purge anyone with gender-critical views.

King’s Lynn and West Norfolk councillor Dr Pallavi Devulapalli was expelled from the party for a rules breach that she said was due to her beliefs on gender.

Dr Devulapalli was suspended last September three months after she failed to back the party’s manifesto policy on the right of self-id for trans people during a hustings event and last week she said she was formally expelled from the party.

She told The Guardian: "It feels like a purge. We’ve seen the Greens veer away from its original founding culture towards a much more leftwing authoritarian culture. If you say or think the wrong thing then you’re out, that’s really worrying."

A Greens spokesman told The Guardian: "We don’t comment on individual cases."

Sir Keir Starmer says GB News viewers are not 'far right' for being concerned about grooming gangs

It is not a 'far right' issue for GB News viewers to be concerned about grooming gangs, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

The Prime Minister also said that he wanted the new national public inquiry into the rape gangs to investigate any alleged cover-ups by councillors, police and even MPs.

Starmer accused politicians of jumping on a "far right bandwagon" in January when the calls for a national grooming gangs inquiry were being aired.

READ THE FULL EXCLUSIVE SITDOWN WITH THE PRIME MINISTER HERE.

Sir Keir Starmer says he does not believe President Trump will get the US involved in Iran

Sir Keir Starmer has said he does not believe President Donald Trump will attack Iran.

The Prime Minister told The Times: "There's nothing the President said that suggests he's about to get involved in this conflict.

"On the contrary, throughout the dinner, yesterday I was sitting right next to President Trump, so I've no doubt, in my mind, the level of agreement there was."

Mayor of West Yorkshire welcomes grooming gang enquiry - 'We will not be deterred from our mission'

Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin has welcomed the national grooming gang enquiry adding that the guilty "must be stopped and brought to justice".

The Labour mayor said: "Violence against women and girls is endemic in our society. Sexual exploitation and abuse is a horrific crime. Predators who groom children must be stopped and brought to justice.

"I welcome the Home Secretary's announcement today that she will change the law to avoid punishing the victims of these crimes while making sure perpetrators pay.

"Here in West Yorkshire our actions are led by the victims and survivors. This has led to 210 perpetrators sentenced to more than 2,300 years over the past decade, with more to come."

John Swinney says second independence referendum is 'within reach'

Scottish First Minister John Swinney said an independent Scotland is "within reach."

Speaking at an event in Edinburgh, the SNP leader said: "Independence is the defining choice for this generation, have no doubt.

"Because the UK status quo has proved itself incapable of delivering on the hopes and ambitions of the people of Scotland.

"That is why, like a clear majority of Scots, I believe that our nation should have the right to choose.

"Such a Scotland is within reach, I have no doubt. But if we want it, we have to work for it, we have to vote for it, we have to actively, purposefully, and I hope also joyfully, make it happen."

Liz Truss defends accusing Jess Phillips of 'excusing masked Islamist thugs'

Former Prime Minister Liz Truss has defended her comments where she accused safeguarding minister Jess Phillips of "excusing masked Islamist Thugs."

Truss wrote on social media: "I accused Jess Phillips of excusing masked Islamist thugs - which she did.

"And of rejecting Oldham's calls for a Government inquiry into grooming gangs - which she did.

"It was not a "far-right bandwagon". It was about holding her to account for her complete dereliction of duty."

Labour must 'come clean' over UK-US trade deal, warns Lib Dems

Labour must "come clean" on the details of the UK-US trade deal and how it impacts farmers, according to the Liberal Democrats.

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper MP said: "The Government needs to come clean on the full details of this deal - including publishing impact assessments on how it will affect British farmers, food standards and steel industry.

"When you’re dealing with someone as unreliable as Trump, you have to read the small print.

"If precedent is anything to go by, Trump will be working behind the scenes to extract more concessions.

"We need a cast-iron guarantee that the NHS will be exempt from any kind of Trump deal and that US tech giants won't be given a tax cut."

Kemi Badenoch brands Jess Phillips 'worst Safeguarding Minister ever' as bitter grooming gangs row turns personal

Kemi Badenoch branded Jess Phillips the "worst Safeguarding Minister we have ever had" in a furious personal attack following the release of the Casey Report.

In a fiery interview with GB News' Charlie Peters, Badenoch shot down Phillips's attacks which accused the Tories of "never caring" about rape gangs.

Badenoch told the People's Channel: "Jess Phillips is the worst Safeguarding Minister we have ever had.

"I spoke about this issue during the leadership contest. I stood on a stage and I made the point about this being something that I was going to campaign on long before all of the furore that we saw this year."

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Pro-Palestine protesters threaten Labour MP and hurl can of baked beans at him during rally

A Labour MP has spoken out on a string of threats and attacks launched towards him by pro-Palestine activists in his home town.

Aggressive protesters in York have tried to block Luke Charters from accessing his own constituency office, and launched a physical assault on him during the city's Pride parade...

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

'It's not far-right, it's common decency!' Furious Sarah Pochin swipes aside Keir Starmer's grooming gangs claims following Casey Report

Reform UK's Sarah Pochin has slapped down Sir Keir Starmer's rape gang inquiry U-turn after he labeled people calling for a national probe "far-right".

"Keir Starmer says it's 'far-right' to call out the abuse and rape of young white girls by predominantly Pakistani grooming gangs," Pochin blasted.

"It's not. It's common decency - and the duty of every politician in this country to speak up and stand up for victims."

Kemi Badenoch: 'NO institution should be out of scope'

Kemi Badenoch has vowed that "no institution" should be outside the scope of the impending rape gangs inquiry after being asked if Whitehall and Westminster would also be investigated.

"Nobody should be left outside. This is a full national inquiry. I don’t believe any institution should be out of scope. If there is evidence pointing to any institution, then that should be done.

"What we need right now is the moral courage to do the right thing, rather than continually finding reasons to kick stuff into the long grass," she said.

Lucia Rea: 'Public trust is at an all-time low... survivors have been let down too many times'

Lucia Rea, a campaigner and advocate for survivors, said "public trust" had fallen to an "all-time low" - and hopes the inquiry will fix it.

"I'm hoping this inquiry will give regular updates to restore the public trust - and survivors' trust, more importantly - because we do believe that’s at an all time low.

"These survivors have been let down too many times and we've got to see real change with this inquiry now.

"We also want to see that it has the powers to refer findings of new information that's brought forward so the inquiry itself can go to the police with those matters and for it to liaise with the judicial system.

"We want cases dealt with in a timely manner. Only last week, Kogs, a local charity in Manchester, took a survivor to the police.

"It took her years to get to the point that she wanted to go to the police, and she'd come forward to say she probably won't get a court hearing until 2028.

"They live these experiences... they're living and breathing it every day. It becomes their life."

READ LUCIA REA'S STORY HERE

Teresa Smith: 'Families are left with nothing... We're here to pick up the pieces'

Teresa Smith, the mother of a boy who was abused by grooming gangs, told the conference: "I'd like more openness and transparency, I'd like more help for the survivors, because there's nothing there, and more help for the families of survivors."

Smith, whose son has since died, continued: "We're just left with nothing. We're here to pick up the pieces.

"We're left with no support and a lot of people don't even think that parents should be involved. But, in my case, my son isn't here to represent himself. What kind of mother would I be if I didn't stay here and carry on the fight for him?"

Fiona Goddard: 'Put aside the politics - the Government MUST rebuild trust with victims'

Grooming gang survivor Fiona Goddard said: "I think all the political stuff needs to be put aside now, this needs to be focused on survivors.

"The Government needs to do a lot of work to rebuild trust, fund services and for the victims to be able to trust and come forward and be able to open up and engage in the inquiry.

"Without the engagement then we're just not going to get anywhere, so that is now the responsibility of the Government to be putting active stuff in place now to fix bridges that are being broken through systematic failures for years and years.

"I do also want to talk about the fact that while this inquiry's ongoing, it's important to acknowledge that work cannot stop on tackling crime in the here and now."

READ FIONA GODDARD'S STORY HERE

Marlon West: 'I'm angry at the social workers, the police, the ones who didn't protect my daughter'

Marlon West, the father of Scarlett, a grooming gang victim, is speaking now.

He told attendees: "One of my main concerns is around a locally-led inquiry. If that's locally-led, are we back to the same argument that local authorities are going to be answering their own homework?

"One of my major concerns throughout this - don't get me wrong, I'm really angry with the groomers - but what I am angry with is the social workers, the police, the ones who didn't protect [my daughter], the ones who I was screaming at asking them to support me."

"I was a single parent on my own and social services got me suspended from work for trying to keep my daughter in the house. It was so, so difficult. So one of my big things I want of this inquiry is about holding professionals accountable and that doesn't reassure me one little bit."

READ MARLON WEST'S STORY HERE

Kemi Badenoch: 'It's not about politics, it's about giving survivors a platform'

Kemi Badenoch said: "What this morning is about is not the politics, but giving them [the survivors and campaigners] a platform to say what they want to see from a national inquiry.

"I'll start by saying how we much we welcome Baroness Casey's report and recommendation for a national inquiry. This is something we've been very vocal on in the House of Commons.

"It's important to reiterate why we want a national inquiry," Badenoch continued. "It's not just because we believe this is still ongoing, it's because so much activity has taken place: 2014, 2015, 2018, local inquiries, and investigations launched by the Home Office, independent reports, independent inquiries, a gang task force as recently as 2023 finding about 807 perpetrators and 4,000 victims just last year.

"This is what made me decide that a national inquiry was critical, that no one has joined the dots, that the scale of this is much bigger than any of us envisaged even as we were looking at this. We need a national inquiry and criminal investigations - not just to look at the perpetrators, but where there was institutional failure. This is work that has not been done."

Kemi Badenoch laying out speech as Tory leader flanked by survivors and campaigners

Kemi Badenoch, flanked by Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp and grooming gang survivors and campaigners, is laying out the beginning of her response to the Government's inquiry U-turn.

From left to right, Badenoch is sitting with Marlon West, Fiona Goddard, Philp, Teresa Smith and Lucia Rea.

Kemi Badenoch to address grooming gangs at press conference - follow live

Kemi Badenoch is "responding to Keir Starmer's national inquiry U-turn" at a landmark press conference.

We'll bring you the top lines from her speech on this live blog as soon as we get them.

PICTURED: The debunked data Diane Abbott shared on social media

Baroness Casey addresses Home Affairs Committee - follow live on GBN 2

GB News readers can follow Baroness Casey's address to the Home Affairs Committee on GBN 2 LIVE HERE.

Baroness Casey slaps down Diane Abbott-style claims over grooming gang ethnicities

Baroness Casey is speaking to the Home Affairs Select Committee.

She has warned that saying data collection on grooming gang ethnicities is "incomplete and unreliable... and that's putting it mildly" - and has issued a warning to those outside the committee against drawing false conclusions from the figures.

"Let's just keep calm here about how you interrogate data and draw from it," she said.

Diane Abbott decries 'grooming gangs misinformation' - by using DEBUNKED data

Labour firebrand Diane Abbott has attacked "misinformation" on grooming gangs by using data which was shot down by the Home Secretary just yesterday.

"There is a lot of nonsense and deliberate misinformation about child sexual grooming," Abbott crowed. "Some media only 'care' about certain perpetrators, some politicians talk as if they are the only perpetrators. The facts are very different."

The "facts" Abbott referenced showed how 88 per cent of convicted child sex offenders are white.

Her figures did not specify group-based child sex abuse - or "grooming gangs".

As Tory MP Katie Lam pointed out in May, "this is unsurprising; the majority of people in this country are white".

"Statistics include historic offences, which will have been committed when the population was more white than it is now," Lam added.

While Yvette Cooper yesterday told MPs: "I warned in January that the data collection we inherited from the previous Government on ethnicity was completely inadequate; the data was collected on only 37 per cent of suspects.

"Baroness Casey's audit confirms that ethnicity data is not recorded for two thirds of grooming gang perpetrators, and that the data is 'not good enough to support any statements about the ethnicity of group-based child sexual exploitation offenders at the national level.'"

On Labour's agenda... Mega five-year steel deal signed in bid to save Scunthorpe's British Steel

A £500million five-year deal has been struck between Network Rail and British Steel to help save the Scunthorpe steelworks, the Department for Transport has announced.

British Steel is to supply 337,000 tonnes of rail track, which Labour says will secure thousands of manufacturing jobs, in an agreement two months after emergency powers were used to prevent the blast furnaces from immediate closure.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, who is visiting the site in North Lincolnshire to finalise the deal, said today's deal "truly transforms the outlook for British Steel and its dedicated workforce in Scunthorpe".

British Steel is to supply a minimum of 337,000 tonnes of long and short rail for projects across the country.

A further 80-90,000 tonnes is to be provided by other European manufacturers - and deals are expected to be announced shortly, the DfT said.

Just hours after No10 admits migrant crisis 'deteriorating'... More than 2,000 migrants cross Channel in just a WEEK as French camps 'like a warzone'

More than 2,000 small boat migrants have crossed the Channel in less than a week, GB News can reveal.

At least 250 people have made the treacherous crossing so far on Tuesday.

French authorities have been dealing with a major outbreak of violence in the migrant camps, with multiple fatal shootings and stabbings since the weekend.

Sources have told the People's Channel the migrant camps are "like a warzone"...

READ THE FULL STORY FROM HOME AND SECURITY EDITOR MARK WHITE HERE

Suella Braverman issues dire migrant warning after asylum seekers found to be behind grooming gang abuse

Suella Braverman has issued a dire warning over Labour's migration plans after Baroness Casey's report uncovered links between asylum seekers and grooming gangs.

Migrants were revealed to be involved in a "significant proportion" of live police investigations into the gangs in the Casey Report.

"A significant proportion of these cases appear to involve suspects who are non-UK nationals and/or who are claiming asylum in the UK," Casey wrote.

Reacting to the news, the former Home Secretary has warned: "And yet this Government shamefully still has no plan to stop thousands of men being imported into our country."

Tories take brutal swipe at Keir Starmer after PM scrambles to pick up Donald Trump's papers

The Conservatives have unleashed a brutal swipe at the Prime Minister after he was seen scrambling to pick up Donald Trump's UK-US trade deal papers last night after landmark talks between the pair.

Trump had opened up a folder to show a crowd of reporters its contents before several papers spilled onto the floor, prompting Starmer to quickly bend down and gather them.

"Oops, sorry about that," the President said, while Starmer added: "It's a very important document."

Now, Kemi Badenoch's party has jabbed: "Nothing summarises Keir Starmer on the world stage better than this image."

WATCH IN FULL: Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander speaks to GB News Breakfast

'Britain is BROKEN' say TWO THIRDS of Britons in crushing new poll for Keir Starmer

Almost two thirds of Britons think the country is broken, according to a new poll.

Fresh data from Merlin Strategy has unveiled just how many people believe the Britain is broken - and the remedy for the UK's troubles is "radical action".

In a hammer blow for Labour as it nears a year in power, over half of the party's voters think their own choice at the General Election must go further.

And Reform UK voters appear to be the least satisfied - with a staggering 87 per cent of Nigel Farage-backers calling for urgent action.

Zia Yusuf warns migrant TV licences 'the tip of the iceberg' in ominous asylum spending warning

Reform UK's Doge chief Zia Yusuf has warned that councils spending taxpayers' cash on TV licence fees for asylum seekers is just "the tip of the iceberg" in an ominous warning about the scale of migrant spending in Britain.

Yusuf had revealed at the weekend that hard-working Britons are being forced to pay £174.50 per asylum seeker at Kent County Council.

He said: “Kent County Council is using taxpayer money to pay for TV licenses for asylum seekers. Remember that next time you are asked to pay for yours.”

After Yusuf made the claim on social media, Reform UK chief whip Lee Anderson said: "You couldn't make this up."

And now, he has called the scale of the spending "the tip of the iceberg"...

READ THE FULL STORY ON MIGRANT SPENDING HERE

MAPPED: As PM admits migrant crisis is 'deteriorating'... GB News lays out key facts on Britain's migration chaos

'Keir Starmer owes us an APOLOGY!' Richard Tice demands PM say sorry over grooming gangs 'cover-up and denial'

Reform UK's deputy leader Richard Tice has demanded that Keir Starmer apologises for "cover-ups and denial" plaguing Britain's grooming gangs scandal.

Tice, responding to Baroness Casey's report, fumed: "[It] exposes cover-up, denial, continuing to this day, with live cover-up and denial over current sex offences.

"Starmer owes us an apology... A national inquiry must be rapid - circa two years - and comprehensive."

WATCH IN FULL: Shadow Justice Minister Kieran Mullan speaks to GB News Breakfast

'This report was quoted time and time again... It should NEVER have been authorised' - Suella Braverman issues damning verdict on 'sham' Home Office grooming gang figures

Suella Braverman has issued a damning verdict on a 2020 Home Office report which "deflected from the truth" by claiming that "the majority" of grooming gang offenders were white.

The report, GB News' National Reporter Charlie Peters writes, was a "sham based on a lack of data, but people in denial shared it relentlessly to cover up a key part of this national scandal".

It was cast down by Baroness Casey's report yesterday - which outlined that the data it had been based on was largely incomplete.

In reply, Braverman said: "This report was quoted time and time again to deflect from the truth. It should never have been authorised.

"Today's announcement is welcome and I’m sure it will expose the cause of this injustice and the failures of those who have let down the victims. The evidence that I have seen is compelling."

Nigel Farage demands rape gangs answers after warning Casey report contains 'cover-up'

Nigel Farage has demanded further answers following the release of Baroness Casey's rape gangs review.

The Reform UK leader, who previously pledged to bankroll his own nationwide probe, pointed to a little-known few paragraphs in Casey's 197-page report.

The report, released yesterday, already admitted the Establishment had been in "denial" about the ethnic element to the grooming gangs scandal.

Casey, who confirmed perpetrators were "disproportionately" Pakistani men, wrote: “Flawed data is used repeatedly to dismiss claims about 'Asian grooming gangs' as sensationalised, biased or untrue.

"This does a disservice to victims and indeed all law-abiding people in Asian communities and plays into the hands of those who want to exploit it to sow division."

However, Farage pointed to page 52 of the report...

READ THE FULL STORY HERE