Cabinet Minister Fighting To Keep Her Job After Grooming Gang Comments

A cabinet minister is fighting to keep her job after she was forced to apologise over comments she made about child grooming gangs.

Commons leader Lucy Powell appeared to downplay the controbersy during a heated exchange with Reform UK campaigner Tim Montgomerie on Radio Four’s Any Questions programme.

Thousands of vulnerable girls were abducted and raped by gangs of men from mainly British-Pakistani backgrounds.

When Montgomerie mentioned a Channel 4 documentary on the issue, Powell said: “Oh we want to blow that little trumpet now, do we? Let’s get that dog whistle out shall we, yeah?”

Montgomerie replied: “There were so many people in local government, in the authorities, who for good reasons were worried about upsetting community tensions, that those girls were undefended. You tell me Lucy that this is not a culture in local government – it’s just not true.”

Following an outcry on social media, Powell issued a statement on X apologising that her comments were “unclear”.

She said: “In the heat of a discussion on [Any Questions], I would like to clarify that I regard issues of child exploitation and grooming with the utmost seriousness. I’m sorry if this was unclear.

“I was challenging the political point scoring around it, not the issue itself. As a constituency MP I’ve dealt with horrendous cases. This government is acting to get to the truth, and deliver justice.”

No.10 refused to comment on the row, but a senior Downing Street source told HuffPost UK that Powell’s comments were “appalling”.

Speculation is now mounting that the minister could be axed by Keir Starmer in the coming days or in a cabinet reshuffle expected in the summer.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said Powell should resign.

He said: “This shocking outburst from a Labour cabinet minister belittles the thousands of girls and women who were raped by grooming gangs over decades.