New grooming gang inquiries set out by Labour as Badenoch ramps up anti-immigrant rhetoric: Live

Labour Party chair Ellie Reeves has reacted to Kemi Badenoch’s speech by accusing her of being “in denial”, as the Tory leader sought to acknowledge her party’s past mistakes and turn a new page under her fledgling leadership.

Ms Reeves said on X: “Kemi Badenoch is in denial. Far from rebuilding trust, she still can’t bring herself to be honest about the litany of mistakes the Tories made.

“The Tories haven’t listened and haven’t learned. This Labour Government is getting on with delivering our Plan for Change.”

The home secretary’s expected announcement of a series of local reviews into grooming gangs comes after she was threatened with legal action.

Maggie Oliver, a former detective who resigned from Greater Manchester Police in 2012, warned Yvette Cooper in a pre-action letter on Wednesday that she would take her to court unless she takes “urgent steps to allay widespread public concern” over gangs sexually exploiting children.

In a statement from the charity set up in her name, Ms Oliver said she had put Ms Cooper “on notice” that she would seek a judicial review in the High Court unless the home secretary “publicly confirms that she will implement all 20 of the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) and publishes a timetable for implementation of those recommendations, and takes urgent steps to allay widespread public concern regarding the grooming and sexual abuse by organised gangs/groups”.

Home secretary Yvette Cooper is expected to announce support for government-backed local inquiries into grooming gangs, but what has Ms Cooper already done to act on the recommendations of the Alexis Jay inquiry?

Earlier in January, Ms Cooper told MPs that the Labour government would make it an offence to fail to report or to cover up child sexual abuse. The government will also legislate to make grooming an aggravating factor in the sentencing of child sexual offences, and introduce a single data set on child abuse and protection so that services can work together to flag concerns.

Children’s charities have called for Ms Cooper to go further. They want better funded support for survivors of child sexual abuse and also for a cabinet-level minister for children, both recommendations made by Professor Jay in her 2022 inquiry.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has said “there is a lot more” that her party could have done on Brexit.

She says: “On Brexit, I think there is a lot more that we could have and should have done. I did what I could as business secretary – I removed the supremacy of the European Court of Justice, we removed about 4,000 EU laws.

“But what we need to start doing is looking at where we have competitive advantage with countries around the world, and use our regulatory system to exploit that competitive advantage. What I worry about with Labour is that they are just trying to copy what is already out there.”

In her closing gambit, Kemi Badenoch says “the Conservatives are under new leadership, we are going to do things differently”.

She adds: “And this is my message to people watching today: we need a government that supports, not punishes, those who do the right thing. We need to rebuild the state to be more focused, more efficient and more effectie.

“We need to make our country more resilient, more secure, and prosperous. Where hard work is rewarded, where children can have a better life than their parents.

“It may not feel like it right now, but our country’s best days are ahead of us. Britain is a land of opportunity, not a country to apologise for. So if you want real plans rather than announcements, join us. And if you want a better country for our children, join us.

“Together we can fix the damage that Labour is inflicting. Together we can make politics work again for the first time in a generation … We are going to give you your country back.”

Kemi Badenoch has riffed on Labour’s mantra of “working people” as she seeks to set out her brand of Conservatism.

She says: “You know what helps working people? It’s world class schooling that allows them to master complex topics.”

“You know what helps working people? Being able to walk down the high street and not see anti social behaviour … because local bureaucrats have given up and crime is not punished.

“You know what helps working people? Ensuring that they don’t spend January until June earning taxes for the government … A government that demands higher standards from public services.”

She adds: “That’s my Conservatism … It’s a guarantee that tomorrow will be better, richer and safer.”

“We are going to tell people why Conservatism matters,” vows Kemi Badenoch.

Acknowledging that her party has gone through many iterations over the past 14 years “and at times it felt like our core beliefs had become secondary”, the Tory leader adds: “It left people disillusioned. It made the task of governing harder, and it didn’t work. No more.”

She adds: “We will rediscover the idea that everyone contributes towards society, not just calculate what they take out of it. We will again be the party of meritocracy. We believe that if you do right by your community, your family, your society, you will succeed.

“And if you don’t, you likely won’t. Our society is treating those people who do best badly, and the people that do worst well. Everything is upside down. That’s the opposite of fairness.”

Kemi Badenoch has vowed that the Conservative Party has said that “for the good of the country, we can’t afford for Labour to fail”.

She says: “We will back Keir Starmer when he does the right thing – I don’t care who gets the credit. We just have to start getting our country back on track.”

The Conservative Party must do things differently under new leadership, says Kemi Badenoch.

That means restoring trust, she says, adding: “We will start by fulfilling the role that the British people gave us, being an effective opposition. Fighting for common sense and truth, building a plan that actually delivers.

“We need the government to do well in order for our country to do well. But they are failing on the basics.”

The Tory leader adds: “Secondly, we are absolutely going to keep saying what people in this country think. We are not going to be quiet about the things that are too important for our country.”

Kemi Badenoch has ramped up her anti-migration rhetoric, warning that “if people don’t want to integrate into British culture, they shouldn’t be here”.

She claimed that the “dream of every generation, that our children can have a better life than we did is slowing dying”, adding that “structural problems need fixing”.

In a speech in London, she promised to deliver hard truths and called for the government to “focus on the things that matter”.