Conservatives call for Labour's Lucy Powell to resign over grooming gang remarks

The Conservatives are calling for Lucy Powell to resign after the Labour MP's exchange with a commentator about grooming gangs.

The comment was made by Ms Powell, the leader of the House of Commons, after Conservative political commentator Tim Montgomerie started to ask a question on BBC Radio 4's Any Questions.

"I don't know if you saw the documentary on Channel 4 about rape gangs," he started, in relation to the recent programme Groomed: A National Scandal, which centred around five girls who were sexually abused by rape gangs.

Ms Powell, who is MP for Manchester Central, responded: "Oh, we want to blow that little trumpet now, do we? Yeah, OK, let's get that dog whistle out."

Sir Keir Starmer and the government have been under sustained pressure from political opponents over the handling of historical sex abuse cases in the UK.

ConservativeHome founder Mr Montgomerie continued: "There is a real issue where… There were so many people in local government, in the authorities, who, for good reason, were worried about upsetting community tensions, that those girls went undefended."

The conversation moved on, but politicians criticised Ms Powell's comment, with some calling for her to resign.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said in a statement: "This shocking outburst from a Labour cabinet minister belittles the thousands of girls and women who were raped by grooming gangs over decades.

"We have consistently called for a national enquiry in parliament, which has been blocked by Labour ministers who don't seem to know or care about the disgusting crimes which have been perpetrated.

"Anyone who has seen the shocking Channel 4 documentary will know that it is clearer than ever that this is not a 'dog whistle'.

"To dismiss thousands of victims who were raped and the cover up that followed is sickening. She should resign."

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Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said: "Labour's Lucy Powell thinks it's a 'dog whistle' to demand arrests and accountability for the rape gangs. What a disgusting betrayal of the victims. They are part of the cover-up."

Ousted Reform MP Rupert Lowe, now an independent, shared a letter he wrote to Ms Powell demanding she apologise, calling her comments "deeply, deeply offensive".

On X on Saturday night, Ms Powell said: "In the heat of a discussion on AQ, 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 Gvt is acting to get to the truth, and deliver justice."

Sky News has contacted the office for the Leader of the House of Commons for comment.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting, speaking on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, said he thought Lucy Powell's job was safe.

The minister said he didn't think Ms Powell "intended to imply" that raising the issue of grooming gangs was "dog whistle" politics in what he described as a "heated debate", but admitted it was "right" for her to apologise.

Mr Streeting said: "We all make mistakes. I've made mistakes in the past. I'm sure I'll make mistakes again in the future. The important thing is when we make mistakes that we we own it. We apologise."

He said grooming gangs is a subject that ministers take "extremely seriously" and discussing it "shouldn't be a party political knockabout".

The government has "cracked on with making real changes that will help to support victims" since taking office last year by implementing the 28 recommendations made by the independent investigation into child sexual exploitation, he said.

"We're not beating about the bush on some of the thorny issues in there as well around, ethnicity, collection of data transparency," he said, adding that there was a "degree" of playing politics with the issue by opponents - and that's what Lucy Powell "was driving at".

He said Ms Powell had "made a genuine mistake," but "she has owned up to it. She said sorry, and we'll move on".

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But a Labour MP told Sky News said they could all have done without "Lucy's terrible mistake" on Any Questions, "on that issue of all issues".

They said Labour's women have fought for years for decent services for survivors, it's us across local and national government who blew the whistle and found funding for services time and time again, but "a slip like that will count for more than all the action in the world in this climate".

Nigel Huddleston, the co-chairman of the Conservative Party, told Trevor Phillips that to "belittle" the issue of grooming gangs is "completely inappropriate".

He accused Labour of having "underestimated how big an issue this is, how it resonates with the public".

Ministers "made promises about having additional investigations and now have backtracked," he said.

The long-running row over grooming cases has continued after Labour promised five local inquiries into grooming gangs in January.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk had accused Sir Keir of being "complicit" in the failure of authorities to protect victims and prosecute abusers while the PM was director of public prosecutions from 2008-2013.

The prime minister has repeatedly defended his record, saying it shows he tackled the issue head-on.

(c) Sky News 2025: Conservatives call for Labour's Lucy Powell to resign over grooming gang remarks