Calls for an Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse

I abstained from the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill due to being off sick this week. Because of the inability to have someone else vote on my behalf, my vote appears as ‘abstained’ when you look up how I voted. I would therefore like to lay out my position and how I intended to vote, if I had been well enough to be in London. I would have voted with the Government. I understand that there is a lot of coverage over the amendment tabled by the Conservatives, calling for a public inquiry into historic child sex abuse, so it is vital that I, as your representative, lay out the reasons below for my intended vote against this:

 I think an issue as serious as this rightly demands our focus and attention, so I want to be clear. We have already had two independent public inquiries spanning seven years, cost £200 million, and thousands of victims and survivors have evidence. The recommendations published in October 2022 were completely ignored by the Conservative Government. I would not have voted for the Conservative amendment on the Children’s Wellbeing Bill today because it would kill the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill – a bill containing the biggest upgrade to child protection laws in a generation. I would vote for the Bill and for protecting children.  

 I support the Government in implementing the Jay Report’s recommendations to reduce the vile, sick practice of child sex grooming. This will be the quickest and most efficient way to begin dealing with this horrifying issue practically. I want to see the Government begin to take action immediately, to ensure the victims of this horrendous crime get the justice they deserve, and to prevent anything like what happened every being repeated. Jess Phillips has already overseen some locally led processes in Telford and this needs to be replicated across the country. 

 I also resent the pure cynicism of politicians who are rallying to the cause on this issue, when they have uttered not a single word when they themselves were in power or had the influence to raise awareness on protecting victims of sex abuse.  The priority is to act, not to grandstand politically and exploit the victims of sexual abuse for political purposes.

If you have any questions about this highly sensitive topic please email me at cat.eccles.mp@parliament.uk and I will be sure to elaborate on my thoughts.