Keir Starmer makes deft U-turn mid-air over grooming gangs inquiry | Keir Starmer

The news emerged in a notably low-key way: a speculative question to Keir Starmer during his Q&A with reporters on the way to the G7 summit in Canada. Yes, he said, speaking carefully while wedged in the aisle of the cramped jet, there would be a full statutory inquiry into grooming gangs.

This was, it should be remembered, not just one of the most toxic debates in British politics during 2025, but one where Starmer and his ministers had continually pushed back against demands for such an action.

So why now? At first sight this might seem similar to the recent U-turn over eligibility for pensioners’ winter fuel allowance – a belated acknowledgment that the original decision had been mistaken, masked by words about circumstances changing.

But in this instance things are arguably more…