Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Robbie Moore Excerpts

Thursday 6th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Anneliese Dodds]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for what he said about the clarity of the UK’s position. I know that he and many others in the Chamber are passionate about peacebuilding. That is an area in which the UK has a certain amount of expertise, derived from those who have been peacebuilding in Northern Ireland and other contexts, and it is important that we seek to contribute to it. Of course, the most urgent thing is to ensure that the ceasefire is held to and that we move from phase 1 to phase 2 to phrase 3. Of course, in future it will be important to do what we can to contribute to peacebuilding. He is right about the Prime Minister’s announcement; we are right now considering how we can ensure that that is delivered.

[Robbie Moore (Keighley and Ilkley) (Con)]

Many constituents, including Maggie Gardiner, have kindly contacted me about their deep concern for the wellbeing of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, who has been detained by the IDF. I have written to the Foreign Secretary about that, and I know that the Government have raised the issue with the Israeli authorities. What explanation has been received in those meetings, and what further work is the Foreign Secretary undertaking to obtain more details on that important case?

[Anneliese Dodds]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman’s constituent for raising that important issue, which many Members and the general public are concerned about, as he says. As he rightly states, the UK Government have raised that issue with Israeli counterparts. We are concerned about the situation. We believe that there needs to be clarity on why any individuals, including medical staff, are being held. It is also crucial that the Red Cross is able to visit those who have been detained. We have made that point very forcefully.

Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Robbie Moore Excerpts

Wednesday 8th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Robbie Moore (Keighley and Ilkley) (Con)]

Having consistently advocated for victims of the rape gangs scandal in my part of West Yorkshire—I have raised the subject more than 40 times in this place since being elected—I want to focus on that issue in the short time I have been allocated to speak today. It is over two decades since the Labour MP Ann Cryer, my predecessor, first brought the issue to the House. Unfortunately, we seem to be repeating the mistakes of the past today. It is deeply concerning to me that right hon. and hon. Members on the Government Benches plan to vote against the call in the amendment for a national rape gangs inquiry.

Last night, the safeguarding Minister—the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, the hon. Member for Birmingham Yardley (Jess Phillips)—told the public that a national inquiry is not needed because local inquiries are more effective at bringing about change. However, just minutes after she made those remarks, local leaders in Bradford once again rejected my long-standing calls for a full local inquiry into rape gangs across Keighley and the wider Bradford district, arguing that it would be too expensive. That same local authority has spent more than £40 million of public money on an empty music venue in the heart of Bradford. This is a complete and utter dereliction of duty by local leaders. More importantly, it demonstrates what I have been trying to say on this issue for years: every time I have brought up this issue at national level, it is referred back down to local government, but every time I have taken the prospect of an inquiry down to the local level, the suggestion is blocked by local leaders, and I am told that this is a national problem. There has been a complete vacuum of accountability in the system over the past two decades.

[Sir Gavin Williamson]

How many of the people involved have been held accountable, lost their job or had action taken against them?

[Robbie Moore]

Nobody has, and that is exactly why I have been advocating for a local inquiry across the Bradford district—for far too long. A report of 50 pages that looked at five children who had been sexually exploited in the Bradford district was released in 2020. It acknowledged that there had been mistakes, but nobody was held to account.

The amendment rightly tabled by the Leader of the Opposition is important because it tackles systematic problems and will end this vacuum of accountability once and for all. Convictions should follow a national inquiry that focuses on rape gangs and child sexual exploitation. When local leaders refuse their duty and ignore the concerns of local victims, it is only right that the Government step in. Ultimately, this is not about party politics, but about the difference between right and wrong. For too long, at all levels of the British state—in national and local government—all those with safeguarding responsibilities have failed to do the right thing.

There are children and families out there—I know them; I have met them in my constituency—who have suffered abuse that is unspeakable. They want the world to know the depths to which this scandal reaches. They fear, as I do, that the scale of gang rape and child sexual exploitation across the Bradford district will dwarf that in Rotherham. They want an end to this accountability vacuum. On behalf of my constituents across Keighley and indeed the wider Bradford district, I urge everyone in the House to vote with their conscience, stand up for what is right, do the right thing, and vote for a national rape gangs inquiry.

--- Later in debate ---

[Catherine McKinnell]

I am not sure whether the right hon. Lady has read the amendment, which declines to give the Bill a Second Reading.

The majority of Members agree that the Bill will be crucial for safeguarding children, and I think we have dealt with the many questions understandably raised about child sexual abuse and the truth and justice that must be secured for victims of these horrendous crimes. We had that national inquiry, we had that report, and we have the recommendations, which have been discussed at length today.

I again commend my hon. Friend the Member for Rotherham for her powerful speech, and I do not think anyone would disagree with wanting to put into practice the 20 recommendations that we know will make a difference to children.

This Government are about action. The time for talk is over. We want to bring about the changes that we know will change lives, so I am grateful to hon. and right hon. Members for their contributions today.

[Robbie Moore]

Will the Minister give way?

[Catherine McKinnell]

No, but the Bill’s next stages in this House will offer more opportunities for discussion.

Put simply, this Bill will provide the safe and secure foundations that all children need. It will drive high and rising standards across our schools to help every child achieve and thrive. It will contribute towards a brighter future for all our children and our country. I commend the Bill to the House.

Question put, That the amendment be made.