Why Kemi is safer than Keir
Coffee House Shots
The Spectator
4.4 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 8 December 2025
⏱️ 13 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This morning Kemi Badenoch has staged a presser setting out the terms for a new (alternative) national grooming gangs inquiry – a move that has reopened wounds for many survivors and intensified criticism of Labour’s handling of the existing process. What will this mean for the government, for survivors, and for the political fight ahead?
Meanwhile in Scotland, the defection of former Scotland Office minister Lord Offord to Reform UK has sent shockwaves through the Scottish Conservatives – and raised fresh questions about the balance of power ahead of the Holyrood elections. Could Reform genuinely challenge Labour for second place? And how worried should Scottish Labour be as scandals continue to mount?
Plus, Labour Together – the McSweeney-linked think tank which basically put Keir in power – has turned on the PM and is reportedly canvassing members on who they’d prefer as an alternative to Keir Starmer. Is he now in more danger than Kemi?
James Heale is joined by Lucy Dunn and Tim Shipman to discuss a tumultuous week in Westminster and beyond.
Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Megan McElory.
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Transcript
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| 0:26.6 | Hello, welcome to Covier Shots. I'm James Hill and I'm joined today by Lucy Dunn and Tim Shipman. Now, this morning, Kerry Bainock has had a press conference which has been talking about the terms of inquiry for a grooming gang. Lucy, you were there. Tell us what was said. Yeah, Kemi Badnock brought everyone together in a central London location to talk about grooming gangs this morning. She had on the panel Fiona Goddard, who is a survivor of the grooming gangs, as well as other relatives and advocates for survivors that have not yet waived their own anonymity. Kemi Badenock was setting out today her terms of reference for the National Grooming Gang inquiry. |
| 0:58.0 | The Tory Party are putting this forward essentially make the point that so far the labour-led inquiry hasn't properly even started |
| 1:04.0 | and thus far has taken quite a number of months and had quite a lot of fallout from it in terms of victims on the panel stepping back |
| 1:12.3 | and there have been complaints made about Jess Phillips and her handling of the inquiry so far. |
| 1:18.1 | Today, Kemi talked about how she wanted to see a two-year time limit on this inquiry. |
| 1:22.4 | She wanted to see a judge-led impartial inquiry going forward. |
| 1:26.3 | There's something that Labour has said wouldn't really |
| 1:28.6 | work given, you know, it might take a bit of time. Kemmy says that this is the only way for survivors |
| 1:32.5 | to really have trust in the process. She says that it's really important essentially to investigate |
| 1:36.3 | cover-ups by councils, police and even the government, if that needs to be the case. |
| 1:41.7 | And she's very keen that the inquiry looks solely at grooming gangs and at the ethnicity |
| 1:46.8 | and cultural background of the perpetrators. |
| 1:49.3 | I think what was really interesting actually about today's best conference was the, I think |
| 1:53.6 | the real emotion. |
| 1:55.5 | Obviously this is a very emotive, complex, traumatic issue for the people that are involved. |
| 1:59.7 | And we saw, you know, parents of survivors |
| 2:02.3 | talk and actually become quite choked up themselves, obviously, because not only have they |
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