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Hello there, I'm Alicia McCarthy.

Thanks for downloading the yesterday in Parliament podcast.

On Monday the 28th of January, a home office minister told MPs she expects local inquiries into grooming gangs to go further than the five already proposed.

In mid-January, the government announced there'd be five local inquiries into grooming gangs

that abused children. It also promised what it called a three-month rapid audit carried out by

former civil servant and Whitehall fixer Lady Casey to find out what data had already been collected

and to see what lessons could be

learnt. Since then, the Shadow Home Secretary, the Conservative Chris Philp, has been keeping a

close eye on the calendar. Three months has now passed and we have heard nothing whatsoever.

And anyway, he reckoned the government's approach of holding local inquiries wouldn't cut it.

He repeated the Conservatives' demand for a national inquiry with the power to force

witnesses to attend.

Five local inquiries, which can't compel the production of evidence, just won't do.

Fifty towns are affected, not five.

And Bradford, where some of the worst abuse occurred, is refusing to help

cooperate with any inquiry at all. The safeguarding minister, Jess Phillips, insisted she knew

full well what the problems were. I spoke to some of the victims of grooming gangs this morning.

I will speak to some more tomorrow. I have spoken to them from Oxford, from Birmingham,

from Rochdale, from Rotherham, from Oldham. She insisted what was needed now was action

that actually changed things. For the Lib Dems, Lisa Smart focused on the victims and survivors

of the gangs. We owe it to them not just to offer words of support,

...