Rachel Reeves says Sir Keir Starmer has been focused on the “victims” of grooming gangs and not “grandstanding” after the prime minister committed to a national inquiry.
The Chancellor made the comments on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
After initially dismissing calls for a public inquiry, the prime minister said he had read “every single word” of an independent report into child sexual exploitation by Baroness Louise Casey and would accept her recommendation for the investigation.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage described the move as a “welcome U-turn”.
