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Leader of the House of Commons Lucy Powell has sought to clarify comment in which she appeared to describe grooming gangs as a “dog whistle” issue, after facing a backlash from political opponents.<\/p>\n
During a heated debate on BBC Radio 4’s Any Questions on Friday, commentator and Reform UK member Tim Montgomerie asked Powell if she had seen a recent Channel 4 documentary on grooming gangs.<\/p>\n
Powell responded “oh, we want to blow that little trumpet now do we” and “let’s get that dog whistle out shall we”. <\/p>\n
But on Saturday, the Labour minister said she regarded child exploitation and grooming with the “utmost seriousness”, adding: “I’m sorry if this was unclear.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Powell said: “I was challenging the political point scoring around it, not the issue itself. As a constituency MP I’ve dealt with horrendous cases.”<\/p>\n
During the political debate programme, Montgomerie was asked about Reform UK’s pledge to replicate the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency<\/a> (Doge) – including by cutting diversity and inclusions roles within councils, following its successes in Thursday’s local elections<\/a>. <\/p>\n Montgomerie said the UK was “one of the most tolerant [countries] in the world”, but argued there “always needs to be more progress on racial issues”.<\/p>\n He said: “It’s not so much the amount of money that is spent on employing diversity officers. <\/p>\n “You talk to a lot of civil servants, the amount of time they now have to spend monitoring this issue [of diversity] above all others is an extraordinary diversion.”<\/p>\n Powell called his claims “absolutely rubbish”, and told Montgomerie to go and spend a day with council staff to “actually see what they’re dealing with”. <\/p>\n Montgomerie then asked Powell if she “saw the documentary on Channel 4 about rape gangs”, to which she responded: “Oh, we want to blow that little trumpet now do we. Let’s get that dog whistle out shall we.” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n