The Liverpool Walton MP caused a stir this weekend as he became the first Labour MP to back calls for a new national grooming inquiry
Elon Musk praised Dan Carden but others felt very differently about the MP’s comments(Image: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Liverpool MP Dan Carden caused a stir this weekend with some strident comments on the topic of grooming gangs, becoming the first Labour Member of Parliament to publicly speak out in favour of a new, national inquiry on the subject.
Mr Carden, the left-wing socialist MP for Liverpool Walton, sparked a huge reaction as he called on Sir Keir Starmer’s government to act over what he called ‘unspeakable’ grooming gangs, while also claiming there needs to be a challenge to the ‘orthodoxy of progressive liberal multiculturalism’ that he says led to authorities failing to act over historic grooming scandals.
His statement, shared exclusively with the Liverpool ECHO, added: “It is shocking that people in positions of power could have covered up and refused to act to avoid confronting racial or cultural issues or because victims were poor and working class.”
He accused the government of ‘failing to take the high road’ amid calls for a new grooming inquiry and said: “The Prime Minister must use the full power of the state to deliver justice. It must continue to unflinchingly pursue the perpetrators and bring to account those in positions of authority who turned a blind eye, failed to act, or gave political cover to the gangs.
He added: “The outcome must include acknowledging the racial and ethnic hatred of this mass sexual violence. This is not an obsession of the far right. I am speaking out because over the decades there have been far too few Labour voices expressing clear disgust and outrage at these heinous crimes, their cover-up and the lack of action.”
Dan Carden, Liverpool Walton MP(Image: Liverpool Echo)
The comments come after Mr Carden abstained on a vote last week, brought by the Conservatives via an amendment to a Labour government bill – calling for a new inquiry on the subject.
While Mr Carden’s comments have raised plenty of eyebrows, he has received high praise from others – including tech billionaire and owner of social media site X Elon Musk. Mr Musk has been commenting regularly on the issue of grooming in the UK, including attacking the Prime Minister and safeguarding minister Jess Phillips in recent weeks.
Reacting to the Liverpool MP’s comments, Mr Musk said: “Thank you Dan Carden. Integrity.” Others to praise the Labour politician included political commentator and trade union activist Paul Embery, who said: “All power to Labour MP Dan Carden. A courageous statement.” Another X user labelled Mr Carden ‘a hero.’
But there were plenty of others who were unhappy with the comments from Mr Carden. On Social media site Bluesky a number of people expressed surprise and disappointment with what he said. Pete Millward wrote: “Dan Carden has hugely disappointed me. I had thought he was OK. I was wrong.” Another commenter said the comments were ‘an embarrassment’ to the city of Liverpool, while journalist Dorian Lynskey suggested this was “very strange language from someone on the Labour left.”
In a further response to the ECHO, Mr Carden added: “This is about facing up to the horrendous abuse of thousands of young girls in working class communities and the failure of the authorities to act and why that was. This is not some political football, but it is about being in the right place on this issue.”