Andy Burnham joins calls for ‘limited’ national inquiry into sexual abuse gangs

Andy Burnham said MPs were right to reject the ‘opportunism’ of the Tory-led Commons vote calling for a new national inquiry. Photograph: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images

The Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, has joined calls for a “limited” national inquiry into grooming gangs, saying the scope of the local inquiry he had commissioned in Oldham did not have the same legal powers.

On Wednesday, MPs rejected a Conservative amendment to the children’s wellbeing and schools bill, calling for a new, national inquiry into grooming gangs.