Watching BBC Two's Politics Live following PMQs, Labour and Tory MPs agree that abuse survivors may be left with a "lack of trust in systems and institutions" given what they have been through.

But a main point of discussion is who should chair the national inquiry into grooming gangs.

Gareth Davies, Conservative MP and shadow Treasury minister, says a "very specific" inquiry is needed - one that "enables a judge to compel evidence and witnesses".

But during PMQs, the prime minister said Baroness Casey advised against appointing a judge when she published her review.

James Murray, Labour MP and chief secretary to the Treasury, responds that both Starmer and Home Office ministers have been "absolutely clear" that the inquiry will not "shy away from anything". He adds that this "may well mean there are some difficult and uncomfortable conclusions".

• As a reminder, a fourth woman has quit the survivors' panel this week amid fears the inquiry could be watered down.

This post contains distressing details

Following the news that four abuse survivors have resigned from assisting the grooming gangs national inquiry, a fifth woman tells the BBC she intends to remain on the panel.

Samantha Walker-Roberts, from Oldham, who wants the scope of the inquiry to include victims of other types of sexual abuse, so they are not "silenced," has criticised those who have quit.

She was the victim of a grooming gang when she was 12 - but she was also raped and abused by a man who groomed her online, and as a younger child she was raped and abused by older men who she met through friends.

"This is a one-of-a-kind type of inquiry where survivors are in control and it's wrong that certain survivors get special treatment to be part of this," she tells the BBC - adding that she believes the inquiry's scope "needs to be widened otherwise we're going be silenced".

• Read more from Samantha in our separate news story

• Tory leader Kemi Badenoch began by focusing on the testimony of an abuse survivor, Fiona, who’s stepped down from the inquiry’s panel. She quoted Fiona by asking PM Keir Starmer: "What’s the point of victims speaking up if we are just going to be called liars?"
• Starmer insisted the inquiry isn’t being diluted and that it will not shy away from cultural or religious issues - he added that he has commissioned Baroness Louise Casey to help with the inquiry
• But, continuing to push on the issue, Badenoch quoted more survivors as saying they believe the government created a "toxic environment" and lost their trust - specifically naming Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips - before asking Starmer if he still has confidence in her
• Starmer defended Phillips, saying she has "more experience than anyone else in this House" in dealing with violence against women and girls
• But Badenoch fired back that Phillips "doesn't have more experience than the survivors"

• Away from grooming gangs, Lib Dem leader Ed Davey turned his attention to Brexit, saying it can't be a "smokescreen" for tax rises, before calling for a new EU-UK customs deal

As a reminder: Four abuse survivors this week resigned from the grooming gangs national inquiry panel. They said they were frustrated by how long it’s taken to appoint an impartial chairperson and accused the government of watering down its focus, but safeguarding minister Jess Phillips has denied a "cover-up" and said the government would appoint a chair who will "earn the trust" of survivors.

Kate Whannel
Reporting from the House of Commons

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is in the House of Commons today but, unusually, isn't sitting with other MPs - instead he's up in the gallery for MPs’ guests, next to long-time ally Arron Banks.

He has explained his decision on X:

“Every week at PMQs I am attacked by the PM and Labour MPs, but have no right of reply. I am just a mere spectator.

“So I have decided to spectate from the public gallery today instead.”

Kate Whannel
Reporting from the House of Commons

Nigel Farage gives Ed Davey a small wave when the Lib Dem leader namechecks him in his question about Brexit.

Image source, PA Media

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey used his questions to ask about the Crown Estate and the economy.

On the former, he says it needs to be scrutinised to protect the taxpayer's interests, to which Starmer agrees.

On the latter, Davey asks whether Labour can finally admit that Brexit was "a disaster"? He goes on to say Brexit can't be a "smokescreen" for tax rises and calls for a new EU-UK customs deal.

Starmer says this is not the way forward, though he recognises the damage wrought by Brexit.

With Keir Starmer now taking questions from cross-party MPs, here's a quick reminder of the key dates to do with the inquiry that was the focus of Kemi Badenoch's grilling:

• 16 January 2025: After pressure from the opposition and others, including Elon Musk, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announces five government-backed local inquiries, but resists a full national inquiry. She also announces a three-month national audit by Baroness Louise Casey to examine the demographics of gangs and victims
• 10 April: With the location of only one local inquiry announced - Oldham - Cooper insists the others will go ahead
• 2 June: Minister Jess Phillips apologises for a delay in publishing Baroness Casey's audit
• 14 June: Acting on advice from Baroness Casey and her audit, Keir Starmer says there will be a full national statutory inquiry into grooming gangs
• 16 June: Baroness Casey's audit is published. It says the ethnicity of perpetrators is "shied away from" and not recorded in two-thirds of cases. But it says there is enough evidence from three areas to show "disproportionate numbers of men from Asian ethnic backgrounds amongst suspects for group-based child sexual exploitation"
• 20 October - 22 October: Four survivors quit the national inquiry, over concerns it is being diluted. The terms of the inquiry are still being worked out - the government says it is close to selecting someone to chair it. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood says the inquiry will "explicitly examine the ethnicity and religion of offenders"

Kate Whannel
Reporting from the House of Commons

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, whose department is leading on the grooming gang inquiry, is sitting near the prime minister and nodding intently to what he is saying.

With her final question, Badenoch continues to heap pressure on Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, saying she "doesn't have more experience than the survivors".

Badenoch says the victims and Tories are calling for Phillips to be sacked and pushes him on this point.

Starmer answers, pointing to the 14 years in office the Conservatives had and the fact they "barely mentioned" the grooming scandal.

"We have done more in the time we have been in office than they have done in 14 years," Starmer says.

Image source, PA Media

The Tory leader's continuing to question Starmer on the grooming gangs inquiry.

Badenoch says the victims of the scandal have waived their anonymity, and that they believe the Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips "has lied to them".

The Tory leader says Phillips has "lost the confidence of the victims" and then asks Starmer if he still has confidence in her.

Starmer says he respects and accepts different views from survivors. But he adds that Phillips has "more experience than anyone in this House" in dealing with violence against women and girls.

He also says she is the right person to lead this process.

Badenoch continues on the theme of grooming gangs and repeats her earlier question: what is the point in victims speaking up if they won't be believed?

She emphasises that 10 months have passed since the Conservatives called for a national inquiry, yet a chair has still not been selected. Badenoch says the survivors want a judge appointed to the position, and they deserve this.

Starmer replies that Baroness Casey advised against appointing a judge when she published her review.

He says the first reason for this was for speed. The second reason, he explains, is because it was determined a criminal investigation would happen at the same time, which would be delayed with a judge-led inquiry.

The PM then turns to mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse cases, telling Badenoch she "doesn't understand" how this works, and that the Tories should "hang their heads in shame" for voting against the protective measure.

Image source, PA Media

Next, Badenoch tells the Commons Starmer previously dismissed a national inquiry at the first PMQs of this year. And, she says, despite his words - survivors have quit the inquiry.

"[Labour] voted against the national inquiry three times, so the victims don't believe them...

"Now, one of the victims has quit - contrary to what the prime minister has just said and what the Home Secretary wrote this morning - they believe that the inquiry will downplay the racial and religious motivations behind their abuse. Aren't the victims right when they call it a cover up?"

Starmer says: "Let me reassure the victims and the House that the scope of the inquiry will not be diluted, and we don't shy away from cultural or religious issues."

He adds that he has commissioned Baroness Louise Casey to help with the inquiry.

Getting it right with survivors at the heart is the priority, the PM says, adding that 1,200 historic closed cases have been reopened by his government.

• As a reminder: Four abuse survivors this week resigned from the grooming gangs national inquiry panel. They said they were frustrated by how long it’s taken to appoint an impartial chairperson and accused the government of watering down its focus, but safeguarding minister Jess Phillips has denied a "cover-up" and said the government would appoint a chair who will "earn the trust" of survivors.

Badenoch continues to press Starmer on the grooming gangs inquiry - saying she doubts Fiona (a survivor of abuse who this week quit the inquiry panel) will be satisfied with Starmer's last answer.

The Tory leader accuses the government of being engaged in "a briefing war against survivors", before quoting a second survivor, "Elizabeth" (not her real name), who Badenoch says was abused in Rotherham from the age of 14.

Badenoch quotes Elizabeth as saying the government has "created a toxic environment for survivors".

Starmer replies to say the survivors have experienced the "most awful ordeals" and that he wants to "press on" and ensure "survivors are at the heart of an inquiry".

Keir Starmer says the national grooming scandal was one of the worst of our time, and that survivors have been ignored for many years including by the state.

He says his vow to survivors is that the inquiry will change that - stressing that he wants survivors to be at the heart of its working.

Starmer says his government is working to ensure this is done right, but acknowledges this isn't easy as survivors come to the inquiry with their own "painful experiences", which he adds has been set out by Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips.

• For context: Starmer announced a national grooming gangs inquiry in June after a review looked into group-based sexual exploitation of children, and found there had been a failure to act on the known issue over decades.

Image source, PA Media

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch says she wants to ask a question on behalf of one of the survivors of abuse.

She focuses on the testimony of one survivor, Fiona, who's stepped down from the inquiry's panel.

What's the point in speaking up if we're just going to be called liars, Badenoch asks, on behalf of Fiona?

Image source, PA Media

Before his back and forth with Tory leader Badenoch, Starmer begins today's session by mentioning mother Claire Throssell, whose sons were killed by their father, after he was granted access to them.

Starmer tells Parliament she is watching PMQs from the gallery today.

There are cheers and calls of "hear, hear" for her.

• You can read Claire's story in more detail here

Take your seats, Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch are both in the House of Commons and PMQs is now under way.

We'll bring you text updates of the pair's back and forth when it gets going, and you can also watch the events live at the top of the page.

Watch out for pithy analysis from our political colleagues, too.

Badenoch may want to pin Starmer on grooming inquiry or the economy - neither are easy topics for the PMpublished at 12:01 BST

12:01 BST

Damian Grammaticas
Political correspondent

The obvious choice is that she’ll want to try to make the prime minister squirm over the issue of the inquiry into grooming gangs.

The Conservatives have a long-used line of attack here, which is that they have been in front of Sir Keir Starmer on this issue, calling for an inquiry before he U-turned and agreed to one, and saying it should be chaired by a senior judge.

With the setting-up of the inquiry now beset by troubles, and the resignation of some abuse survivors, Kemi Badenoch may want to try to pin him on this one issue.

But she could also pivot perhaps to the economy, the fact inflation seems stuck and, the Conservatives say, "punishing those Labour promised to protect".

Or there’s the ongoing disputes surrounding China, the collapse of the trial dealing with spying allegations, and the pending planning decision on whether to approve China’s mega embassy for London.

None are easy topics for Starmer.

Kate Whannel
Reporting from the House of Commons

Image source, Reuters

Another big news story this week has been fresh questions about Prince Andrew’s connections to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, following publication of the late Virginia Giuffre's memoir.

MPs may want to ask the prime minister about this subject, but they will have to word their question carefully.

Erskine May, the bible of parliamentary procedure, sets out guidelines, external on how MPs can talk about members of the Royal Family in Parliament.

In 2022, the anti-monarchy group Republic asked the speaker to clarify the rules after Keir Starmer was told off for mentioning the late Queen in PMQs.

The response they received from the speaker’s office stated, external that "there is no general prohibition on discussing matters relating to the Royal Family", but added that there were certain conditions.

These include bans on suggesting the monarch would back a particular policy and asking ministers questions about things for which they are not responsible, such as the conduct of a member of the Royal Family.

Image source, PA Media

A little earlier, we saw Keir Starmer step out of 10 Downing Street and begin the short journey to the House of Commons.

You'll be able to see inside the chamber, via our live feed at the top of the page, very shortly.

Stay with us.