The Conservatives are calling for a Labour minister to resign after her comments on grooming gangs this week. Lucy Powell, leader of the House of Commons, made the remarks after political commentator Tim Montgomerie raised the issue on BBC Radio 4’s Any Questions.

Mr Montgomerie, who switched allegiance from the Conservatives to Nigel Farage's Reform UK in December, began to say: “I don’t know if you saw the documentary on Channel 4 about rape gangs.” This was in reference to the recent programme Groomed: A National Scandal, which focused on five girls who were sexually abused by rape gangs.

In the documentary, the young women tell their stories of surviving “unimaginable abuse and rape” by a grooming gang over a period of 20 years.

The show’s description notes that “failures of police and social services continue to this day”.

Ms Powell responded: “Oh, we want to blow that little trumpet now, do we? Yeah, OK, let’s get that dog whistle out.”

The Government has come under fire from political opponents over the handling of historical sex abuse cases in the UK.

After Ms Powell’s comments, ConservativeHome founder Mr Montgomerie continued: “There is a real issue where… There were so many people in local government, in the authorities, who, for good reason, were worried about upsetting community tensions, that those girls went undefended."

Now, some politicians are calling for the Manchester Central MP’s resignation, including Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp.

Mr Philp said in a statement: “This shocking outburst from a Labour cabinet minister belittles the thousands of girls and women who were raped by grooming gangs over decades.

“We have consistently called for a national enquiry in parliament, which has been blocked by Labour ministers who don’t seem to know or care about the disgusting crimes which have been perpetrated.

“Anyone who has seen the shocking Channel 4 documentary will know that it is clearer than ever that this is not a ‘dog whistle’. To dismiss thousands of victims who were raped and the cover up that followed is sickening. She should resign.”

On X, formerly known as Twitter, Ms Powell said: “In the heat of a discussion on AQ, I would like to clarify that I regard issues of child exploitation and grooming with the utmost seriousness. I'm sorry if this was unclear.

"I was challenging the political point scoring around it, not the issue itself. As a constituency MP I've dealt with horrendous cases. This Gvt is acting to get to the truth, and deliver justice."

Health secretary Wes Streeting said he thought Ms Powell’s job was safe on Sunday morning.

Speaking on Sky’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, he said “we all make mistakes” and that he didn’t think Ms Powell “intended to imply” that mentioning the topic of grooming gangs was a “dog whistle”.

However, he said it was “right” for her to apologise.

The Daily Express has contacted the office of the leader of the House of Commons for comment.

Sir Keir Starmer’s government promised five local inquiries into grooming gangs in January, while tech billionaire Elon Musk accused the prime minister of being “complicit” in the authorities’ failure to protect victims and prosecute abusers while he was director of public prosecutions from 2008-2013.

Sir Keir has defended his record, saying it shows he tackled the issue head-on.