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A nationwide police operation to track down those in grooming gangs has been announced by the Home Office.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) will target those who have sexually exploited children as part of a grooming gang, and will investigate cases that were not previously progressed.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said in a statement: "The vulnerable young girls who suffered unimaginable abuse at the hands of groups of adult men have now grown into brave women who are rightly demanding justice for what they went through when they were just children.

"Not enough people listened to them then. That was wrong and unforgivable. We are changing that now.

"More than 800 grooming gang cases have already been identified by police after I asked them to look again at cases which had closed too early.

"Now we are asking the National Crime Agency to lead a major nationwide operation to track down more perpetrators and bring them to justice."

A Treasury minister today struggled to answer questions about a new crossing for the River Thames after a further 拢590m of public money was committed to it.

The Lower Thames Crossing will link Essex and Kent but economic secretary Emma Reynolds was unable to give details of the precise location of the crossing or the total cost of the project.

She also mistakenly referred to the existing crossing being the "Dartmouth tunnel", apparently confusing the Devon town with Dartford, the location of the crossings for traffic across the Thames.

"I meant Dartford, excuse me, I had a very early morning," the minister told LBC.

Asked about the proposed new crossing's location, she said: "You'll forgive me, I can't recall the landing zone."

The crossing will involve two tunnels under the Thames to the east of Tilbury in Essex and Gravesend in Kent.

Pressed on the cost, she said "it's going to cost quite a lot of money", suggesting it would be "several billion pounds".

National Highways has estimated the cost will be between 拢9.2bn and 拢10.2bn depending on the funding model chosen.

It would connect the A2 and M2 in Kent to the A13 and M25 in Essex via a 2.6-mile tunnel under the Thames, which would be the UK's longest road tunnel.

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Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy serve up their essential guide to the day in British politics.

The prime minister is in Canada at the G7 as conflict escalates in the Middle East. Can Sir Keir Starmer contain any further flare-ups between Donald Trump and other allies and attempt to bring some calm to the region?

The prime minister is also set to authorise a national inquiry into grooming gangs, six months after he said people calling for one were "jumping on the bandwagon".

It comes after a national inquiry was recommended by Baroness Louise Casey in her 200-page report, which is due to be published today. How will Starmer respond to the rapid review?

Analysis by James Matthews, US correspondent

The fresh air of Canada's Rocky Mountains clears the head. It'll need to.

Here, the village of Kananaskis (population circa 130) finds itself, temporarily, the diplo-centre of the world - hosting diplomacy of the difficult kind.

If this isn't quite a crisis meeting, it's a meeting amidst crisis. The Israel-Iran conflict is front and centre of the G7 agenda and key players have come here talking de-escalation.

If they're speaking with a single voice at the start, don't hold your breath for a single strategy by the end.

The G7 starring Donald Trump is a different movie - this isn't a gathering built necessarily on the shared understanding and common purpose that has, generally, defined the annual team meeting of the world's leading democracies.

Here, an abrasive US president will schmooze leaders he's screwing on trade, undermining on defence priorities and, generally, putting at a distance.

Ukraine's Volodymyr ZelenAG百家乐在线官网y and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa - both veterans of the Oval Office hair dryer treatment - are the special guests filed under specially awkward.

By Tomos Evans, Wales reporter

The cost of rural crime in Wales is at its highest in more than a decade, a new report has revealed.

Last year, rural crime cost an estimated 拢2.8m in Wales, according to insurance provider NFU Mutual.

That's an 18% increase on the previous year, with Wales the only UK nation to have seen a rise.

For farmers like Caryl Davies, that makes their work harder.

The 21-year-old farms on a beef and sheep farm in Pembrokeshire.

She told Sky News that having the quad bike stolen from her family farm last August had made them feel "really unsafe at home".

A former prosecutor said he has "pragmatic doubts" about a new grooming gangs national inquiry. 

Nazir Afzal, who was chief crown prosecutor for the North West from 2011 to 2015, told the BBC that national inquiries were costly and lengthy, and could not bring people the accountability they wanted. 

He said: 鈥淧eople want accountability. I鈥檓 not sure people鈥檚 expectations will be realised. 

"Only criminal investigations can bring real accountability. That鈥檚 what needs to happen. Not just for those who offended, but also those who stood by and didn鈥檛 do what they were meant to do.

"Unfortunately my experience with national inquiries is that they take forever and don鈥檛 deliver accountability."

He suggested placing a time limit on the inquiry.

Sarah Champion, the MP for Rotherham, has told Sky News that she was initially opposed to a statutory inquiry into grooming gangs - but changed her mind.

Asked if the decision to hold this national inquiry is a U-turn from the prime minister, she said: "I don't really care, if I'm honest.

"I'm just glad that it's getting done."

Champion went on to explain why she was reluctant to back a national inquiry initially.

She said: "When the calls came for a national inquiry I was quite reluctant myself, because 10 years ago I worked with Tom Watson and Zac Goldsmith and we got the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse.

"That lasted seven years and cost nearly 拢200m. 

"So the thought of doing another one when the recommendations from the last one still haven't gone through filled me with doom.

"But then I thought actually, the specific model of Pakistani men grooming girls and some boys in this country, it keeps on coming up.

"People don't think that justice has been done in a fair way.

"I think unless we get to the bottom of this, it's always going to be a sore that we need to address."

By Alix Culbertson, political reporter

Sir Keir Starmer has announced he is U-turning and will order a full public inquiry into grooming gangs.

The scandal hit the headlines again in January after Elon Musk attacked Sir Keir Starmer and minister Jess Phillips for failing children.

The tech billionaire accused Starmer of being "complicit" in the failure of authorities to protect victims and prosecute abusers while the prime minister was director of public prosecutions from 2008-2013.

Starmer hit back at Musk, saying his record shows how he tackled the issue head-on.

The row started after it was revealed that safeguarding minister Jess Phillips had rejected calls from Oldham Council for a government inquiry into historical grooming gangs in the town, with Phillips saying the council should lead an inquiry instead.

She also hit back after Musk's subsequent attacks on her.

Sky News looks at a timeline of the grooming gangs scandal, inquiries and Starmer's role.

Now joining Wilfred Frost on Sky News Breakfast is shadow home secretary Chris Philp.

He is asked about the government's decision to launch a statutory inquiry into grooming gangs - after they initially resisted the idea.

Philp claims Sir Keir Starmer was forced into this action.

He says: "Keir Starmer has at last agreed, but he had to be dragged here kicking and screaming. 

"He's not doing this because he wants to or because he believes in it. He's doing this because he was forced to.

"Forced partly by the Casey report and partly by the vote that we have scheduled in parliament on Wednesday."

But Wilfred points out that this action wasn't taken by the Conservatives, who were in government for 14 years.

Philp insists that the Tories made progress, adding that after the election last year "Oldham Council said we can't investigate this ourselves".

He says: "We need a national inquiry, including into the cover up. 

"Now the Labour government contemptuously dismissed that request by Oldham Council and that became public in January. 

"And that is when the campaign really began."

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Sky News' Sam Coates and Politico's Anne McElvoy serve up their essential guide to the day in British politics.

The prime minister is in Canada at the G7 as conflict escalates in the Middle East. Can Sir Keir Starmer contain any further flare-ups between Donald Trump and other allies and attempt to bring some calm to the region?

The prime minister is also set to authorise a national inquiry into grooming gangs, six months after he said people calling for one were "jumping on the bandwagon".

It comes after a national inquiry was recommended by Baroness Louise Casey in her 200-page report, which is due to be published today. How will Starmer respond to the rapid review?